AMA Report: Heartbreak for Musquin
By TMX Archives on 23rd Aug 15
After an incredible back-and-forth battle for the 250 Class championship all season long, the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season finale at Ironman Raceway ended up being a heartbreaking round for Marvin Musquin. The Red Bull KTM rider recorded his first DNF of the season after bike problems knocked him out of the race early in the first moto. As a result, the deficit was too much for him to overcome in the championship race despite his best efforts in Moto 2.
On the flip side, it was about as good of a day as it gets for the Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha team: Jeremy Martin earned his second consecutive 250 Class championship, Cooper Webb grabbed a moto victory, and rookie Aaron Plessinger won the first race of his career.
As the gate dropped on Moto 1, it was GEICO Honda's Matt Bisceglia and Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil/KTM's Shane McElrath battling for the early lead. Webb cut his way through the pack though and took over the lead by the conclusion of the first official lap of racing.
Musquin would not complete an official lap. He and Jeremy Martin were grouped together early in the race, and it looked like an epic battle was about to unfold. However, while Martin made his way forward, Musquin encountered bike problems.
The Red Bull KTM team told NBC Sports' Georgia Lindsay that the bike was sputtering and would not respond when Musquin hit the throttle. He had to walk the bike back up to the rig, where the mechanics spent the rest of the moto tearing the bike down to diagnose the issue.
With Musquin out of the running, Martin had a chance to clinch the championship at the end of Moto 1 but in order to do so, he needed to win the race. Martin advanced towards the front, taking over second place from Bisceglia on Lap 7, but by that point, his teammate Webb had checked out up front and had built up a lead of more than 11 seconds.
Would Webb have let Martin go by if he caught up to him? Martin never had a chance to find out, as his other teammate, Aaron Plessinger, mounted a hard charge and took second place away on Lap 10. Plessinger then proceeded to erase the deficit that Webb had amassed and was right on his rear fender in the closing laps. Webb was able to narrowly hold on for the victory, while Plessinger recorded a career-best moto finish with a second-place result.
Jessy Nelson managed to prevent a Star Yamaha sweep of the podium thanks to a late pass of Martin. Nelson finished 3rd, Martin 4th. Joey Savatgy rounded out the top five.
Yamaha teammates Webb and Plessinger congratulate each other after Moto 1. (Photo: George Crosland)
Thanks to a holeshot in the second moto, Nelson suddenly found himself in contention for the overall victory. Savatgy, Bisceglia, Zach Osborne and Martin Davalos made up the rest of the top five at the end of the first lap.
The championship battle took an interesting twist when both Webb and Martin crashed on the opening lap. Webb did not return to the race, while Martin found himself way back in 20th when they crossed the line. Even with Musquin's misfortunes in Moto 1, Martin still needed to finish 15th or better to lock up the championship, leaving him with some work to do. As for Musquin, he didn't get a great start and crossed the line in 8th after the first lap.
Up front, Plessinger was mounting yet another charge through the field, just like he did in the first moto. By the end of Lap 3, he had moved his Yamaha up from 6th to 3rd behind Nelson and Savatgy. Then, about 12 minutes into the moto, Nelson crashed on his own while leading the race, gifting the lead to Savatgy and second place to Plessinger. From that point on, Plessinger was hounding Savatgy trying to make a pass. Savatgy was able to hold him him off for about seven minutes, but on Lap 8, Plessinger finally moved into first place. Crossing the line 10.7 seconds ahead of Savatgy, Plessinger scored the first moto win and the first overall victory of his career to close his rookie season out strong.
"This is amazing. I only live about two-and-a-half hours from here [in Ohio]," said Plessinger. "I was able to charge hard in both motos and it ended out working really well for me in the end. Today was a great learning experience. I'm just a rookie but I have many years ahead of me and I'm looking forward to continue improving."
Meanwhile, Musquin worked his way into third place after passing Nelson, but Martin refrained from making any mistakes that would have cost him the championship. Martin ended up 9th in the moto, a good enough result to give him another 250MX title.
"What a crazy year. Marvin [Musquin] was really strong this season and pushed me to my limit. He's a great competitor," explained Martin. "It was a weird summer. I'd get great starts and good finishes, but I also had trouble at times when Marvin would do well, so it was a constant battle until the end. This year was a much tougher championship to win. It was tough last year, but this was a dogfight all season long and I'm even more proud to end the year on top."
"It was a great year. The best year of my career [in the U.S.] so I feel like I can't really complain," said Musquin. "My team was fantastic all season. We came into the first moto [today] really strong and I was ready to battle. Unfortunately my bike had a problem. It was the only time I had an issue all year long. I've had so much support from all the fans in America, France and throughout Europe. I kind of feel like I let everyone down, but we still had a great season."
The final margin between Martin (491 points) and Musquin (479 points) will be just 12 points. Savatgy secured third place in 250MX points, with Osborne and Nelson rounding out the top five.
Plessinger's overall victory makes him the third Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha rider to win a race this season, and later on Saturday night, he was named the 2015 Rookie of the Year for Lucas Oil Pro Motocross at an awards ceremony. Consider the fact that Alex Martin - who also earned a moto victory earlier this year - is joining the team next year, and all of a sudden, the potential for a four-headed monster in 2016 is a scary proposition - at least for all the other teams in the 250 Class.
Behind Plessinger, Savatgy (5-2) and Nelson (3-6) earned spots on the overall podium as well.
250 Overall Ppoints
1. Aaron Plessinger (2-1)
2. Joey Savatgy (5-2)
3. Jessy Nelson (3-6)
4. RJ Hampshire (8-4)
5. Matt Bisceglia (6-5)
6. Jeremy Martin (4-9)
7. Zach Osborne (10-7)
8. Christian Craig (9-8)
9. Cooper Webb (1-37)
10. Marvin Musquin (40-3)
11. Martin Davalos (12-10)
12. Shane McElrath (11-11)
13. Hayden Mellross (13-14)
14. Chris Alldredge (7-31)
15. Daniel Baker (17-12)
16. Darian Sanayei (15-15)
17. Marshal Weltin (14-16)
18. Jace Owen (18-13)
19. Nick Gaines (16-19)
20. Alex Frye (21-17)
250 Class Points
1. Jeremy Martin, 491
2. Marvin Musquin, 479
3. Joey Savatgy, 348
4. Zach Osborne, 330
5. Jessy Nelson, 323
6. Aaron Plessinger, 311
7. Alex Martin, 288
8. Matt Bisceglia, 256
9. Shane McElrath, 248
10. RJ Hampshire, 248
