The Hangtown Motocross Classic provided some exciting racing for the start of the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Champion. Despite it only being the opening race, the main title contenders are already making themselves clear in both classes.
Any doubts that people had about Eli Tomac being a championship threat are now erased after his dominating performance at Hangtown. It was such an unreal day for him, winning the first moto with a comfortable lead, and then crushing the entire field in the second moto with a 1:30 lead over the 2nd place rider Ryan Dungey. It has been a very long time since someone has dominated like that; Tomac definitely has the speed and the fitness to win this championship. The only question that remains is if he can ride like that for the remaining 11 rounds.
The 2015 Monster Energy Supercross Champion Ryan Dungey also rode good at Hangtown and, despite being nowhere close to Tomac, was definitely a level ahead everyone behind him. Dungey has the much needed consistency to win championships, hence if Tomac has a few bad races Dungey will be able to capitalize. Furthermore, Dungey and the KTM crew are still figuring out the new 2015 KTM bike, which will take a few rounds of racing to get fully familiar with on the outdoor tracks. Dungey will most definitely improve every weekend as he did in supercross, so don’t expect Tomac to win that easily every moto this summer; there’s still a lot of racing left before this championship wraps up.
The reigning Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Champion Ken Roczen had a rough start to the season due to a stress fracture in one of his vertebrae. Kenny struggled through the pain in the first moto and finished 19th, but rebounded for a great 5th place finish in the second moto. He has been out riding this week, which most likely means his back is feeling quite a bit better; expect the number one plate to be further up front this weekend at Glen Helen. Regardless, a bad start to the season doesn’t set him up well to defend his championship, and he most likely will have to continue riding through some back pain for the next few rounds before he’s healed up. It most likely will take a few rounds before Ken has the speed to run near the front for a full moto, which unfortunately makes his chances of defending his title very slim.
JGR riders Weston Peick and Justin Barcia were also quite impressive, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively in the second moto. In fact, Peick rode very strongly to come from behind in that moto to pass quite a few riders on his way to the podium position. Also, 450 rookies Blake Baggett and Jason Anderson started the series off with consistent finishes to both finish inside the top 5 overall; they will definitely be contenders for podium positions throughout the series.
In the 250 class, last years champ Jeremy Martin showed everyone that he is very capable of defending his title with 2-1 moto finishes. Additionally, Marvin Musquin left Hangtown tied in points with J. Martin due to 1-2 moto finishes. Both riders were clearly the guys to beat, although moments of speed from Cianciarulo, Savatgy, and Webb were also promising. Unfortunately for Webb though, an apparent ankle injury from the second moto caused a DNF, which severely decreases his title chances. Furthermore, inconsistent lap times and little mistakes from both Cianciarulo and Savatgy caused some lacklustre results, and may inhibit them from being serious championship contenders.
Round 2 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross championship is this weekend at Glen Helen in San Bernadino, CA. Stay tuned to VAVEL for a race recap at the end of the weekend.
