Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/707505
MOTOCROSS LUCAS OIL AMA PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 9 / JULY 23, 2016 WASHOUGAL, WASHINGTON / WASHOUGAL MX PARK P64 The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM team got a lot stronger at Washougal. For quite a few races now, the only racer the team had on the starting line was Mitch Oldenburg. He's done well with the pressure, but at Washougal, the team returned with local boy Justin Hill and Jessy Nelson. "It's always good to be home," Hill said. "That's all I can really say about it. I get to see my fam- ily, I get to see my friends, a track that's familiar to me. Practice wasn't perfect—I could've been bet- ter—but I'm shaking some of the cob- webs off and getting ready." Hill end- ed up with a strong 8-4 on the day in his first race back. Nelson was a little bit off in moto one, but had a great moto two, ending up third in the moto and ninth overall. "Six weeks off the bike, and five days on," Nelson said. "I felt great. My stamina really wasn't there. I was going fast, but now we have a three-week break, and I can build and have some momentum go- ing into Unadilla. I really wasn't sup- posed to race [today], but at the last minute, I decided to, so it was good." After the second-moto shenanigans in the 250cc class, the AMA called both Cooper Webb and Joey Sa- vatgy into the trailer to have a talk with them. Savatgy left immediately after the race and would not com- ment, but Webb talked about why they were in the AMA rig: "They were just trying to calm us down," Webb said. "I feel like I was pretty calm about it, and he was definitely fired up. What for, I don't really know. Like I said, I see where he's coming from, but at the same time, I felt like his move was a bit unnecessary, and it cost him and I the lead. And that's what we really want to do is try to win, so I thought that as crazy as it all was, it was pretty fun. To see all three of us down, I knew it was going to be a battle, and this track's hard to pass on, so I knew we were going to be making some moves. It was definitely a strange turn of events, but it defi- nitely spiced up the race." While many of the riders complained about the "sketchy" (a word that was used a lot on the day) conditions of the Washougal track in the sunny second moto, mostly because of the shadows (overcast in the first motos eased the shadow issues) and deceivingly slick dirt, Eli Tomac was oblivious to it all and simply went about his business of just riding. "This track flows really well if you're out front early," Tomac said. "It's all about connecting corners and staying smooth, because the hard- pack and slick stuff can get you some- times. So you've got to take it easy to be fast here." Alex Martin said he was relieved to get the win after coming so close so many times this year. "I'd be ly- ing if that [crashing] wasn't going through my head in the first moto," Martin said. "It seems like lame little tip-overs have been happen- ing to me over and over again; last week at Millville and having that happen again three laps from the end of the first moto; for sure that was going through my head, so I just wanted to get it done. So it was a great feeling to get the win and break that streak and get that monkey off my back." The Yoshimura Suzuki Team was down to just one rider again, with both Blake Baggett and Matt Bisceglia out with injuries. (Bisce- glia is expected to return after the break but Baggett is out for the rest of the season after re-injuring his col- larbone.) James Stewart was left to man the ship and finished ninth in the first moto but pulled out after a few laps in the second moto. He's still dealing with blistered hands, but more importantly, just isn't into rac- ing shape yet following his long lay- off. We will see if Stewart can whip himself back into shape after the lon- gest break (two weeks) of year. "When I won the second moto, I was so happy I didn't care what my over- all was," said Austin Forkner after learning his 10-1 would give him sec- ond overall. "I thought I'd be maybe fifth. I was on the podium and about to walk off when they said, 'No, you got second!' I didn't believe them. I was like 'they did not do the math right. There is no way that I got sec- ond overall with a 10-1!' I didn't be- lieve it, but I guess it was." Briefly... James Stewart continues to struggle with his endurance.