Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 11, 2015 P109 ering from a 13 th -place start. On lap four, Hampshire crashed out of second, while Smith did the same just a few laps later. All this moved Mus- quin into second. Two laps later, Musquin passed Savatgy for the lead and never looked back. Cooper Webb also passed Savatgy to move into second, but with two laps to go, the Yamalube/Star Racing rider also went down, which finished his race. Musquin wound up taking small mistake, allowing Martin to take the lead and eventual win, with Alldredge taking third. Savatgy took the lead again early in moto two after passing holeshotter, GEICO Honda's RJ Hampshire. Hampshire settled into second with teammate Jordon Smith taking over third after getting around CycleTrader.com/Rocky River Yamaha's Alex Martin. Musquin was running fifth at the time, while Martin was recov- the holeshot ahead of GEICO Honda's Christian Craig and teammate Chris Alldredge. Mus- quin ran fourth early on, but after battling Jeremy Martin for a bit, went down and had to work his way back up again. He ended up fourth. While Savatgy extended his advantage over the field, Mar- tin surged to the front, passing both Alldredge and Craig before taking off after Savatgy. Martin pressured Savatgy into making a 37 JOEY SAVATGY 250 1 ST O/A (2-2) "I can't complain. It was a great day even though I didn't quite get a moto win," said Joey Savatgy of his day. "The main thing for me today was getting out of the gate good. To get the first overall [win of my career] is an unreal feeling. We were able to get the lead in both motos and run out front for a while, which was great. We learned a lot in the first moto and I was able to lead almost until the end. The second moto I led again for a while and Marvin and Cooper were going faster than I could go. But when I came over the hill and I saw Webb down, I had to do quick math to figure out where everyone was. At that point I was like, 'oh man, I think I'm going to win.' And then I came around with two laps to go, and then the last lap, Justin, my mechanic, wrote 'first overall.' It's a crazy feeling. I'm pumped for the team, for Mitch [Payton, team owner], for Bones [Pro Circuit's Jim Bacon], just everyone behind the scenes that puts in the hours with me. It's all worth it on weekends like this." 25 MARVIN MUSQUIN 250 2 ND O/A (4-1) "In the first moto, I made a really small crash right away," said Marvin Musquin. "I was not happy, but then I made some good passes and I got to fourth place. Something happened with my goggles. I think I maybe got a rock or something and my lens popped out. That's really bad luck. I was struggling with the vision; I slowed down a couple times trying to shake my goggles and get rid of that dirt, and it would help, but every time I would catch the guy in front of me I would get more and more dirt inside. Watching Jeremy Martin winning that first moto and me right there, I couldn't make the pass and got fourth. Not the good start again in the second moto, but still right there. I couldn't find a great rhythm and I was kind of fighting with the track. I couldn't make the passes but obviously the guys in front of me kept crashing and made it easy on me. As soon as I got into second I knew I could pass Joey. I felt great and I went for the pass. Cooper was behind me and really pushing and putting pressure on me. We came really close a couple times, but it was like Washougal; I'm fighting for the championship. So I closed the door a couple times and we ran into each other a couple times. One lap he really ran into me and hit me. Good thing we didn't crash and we kept going. I was ready for those two laps at the end. I was confident and I knew I could hold him. He crashed and made it easy on me but gave Jeremy two points because he DNF'd. It's a crazy championship right now. Four more motos, it's go- ing to be tough but we are ready." 1 JEREMY MARTIN 250 3 RD O/A (1-5) "Moto one was good," said Martin. "I got a good start. As long as I'm in the top five I know I'm going to be there. My fitness is there. It's on point with all the best guys here in 250 and 450 and I just rode a smart race. I had a great battle with Joey and Christian Craig and Chris Alldredge. And I was able to get the win. [In the second moto], I just spun pretty good on the gate. At this point [in the series] it's just down to the starts. Everyone's fast. Marvin and I were having a good battle. I love feeling that pressure. That's why I started racing in the first place. Last year was significantly easier and this year's tough, and I like it. I like the challenge. I've always been a fighter. Growing up things were kind of tough so it's nothing new."

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