Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 2 / MAY 25, 2019 FOX RACEWAY / PALA, CALIFORNIA P74 class for seventh overall. "I was super bummed after Hangtown and didn't want to feel that way again," said Hill. "The experience really motivated me. I'm starting to put my best foot forward. This is a new mindset." THE RETURN TO PALA After hosting two nationals in 2010 and '11, AMA Pro Motocross returned to the mostly flat Fox Raceway. Most riders felt that the track was fast and tricky. "This track was really challeng- ing," Roczen said. "You had some really high-speed sections, some sandy, loose spots with a hard base, lots of rocks and some big ruts, so it had a little bit of everything. Throttle control was very important today, especially in certain spots. The dirt looked like it would have more trac- tion, but it was really hard under- neath, making it very slick." RJ, NOT HAPPY RJ Hampshire scored a hard-fought second place in the first 250MX moto, but things came undone in the second moto. He ended up walking back to the pits before the race was over. "The second moto, the gate flinched, so a few of us hit the gate," said Hampshire of the second moto. "One-hundred percent that race should have been red flagged. The whole first lap, I was expecting a red flag, and I was not happy that it didn't come out. So my start was terrible, and then as I was making my way through the pack, A-Mart [Alex Martin] got sketchy, and I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He smoked me, and I ended up going down pretty hard. When we hit, he broke my water pump, which caused the DNF." MASTERPOOL ON THE MOVE Rookie Ty Masterpool (Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing) had a lot to be pumped about from Pala. With one round under his belt, Masterpool start- ed the opening moto 19th, and by lap four, he was in 14th, and he still man- aged to keep pushing to finish the moto in 12th. In moto two, he was on the move at the start going from 17th to 10th in just a few laps, but a mistake pushed him down the leaderboard to 22nd. He put in some fast laps to get all the way up to 17th, tying his previous best at 14th overall. "I was happy with my riding the first moto," Masterpool said. "I think it was smart and solid, but I got a bad start and had to work my way up. The second moto—talk about adversity. I got a great start and then just went downhill from there, but I've been taking every moto as a great experience to learn and move forward." Briefly... It was a quiet day for both Anderson (21) and Cooper Webb (2).