Rockstar Energy Husqvarna battle at Muddy Creek
By Team TMX on 26th Jun 16
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team made its way to the fifth round of the 2016 Pro Motocross Championship on Saturday, held at the Muddy Creek Raceway in Blountville, Tennessee. Zach Osborne, Christophe Pourcel and Martin Davalos showed up ready to battle, while teammate Jason Anderson sat the race out due to injury.
Christophe Pourcel had an excellent start to the day by posting the fastest 450 qualifying time. He pulled a great start in his first moto, found his way to fourth aboard his Husqvarna FC 450, and held strong to the finish. He was mid-pack at the start of the second moto and fought his way to eighth by the time the checkered flag waved. He went 4-8 for sixth overall.
"My day went pretty well,” said Pourcel. "I'm still trying to improve on myself and the bike. Overall it was good, and ending up sixth overall is not too bad. The goal is to be in the top five so I'm close. I'll try to get that next weekend. This morning was good – I got the fastest lap time. The first moto was decent, but I got a bad start in the second moto and got tangled up. I was almost last and had to push a little bit. I had two decent motos so that's good. I'll do better in the next few weeks – the goal is top five.”
Zach Osborne was coming off earning his first career moto win last weekend at the High Point National, and was looking to follow it up with a successful day. He showed some speed during timed qualifying practice on his Husqvarna FC 250 by posting the third fastest time and earning a good gate pick for the first moto. He was top 10 at the start and started putting in some good laps. He made his way up to sixth by lap seven and pushed all the way to a third-place finish. He was mid-pack at the start of the second moto, but multiple crashes forced him to come from behind. He put on an amazing ride and fought all the way back to 10th by the end of the moto. The 3-10 finish gave him sixth overall on the day.
"I qualified third today,” said Osborne. "I got third in the first moto from a top-15 start. The second moto was pretty frustrating. I went down on the start then crashed two more times after that. A 10th in the second moto was a really good ride, but it doesn't really show on paper. It's frustrating to have such a good first moto then kind of throw it away in the second moto - but it happens. I made up some ground on the people in front of me in points. I'm looking forward to RedBud next weekend. It's a track I really like and excel at.”
Martin Davalos was looking to redeem himself after having a tough race last weekend at High Point, but found himself ending the day on a frustrating note. He pulled a top-three start in the first 250 moto, eventually finishing the race in seventh. He was forced to pull off in the second moto after crashing in the beginning of the race.
"I was excited about Muddy Creek because I raced it during amateurs,” said Davalos. "I feel like I didn't put a good practice together, but I really did put in a good first moto. I got screwed up with another rider and almost went down then got passed by two people. I ended up seventh. First motos have been my weak point and I feel like I'm definitely starting to put things together better. I made a mistake in the second moto and got cross rutted and crashed really bad. My bike got messed up and I wasn't able to finish. I'm really looking forward to Red Bud next weekend. It's one of my favorite tracks. I'm ready to put two good motos together.”
