Cycle News Staff | August 14, 2021
2021 Unadilla Pro Motocross Results. Honda’s Ken Roczen and Jett Lawrence had the competition seeing red following round eight of the Circle K Unadilla National Motocross, round eight of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship in New Berlin, New York, August 14. Roczen thoroughly demolished his rivals in the 450MX class, while Lawrence bounced back from a first-moto third in the 250MX class to beat opening-moto winner Justin Cooper by well over a minute in the second moto. Both riders gained significant points on their championship leaders.
450MX
Winner Ken Roczen, runner-up Dylan Ferrandis and Marvin Musquin made up the 450MX podium. Photos: BrownDog Wilson
It was all Roczen in the 450MX class. The Honda HRC Team rider dominated both motos, winning by more than six seconds over championship leader Dylan Ferrandis in the first race and by more than 10 seconds over his Honda teammate and last round’s winner Chase Sexton in the second race. Roczen led the charge after the first lap of the first moto, though he was challenged a bit for the first half of the race by Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger before Plessinger suffered a vicious crash that ended his day prematurely.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xxw–pWBiY
Plessinger was shaken up in the crash but apparently did not suffer any major injuries, according to initial reports.
With Plessinger gone, Roczen cruised to victory, even Ferrandis, who inherited second when Plessinger went down and is known for his late-race charges had nothing for Roczen.
Ken Roczen dominated Unadilla.
After the moto, Ferrandis admitted that Roczen was untouchable on the rough and technical Unadilla track and that he was essentially racing for second place on this day.
Roczen had his hands full with his teammate Sexton early in the second moto. The German chased Sexton from second place the first three laps before getting around Sexton, who stayed with Roczen for a while before slipping back. Roczen pulled away for his fourth straight moto win at Unadilla going back to 2019 (Unadilla did not host a race last year).
Sexton, who finished 11th in the first moto after a hard crash right off the start, finished out the day fifth overall.
Ferrandis, who seemed just off his usual pace at Unadilla, finished third while under some pressure from Marvin Musquin. Usually, it’s Ferrandis who is doing the pressuring at the end of the motos, so this was a bit of a turn-around for the Frenchman, Ferrandis. Still, it was an okay day for Ferrandis who nabbed second overall but saw Roczen dig into his points lead by eight points. However, the Yamaha rider still has a comfortable 39-point lead over Roczen in the championship. So, if this was one of Ferrandis’ “bad” days, he came out of it okay.
Marvin Musquin got on the podium for the first time this season.
For the first time this season, Musquin (Red Bull KTM) found his way onto the podium. A pair of decent starts and no major mistakes on the difficult track resulted in two fourth-place finishes and third overall for the French rider who made it an all-European podium.
It was a quiet day for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac. He put himself in a good position to win the overall after placing third—albeit a distant third (17 seconds behind Ferrandis)—in the first moto, but a ninth-place start in the second moto ended that chance. Tomac made little headway and ended up going 3-7 for fourth overall. He’s still holding down third in the championship but is well back of the two riders ahead of him (Roczen and Ferrandis) and can feel Sexton closing in a bit from fourth. Tomac leads Sexton by 13 points, but Sexton has been coming on strong the last couple of races.
Cooper Webb (KTM), Christian Craig (Yamaha), Max Anstie (Suzuki), Justin Bogle (KTM), and privateer Coty Shock (FXR/Chaparral Honda) rounded out the top 10. It was the first top-10 ride for Shock this season.
Justin Barcia, fifth in the championship, did not suit up for the Unadilla round. The TLD/Red Bull/GasGas rider crashed during the two-week break in the championship and was unable to ride. As far as his return, the word from the GasGas camp is that he’s playing it race by race.
250MX
Jett Lawrence topped the 250MX class. It was his first win since round one.
It first appeared that it would be points leader Justin Cooper’s day in the 250MX class at Unadilla. The Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha Team rider out-dueled his championship rival, Jett Lawrence, for the first-moto win. The two adversaries—1-2—in the championship led the pack early in the race, setting the stage for a duel that the large and enthusiastic Unadilla crowd came to see.
Lawrence would pressure Cooper, who would always respond by opening back up a small gap. This Slinky-type battle went on for several laps before Cooper started inching away from Lawrence.
At one point, Cooper was well ahead of Lawrence but cooled his pace a bit the last few laps. Cooper won moto one handedly, officially taking the checkered by more than three seconds over Lawrence.
Round two started off much like round one. Cooper had the lead after the first lap but wasn’t the same rider as he was in moto one. Cooper surprisingly gave up the lead to his teammate Jeremy Martin, who was third in the first moto. Moments later, Cooper surrendered second place to Lawrence, though Cooper did fight back and pass Lawrence back, which would only last for another lap when Lawrence got by the first-moto winner again, this time for good. Cooper dropped off the pace even further and was later passed by RJ Hampshire and ended up a surprising fourth in the moto.
Jett Lawrence made a big comeback after a first-moth third.
Meanwhile, Lawrence ran down Martin, passed him, and then steadily increased his lead during the remaining 10 laps.
Martin took second, followed by Hampshire and Cooper, who crossed the finish line a head-scratching one minute and 11 seconds behind Lawrence.
Cooper later said that he was fighting the bike after having not made any “bike adjustments” between motos for the ever-increasing rough track.
Lawrence’s 2-1 gave him his first win since the opener at Fox Raceway (Pala, California).
Despite finishing second overall with a 1-4, it was a bitter day for Cooper who missed a good opportunity for the overall win and to gain valuable championship points on Lawrence; instead, his points lead has been cut in half, from eight to four, over Lawrence with four rounds and eight motos to go.
After winning the last two rounds, Martin finished out the day on the podium with a 3-2 and is now just one point behind third-place Hunter Lawrence (Honda) in the championship.
Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) went 4-3 on the day for fourth overall, while rookie Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM) had a breakthrough ride with fifth overall (6-5).
Despite getting second overall, it was a disappointing day for Justin Cooper.
Hunter Lawrence, Jalek Swoll, Levi Kitchen (Yamaha), Jarrett Frye (Yamaha), and Ty Masterpool (GasGas) completed the top 10 overall.
Many eyes were focused on Kitchen who emerged from last week’s AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship as the top rider. The rider from Washington State on the Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha was impressive after going 13-8, finishing just ahead of his more experienced teammate Frye in both motos. This wasn’t, however, Kitchen’s first pro race. That was RedBud last July when he went 9-19.
Michael Mosiman and Colt Nichols did not line up today due to injuries. CN
2021 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Round 8
Circle K Unadilla National Motocross
Unadilla Valley Sports Center
New Berlin, New York
RESULTS (August 14, 2021)
450MX Overall (Top 10)
| 1. |
Ken Roczen |
(Hon) |
1-1 |
| 2. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
2-3 |
| 3 |
Marvin Musquin |
(KTM) |
4-4 |
| 4. |
Eli Tomac |
(Kaw) |
3-7 |
| 5. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
11-2 |
| 6. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
5-5 |
| 7. |
Christian Craig |
(Yam) |
7-6 |
| 8. |
Max Anstie |
(Suz) |
8-9 |
| 9. |
Justin Bogle |
(KTM) |
9-12 |
| 10. |
Coty Shock |
(Hon) |
12-10 |
450MX POINT STANDINGS (After 8 of 12 rounds)
| 1. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
345/4 wins |
| 2. |
Ken Roczen |
(Hon) |
306/2 wins |
| 3 |
Eli Tomac |
(Kaw) |
283/1 win |
| 4. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
270 |
| 5. |
Justin Barcia |
(Gas) |
239/1 win |
| 6. |
Aaron Plessinger |
(Yam) |
217 |
| 7. |
Marvin Musquin |
(KTM) |
213 |
| 8. |
Christian Craig |
(Yam) |
211 |
| 9. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
209 |
| 10. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
147 |
250MX Overall (Top 10)
| 1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
2-1 |
| 2. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
1-4 |
| 3. |
Jeremy Martin |
(Yam) |
3-2 |
| 4. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
4-3 |
| 5. |
Max Vohland |
(KTM) |
6-5 |
| 6. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
5-11 |
| 7. |
Jalek Swoll |
(Hus) |
8-9 |
| 8. |
Levi Kitchen |
(Yam) |
12-7 |
| 9. |
Jarrett Frye |
(Yam) |
13-8 |
| 10. |
Ty Masterpool |
(GG) |
11-14 |
250MX POINT STANDINGs (After 8 of 12 rounds)
| 1. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
324/1 win |
| 2. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
320/2 wins |
| 3. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
263/1 win |
| 4. |
Jeremy Martin |
(Yam) |
262/2 wins |
| 5. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
243/1win |
| 6. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Kaw) |
192 |
| 7. |
Jalek Swoll |
(Yam) |
173/1 win |
| 8. |
Colt Nichols |
(Yam) |
172 |
| 9. |
Michael Mosiman |
(GG) |
154 |
| 10. |
Austin Forkner |
(Kaw) |
152 |
2021 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship 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 |
July 3, 2021 |
RedBud National |
Buchanan, MI |
| Rnd 5 |
July 10, 2021 |
Southwick National |
Southwick, MA |
| 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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