Cycle News Staff | October 3, 2020
Eli Tomac captured his second overall win of the season in front of the home crowd at the Thunder Valley National MX in Colorado. Even though he took the win with 3-1 motos, it’s not enough to threaten the rider ahead of him in the championship with one round to go. Mathematically, Tomac’s still in it but trails points leader Zach Osborne by 47 points with just 50 points up for grabs in the season final next week in California.
450MX
Eli Tomac (center), Adam Cianciarulo (left) and Zach Osborne celebrate on the 450MX podium. Photos: BrownDog Wilson
Adam Cianciarulo, however, is still very much in the race for the championship. He came into the Thunder Valley National in second place, trailing Osborne by 29 points. He managed to chop that gap to 24 after taking second overall on the day. But the points grab could’ve been more.
Cianciarulo came within a kicker of taking the overall win. After taking the holeshot in the first moto and holding off Chase Sexton and Tomac for the win, Cianciarulo was leading the second moto when Tomac came calling and surrendered the number-one spot to his Monster Energy Kawasaki teammate. While running second late in the moto, Cianciarulo hit a kicker off a small jump that sent him and his bike sideways. He somehow saved it but not before Osborne, on the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, snuck past and into second. The near-crash cost Cianciarulo the overall victory and a couple of points that could’ve gotten him three more points closer to Osborne in the race for the title. And he needs every point he can get at this stage of the championship.
But Osborne is in the driver’s seat with just two motos left. Osborne is one of the most mentally tough, and certainly one of the fastest, riders on the track and with 24 points to play with, it doesn’t seem likely that anything, barring a major disaster, will come between him and the 2020 450MX title.
Sexton (Honda HRC) ended up fourth overall after another solid outing (2-5). He chased Cianciarulo all the way in the second moto but didn’t quite get the start he wanted in the second moto.
Christian Craig (Honda HRC) took fifth overall (7-4) for a season-best in the class.
There was little movement among the top 10 in the championship standings, though Sexton did leapfrog over both Blake Baggett (who did not start the second moto after finishing eighth in the first moto) and Justin Barcia (who DNF’d the second moto after finishing fifth in the first moto) to now occupy the number five spot.
Tomac is hoping to carry his winning momentum through both motos at Pala. He trails Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) by just five points in the race for the final spot on the podium in the championship.
Thunder Valley National Video Highlights
250MX
In the 250MX class, Justin Cooper (Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha) endured extreme pressure by title hopeful Jeremy Martin (Geico Honda) to capture his first moto win and overall victory of the 2020 season. Cooper was determined to get the win in what has been a disappointing championship run for the rider who was expected to be a title contender this year. But a hand injury just before the start of the outdoor championship put him in a hole even before the first drop of the gate on the season. However, he’s been working hard to get back to his title-contending shape, and he proved today that he is indeed back up to speed. Unfortunately for him, it’s a little too late.
Justin Cooper got back to his winning ways in the 250MX class.
After finishing second in the first moto, Cooper knew going into the second moto that this was going to be a great chance to grab his first overall of 2020 with just one more race left on the schedule. And he took full advantage of a great start in the second moto and jumped right out to an early lead. Later on, he started feeling pressure by Martin, who was desperate to make the pass on the leader to gain as many points as he could on championship leader Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha), who won the first moto and padded his points lead a little bit over Martin, but Martin wanted those points back and then some.
However, Cooper didn’t care about that and wanted the win—badly. His determination paid off, as he survived a number of attacks by Martin to get the moto win and, with it, the overall victory.
Had Martin passed Cooper, the Honda rider would’ve grabbed an extra three points on Ferrandis, who finished a distant third in the moto after another impressive come-from-behind ride. As it turned out on the day, Ferrandis actually gained five points on Martin in the championship, and the Frenchman now leads Martin by 18 points, 352-334.
After winning the first moto, Ferrandis survived a bad start and a brief fall in the second moto to finish third and take second overall.
Martin couldn’t do much with a seventh-place start in the first moto but did make three passes to get fourth. A 4-2 put him on the podium in third.
Shane McElrath, on another Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha, took advantage of two good starts to get fourth overall with 3-5 motos, while Hunter Lawrence (Geico) rounded out the top five with a 5-4.
There was some notable movement in the championship. Alex Martin, 5-7 on the day, slipped from third (now occupied by McElrath) to fifth, while Cooper went from sixth to fourth.
RJ Hampshire had a tough day. He crashed hard in the first moto and rode back to the pits with a DNF. He did not start the second moto. He went from fifth to seventh in the championship.
Cianciarulo (9) took the holeshot in the first 450MX moto.
2020 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Thunder Valley National
Thunder Valley
Lakewood, Colorado
Round 7 of 9
2020 Thunder Valley National Results: (October 3, 2020)
450MX Overall (Top 10)
| 1. |
Eli Tomac |
(Kaw) |
3-1 |
| 2. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
1-3 |
| 3 |
Zach Osborne |
(Hus) |
4-2 |
| 4. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
2-5 |
| 5. |
Christian Craig |
(Hon) |
7-4 |
| 6. |
Marvin Musquin |
(KTM) |
6-8 |
| 7. |
Max Anstie |
(Suz) |
9-6 |
| 8. |
Benny Bloss |
(Hus) |
14-7 |
| 9. |
Justin Bogle |
(KTM) |
12-9 |
| 10. |
Jake Masterpool |
(Yam) |
13-10 |
250MX Overall (Top 10)
| 1. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
2-1 |
| 2. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
1-3 |
| 3. |
Jeremy Martin |
(Hon) |
4-2 |
| 4. |
Shane McElrath |
(Yam) |
3-5 |
| 5. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
5-4 |
| 6. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
6-6 |
| 7. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Hon) |
7-8 |
| 8. |
Mitchell Harrison |
(Kaw) |
8-9 |
| 9. |
Jarrett Frye |
(Yam) |
9-10 |
| 10. |
Carson Mumford |
(Hon) |
13-11 |
450MX POINT STANDINGS (After 8 of 9 rounds)
| 1. |
Zach Osborne |
(Hus) |
325/4 wins |
| 2. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
301/2 wins |
| 3 |
Marvin Musquin |
(KTM) |
283 |
| 4. |
Eli Tomac |
(Kaw) |
278/2 wins |
| 5. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
219 |
| 6. |
Justin Barcia |
(Yam) |
218 |
| 7. |
Blake Baggett |
(KTM) |
207 |
| 8. |
Christian Craig |
(Hon) |
163 |
| 9. |
Max Anstie |
(Suz) |
147 |
| 10. |
Joey Savatgy |
(Suz) |
139 |
250MX POINT STANDINGs (After 8 of 9 rounds)
| 1. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
352/5 wins |
| 2. |
Jeremy Martin |
(Hon) |
234/1 win |
| 3. |
Shane McElrath |
(Yam) |
254 |
| 4. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
251/1 win |
| 5. |
Alex Martin |
(Suz) |
242 |
| 6. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
230 |
| 7. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
217/1 win |
| 8. |
Cameron McAdoo |
(Kaw) |
165 |
| 9. |
Mitchell Harrison |
(Kaw) |
163 |
| 10. |
Brandon Hartranft |
(KTM) |
148 |
QUALIFYING
2020 Thunder Valley Pro Motocross Results: Adam Cianciarulo and Justin Cooper are the top qualifiers at the Thunder Valley National Motocross in Lakewood, Colorado, October 3. Cianciarulo finished out the morning qualifiers more than a second ahead of the nearest rider, Blake Baggett, while Cooper edged out his Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha teammates Shane McElrath and Dylan Ferrandis for top honors.
Adam Cianciarulo is the 450MX-class top qualifier. Photo: BrownDog Wilson.
Cianciarulo, who trails championship leader Zach Osborne by 29 points, is in a must-win situation with just one more round remaining on the schedule, while Osborne just needs to ride solidly and stay out of trouble.
Osborne qualified seventh, more than a second and a half behind Cianciarulo.
Ferrandis enjoys a modest 13-point lead over Jeremy Martin in the 250MX class.
Justin Cooper, who won his first career moto at this track, is the top 250MX qualifier.
Martin qualified fifth, approximately a second and a half behind Ferrandis.
Broc Tickle has returned to action for the first time since his big crash at Millville. The Yamaha rider qualified 10th overall (450MX).
Racing conditions are ideal at Lakewood. Temperatures are in the mid-60s under mostly sunny skies. Big ruts are indeed forming on the track, which is the norm for Thunder Valley. CN
QUALIFYING
450MX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
2:05.336 |
| 2. |
Blake Baggett |
(KTM) |
2:06.384 |
| 3. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
2:07.107 |
| 4. |
Christian Craig |
(Hon) |
2:07.408 |
| 5. |
Marvin Musquin |
(KTM) |
2:07.806 |
| 6. |
Eli Tomac |
(Kaw) |
2:08.316 |
| 7. |
Zach Osborne |
(Hus) |
2:08.901 |
| 8. |
Justin Barcia |
(Yan) |
2:08.949 |
| 9. |
Justin Bogle |
(KTM) |
2:09.168 |
| 10. |
Broc Tickle |
(Yam) |
2:09.240 |
250MX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
| 1. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
2:07.574 |
| 2. |
Shane McElrath |
(Yam) |
2:07.690 |
| 3. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
2:08.097 |
| 4. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
2:09.088 |
| 5. |
Jeremy Martin |
(Hon) |
2:09.667 |
| 6. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
2:10.233 |
| 7. |
Jarrett Frye |
(Yam) |
2:10.386 |
| 8. |
Nathanael Thrasher |
(Yam) |
2:10.607 |
| 9. |
Carson Mumford |
(Hon) |
2:11.369 |
| 10. |
Brandon Hartranft |
(KTM) |
2:11.396 |
2020 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Schedule
| Round 1 |
August 15 |
Loretta Lynn’s Ranch |
Hurricane Mills, Tennessee |
| Round 2 |
August 22 |
Loretta Lynn’s Ranch |
Hurricane Mills, Tennessee |
| Round 3 |
August 29 |
Ironman Raceway |
Crawfordsville, Indiana |
| Round 4 |
September 4 |
RedBud MX |
Buchanan, Michigan |
| Round 5 |
September 7 |
RedBud MX |
Buchanan, Michigan |
| Round 6 |
September 19 |
Spring Creek MX Park |
Millville, Minnesota |
| Round 7 |
September 26 |
WW Ranch MX Park |
Jacksonville, Florida |
| Round 8 |
October 3 |
Thunder Valley MX Park |
Lakewood, Colorado |
| Round 9 |
October 10 |
Fox Raceway at Pala |
Pala, California |
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