2021 Thunder Valley Pro Motocross Rnd 2 Results

Kit Palmer | June 5, 2021

2021 Thunder Valley Pro Motocross Rnd 2 Results. For someone who said he felt disconnected with motocross just a little over a week ago, Ken Roczen certainly must feel connected now after winning his third 450MX moto in a row and taking the overall victory at the Thunder Valley National MX in Colorado, round two of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

Roczen, on the HRC Honda, won both 450MX motos in two drastically different fashions. In the first moto, he had to work hard for it. Roczen got around Adam Cianciarulo on the opening lap to take the lead, but Cianciarulo later retaliated and passed Roczen back with an aggressive move in a turn a few laps later. Roczen then lost another position to last week’s Pala winner Dylan Ferrandis before finding his groove again and fighting his way back to the front for what was an impressive first-moto win.

In the second moto, Roczen made the win look easy after passing Cooper Webb for the early lead and then simply checking out, letting everyone else in the field fight for the scraps. Roczen rode flawlessly on a challenging racetrack that featured a little bit of everything, including seemingly endless amount of racing lines to choose from. He crossed the finish line eight seconds ahead of Ferrandis.

“What a perfect day, I can’t believe it,” Roczen said, adding that he is beginning to feel like his old self again.

Ferrandis (Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha) put two good starts and his usual late-moto strength to good use, limiting the damage that Roczen put on the field by going 2-2. Ferrandis rode especially well in the second moto after making up for ninth-place start (after the first lap). He saved his best for last by reeling in runner-up in the moto Justin Barcia and passing him late in the race for second.

Cianciarulo finished out the day on the box. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider ran up front early in both motos but later admitted that “he needs more fitness” but is confident in his speed. After a tough back-and-forth battle in the first moto where he finished third, Cianciarulo washed out in a turn early in the second moto and finished sixth, which was surprisingly still good enough for third overall.

Barcia went 7-3 for fourth overall, while Aaron Plessinger rounded out the top five with a solid 5-4.

After finishing a disappointing 12^th in the first moto, things only got worse for defending champ Zach Osborne who recorded a DNF in the second moto after pulling into the mechanic’s area then heading back to the pits. After just two races, Osborne is already 57 points out of first place in 11th in the championship.

Former champ Eli Tomac was quiet all day. Like last week, Tomac, who said he went back to his old bike setup going into the Colorado race and was expecting to do better, couldn’t make up for two bad starts and went a surprising 11-10 on the day for 10^th overall. Tomac is 10^th in the championship, already 44 points out of first place.

Chase Sexton (4-5), Christian Craig (6-7), Webb (8-8), Marvin Musquin (9-9) and Tomac completed the top 10 overall.

Jason Anderson was a notable no-show. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Team rider broke his hand during the week and is expected to be out of action for 6-8 weeks.

In the 450MX Championship, Roczen has taken a one-point lead overall Ferrandis (90-89) with Plessinger in third with 74 points.

In the 250MX class, Jett Lawrence had everyone talking again after finishing off the day winning the second moto, but it was Justin Cooper (Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha) who occupied the top step of the podium after using consistency to claim the overall win with a 2-2.

Cooper was happy to get the win, of course, but said it’s awkward winning with a 2-2, adding that he wants to win a moto, which he hasn’t done yet in this young outdoor series.

Jeremy Martin (Monster Energy/Star Racing Yamaha) and Lawrence were the moto winners on the day. Martin battled past Cooper on the seventh lap of the first moto and pulled away for the win, taking the checkered flag with three seconds to spare over his teammate, Cooper.

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) was right in the mix of things the whole time, lurking in third place, and he successfully held off Lawrence the whole way. In fact, Hampshire had plenty of breathing room over Lawrence at the end, finishing approximately 19 seconds ahead of the Honda rider and was just four seconds off Cooper at the end.

Unfortunately, Martin and Hampshire, who both finished on the podium in the first moto, were victims of crashes in the second moto. Martin went down a few laps into the race while mired in the pack after getting off to a bad start. Martin slowly got back on his bike after the crash but was holding his arm. He rode straight to the pits and by that point, had no chance of salvaging any points in the moto and retired to the pits.

Hampshire went down while running fourth just two laps into the race. He got back going in 36^th and eventually finished in 19^thplace, salvaging a couple of points.

Cooper came out firing in moto two and led the first four laps before reluctantly relinquishing the point position to Lawrence.

From that point on, Lawrence was on rails as he slowly pulled away from Cooper. Lawrence never set a foot wrong the rest of the way and took the checkered flag 15.6 seconds ahead of Cooper. The win, combined with his first-moto fourth, netted Lawrence second overall to Cooper.

Lawrence missed out on the overall win by one point, saying,“They [Martin, Cooper, and Hampshire] were on it [in the first moto], no excuses.”

Hunter Lawrence, Jett’s older brother and Honda HRC teammate, finished a distant third in the moto. A 5-3, however, gave Hunter third overall.

Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) never really challenged the leaders in either moto, but the youngster rode well and steady after two so-so starts. Shimoda locked up fourth overall with a 6-4.

Colt Nichols (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) rounded out the top five with a 9-5.

Garrett Marchbanks, Jalek Swoll, Martin, Dilan Schwartz and Hampshire completed the top 10 overall.

The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki Team came into today’s race two riders short. Cameron McAdoo injured his knee last week at the Fox Raceway National and might miss the entire season, and Seth Hammaker withdrew without explanation.

Jerry Robins, the privateer who crashed on the first lap of the first 250MX moto forcing a red flag and a restart, reportedly suffered a concussion.

Jett Lawrence, who came into today’s race sharing the points lead with Martin, is now the sole possessor of the red place, which signifies the current championship leader in their respective class. Lawrence, with two moto wins this season, leads the way by 10 points over Cooper, 90-80. Despite DNF’ing the second moto, Martin is only 18 points out of first place but the extent of his injury is not yet known. CN

2021 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship

Round 2

Thunder Valley MX

Lakewood, Colorado

RESULTS: (June 5, 2021)

450MX Overall (Top 10)

1.	Ken Roczen	(Hon)	1-1
2.	Dylan Ferrandis	(Yam)	2-2
3	Adam Cianciarulo	(Kaw)	3-6
4.	Justin Barcia	(Gas)	7-3
5.	Aaron Plessinger	(Yam)	5-4
6.	Chase Sexton	(Hon)	4-5
7.	Christian Craig	(Yam)	6-7
8.	Cooper Webb	(KTM)	8-8
9.	Marvin Musquin	(KTM)	9-9
10.	Eli Tomac	(Kaw)	11-10

250MX Overall (Top 10)

1.	Justin Cooper	(Yam)	2-2
2.	Jett Lawrence	(Hon)	4-1
3.	Hunter Lawrence	(Hon)	5-3
4.	Jo Shimoda	(Kaw)	6-4
5.	Colt Nichols	(Yam)	9-5
6.	Garrett Marchbanks	(Yam)	7-7
7.	Jalek Swoll	(Hus)	10-6
8.	Jeremy Martin	(Yam)	1-DNF
9.	Dilan Schwartz	(Suz)	8-12
10.	RJ Hampshire	(Hus)	3-19

450MX POINT STANDINGS (After 2 of 12 rounds)

1.	Ken Roczen	(Hon)	90/1 win
2.	Dylan Ferrandis	(Yam)	89/1 win
3	Aaron Plessinger	(Yam)	74
4.	Justin Barcia	(Gas)	69
5.	Chase Sexton	(Hon)	67
6.	Adam Cianciarulo	(Kaw)	58
7.	Cooper Webb	(KTM)	52
8.	Christian Craig	(Yam)	51
9.	Marvin Musquin	(KTM)	51
10.	Eli Tomac	(Kaw)	46

250MX POINT STANDINGs (After 2 of 12 rounds)

1.	Jett Lawrence	(Hon)	90/1 win
2.	Justin Cooper	(Yam)	80/1 win
3.	Jeremy Martin	(Yam)	72
4.	Hunter Lawrence	(Hon)	67
5.	Garrett Marchbanks	(Yam)	56
6.	RJ Hampshire	(Hus)	54
7.	Jo Shimoda	(Kaw)	50
8.	Colt Nichols	(Yam)	49
9.	Austin Forkner	(Kaw)	48
10.	Michael Mosiman	(Gas)	46

2021 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Schedule

Rnd 1	May 29, 2021	Fox Raceway National	Pala, CA
Rnd 2	June 5, 2021	Thunder Valley National	Lakewood, CO
Rnd 3	June 19, 2021	High Point National	Mt. Morris, PA
Rnd 4	June 26, 2021	Southwick National	Southwick, MA
Rnd 5	July 3, 2021	RedBud National	Buchanan, MI
Rnd 6	July 17, 2021	Spring Creek National	Millville, MN
Rnd 7	July 24, 2021	Washougal National	Washougal, WA
Rnd 8	Aug 14, 2021	Unadilla National	New Berlin, NY
Rnd 9	Aug 21, 2021	Budds Creek National	Mechanicsville, MD
Rnd 10	August 28, 2021	Ironman National	Crawfordsville, IN
Rnd 11	Sept 4, 2021	Pala National	Pala, CA
Rnd 12	Sept 11, 2021	Hangtown National	Sacramento, CA

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