Cycle News

VOL. 55 ISSUE 24 JUNE 19, 2018 P59 seconds behind Musquin, and about 35 seconds after that came Barcia in third, all by himself. More than 20 seconds later came Justin Hill, who moved up to the 450MX class at High Point after Nicoletti left the team to fill in at Husky. Then came first-turn crashers Baggett, Bloss and Roczen. Roczen got the hole- FERRANDIS RETURNS Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy/Ya- malube Star Racing Yamaha) returned to action after recovering from multiple injuries from a big crash a couple months ago and he was competitive right away at High Point. In the second moto, he finished about a half-second behind second- placed Austin Forkner, and less than three seconds behind winner and teammate Aaron Plessinger. "It's good to get a moto win [podium] on the comeback," Ferrandis said. "I wish I could have podiumed overall today, because I know I had everything to do it, but I think the first moto, I was just too shy. It was my comeback from injury, so I just need time; laps with other guys, and fights with other guys. I was much better in the second moto. I was more myself. So, it was a good day." A-RAY'S DAY Monster Energy Yamaha's fill-in rider Alex Ray had a three-race deal with the Yamaha factory when he set out on this venture with the team starting at Glen Helen for round two, but with his home track being Muddy Creek Raceway, the Yamaha squad is keeping him on for at least one more race while they await the return of Cooper Webb. At High Point, Ray went 11-15 for 12th overall. "Overall, it was a solid day," Ray said. "My goal for High Point was to put two consistent motos together. I know I can be better, I just need to eliminate the mistakes heading into my hometown race at Muddy Creek." 4S FOR JGR The AutoTrader/JGR Suzuki team is set to have Justin Hill move up to the 450MX class full-time in 2019 anyway, and with him struggling in the 250MX class outdoors—as he has in years' past with other teams—the JGR guys moved him up to the 450MX class at High Point. And it paid off. Hill snatched fourth place in the opening moto, while his teammate Weston Peick went down in turn one and recovered for ninth. In moto two, it was Peick who grabbed fourth place while Hill came home still solid in sixth. Hill ended up fifth overall, and Peick sixth, which was a solid day for the team. But with Hill moving up to the 450MX class, it left rookie Enzo Lopes as the team's only remaining 250MX racer. Lopes ran in the top three in the first moto before falls set him back to finish 20th, but in the second moto he went down and suffered a frac- tured collarbone. Now, the JGR guys have no more 250MX racers. Lopes says hopes to be back by Southwick or RedBud. MARCHBANKS HURT It was a tough day for rookies at High Point. In the first moto, Garrett Marchbanks (Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki) was running just outside the top five with two laps to go and got cross-rutted and went down awkwardly in the famous High Point roller section. He crawled off the track with his left foot pointed in a somewhat-unnat- ural-looking direction, and he indeed may have injured his knee. "I'm hopeful that it's not as bad as it first felt but we'll have to wait and see what the doctors say this week," Marchbanks said. "It's such a bummer especially since I felt my best all season. Hopefully we'll get some good news this week, but until then I am thankful that it wasn't worse." TWO DOWN The second moto at High Point was a real bummer for the Geico Honda team. Chase Sexton was running just outside the top five when his motorcycle gave up on him, end- ing his day with a 10-DNF, but even more heartbreaking was that it also happened to points leader Jeremy Martin just a few laps later. There's no official word as to what caused both bikes to quit. Briefly...

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