2021 Budds Creek Motocross | Race Report & Photo Gallery

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2021 BUDDS CREEK MOTOCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The 2021 Budds Creek Motocross proved how close and competitive the 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship really is. All four Motos on the Maryland track were bar-to-bar battles that brought a mix riders to the podium and kept the title fights extremely tight. How close? Despite having multiple winners on the day, the main figures in the 250 and 450 Class ended the day with no major differences in the points gap. 

250 Moto One

As the first 250 moto left the gate, Justin Cooper was off to the early lead with Jalek Swoll just behind. Austin Forkner shuffled into third place and was pressuring Swoll early in lap one for second place. Forkner looked inside of Swoll jumping down the hill and managed to out-power him to the next section to take over second place. After just one lap, Justin Cooper had already built himself quite a lead on the rest of the field. RJ Hampshire was making moves towards the front, as he was knocking on Marchbanks door and challenging for fourth. RJ swept wide and then beat Marchbanks to the next corner to make the pass. Hampshire then went on to pass his teammate Swoll for third, and began his charge towards Forkner. Justin Cooper had built himself a 9-second lead but then turned in a lap time 8-seconds slower than his fastest, dropping that lead to just over 4-seconds. Jett Lawrence found another gear and passed both Jeremy Martin and Marchbanks in the matter of a few sections to enter fifth place. RJ Hampshire, who was running in third, went down and dropped back to seventh place. Jett Lawrence then made the pass on Swoll for third place and now sat 9-seconds behind Justin Cooper. Garrett Marchbanks then dropped back to 20th place after battling inside the top-10 throughout the beginning of the moto. With ten minutes on the clock, Jett Lawrence had reeled in Forkner and was on his rear wheel challenging for second. A lapper went down just in front of Austin Forkner, forcing him to stand the bike up and go over the rut as Jett slid around the inside and took over second place. A few laps later, Jeremy Martin was now challenging Forkner for third place. Austin made a mistake in a corner, allowing Jeremy to rocket by and take over third place. With two laps to go, Jo Shimoda was pressuring Hunter Lawrence for 7th place and took a few shots at the pass but Hunter shut him down. On the final lap, Jo cut inside and pulled alongside Hunter but Hunter again took the line away in the following corner to hold on to the spot. As the checkered flag waved, Justin Cooper took the first moto win after leading each and every lap. 

250 Moto Two

The second 250 moto was off and Jeremy Martin was off to the early lead with Jett Lawrence and Ty Masterpool just behind. Levi Kitchen and Jalek Swoll went down on the first lap, placing them at the back of the pack. Justin Cooper came around the first lap in sixth, just behind Austin Forkner. However, Justin made the pass on Austin and then went after Hunter Lawrence for fourth. As Justin and Hunter duked it out for fourth, they began to reel in Ty Masterpool, who held onto third. While trying to keep Hunter behind him, Ty went down in an inside rut and gave up two positions before remounting. Austin Forkner was now challenging Ty Masterpool for fifth place and got the pass done over the triple step-up after Ty hit a hole on the lip and shot off to the right. Out front, Jeremy Martin continued to lead Jett Lawrence but now by a 8-second lead. With 5-minutes on the clock, Schwartz made the pass on Ty Masterpool for sixth place. As Schwartz worked his way through lapped traffic, RJ Hampshire began to close-in on the privateer Suzuki rider. It took a few laps and a couple of attempts, but RJ Hampshire was able to make the pass on Schwartz before time ran out. When the checkered flag came out, Jeremy Martin grabbed the second moto win and the overall win at Budds Creek with 3-1 moto results.

450 Moto One

The first 450 moto was off and Cooper Webb was off to the early lead with Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen trailing. Ken Roczen made a quick pass on Tomac and then immediately made the pass on Webb after taking the line away to grab the lead. Meanwhile, Bogle and Christian Craig were down on the first turn. Eli Tomac then began to pressure Webb for second, but Cooper was fending him off for the time being. As Eli continued to pressure Webb, Sexton closed in on the duo. Craig was down again after washing out before the finish line and being sent through the air off-track. Eli scrubbed over a table and darted to the inside rut to make the pass on Webb for second place. Chase Sexton then went after Webb and got it done after hitting the brakes late and beating Cooper to the turn. Sexton then immediately went after Eli and made the pass in the following corner after taking Tomac wide. A lap later, Dylan Ferrandis made the pass on Cooper Webb in the same section Eli had passed Webb the lap before. Ken Roczen continued to lead, but he now sat nearly 8-seconds ahead of his teammate Chase Sexton and 10-seconds over Eli and the rest of the field. Ferrandis reeled in Eli and made the pass through the rollers before the finish line as he hugged the far inside. Local privateer hero Coty Schock made the pass on Aaron Plessinger for seventh place. Back up front, Chase Sexton was beginning to close in on Ken Roczen as he now sat less than 3-seconds behind. With 6-minutes left on the clock, Aaron Plessinger rode back to the pits after clearly being in some pain from last weekends crash. Roczen had a close one and nearly went down, allowing Sexton to close-in even more. The leaders were lapping well into the top-20 and being held up while doing so, as Ferrandis was able to close-in on Sexton after Chase was held up a few times. Dylan Ferrandis darted inside of Sexton, just as a lapper got in Chase’s line, allowing Dylan to take the inside rut and ride away with second place. With one lap to go, Ferrandis had Roczen in his sights after upping his pace. Ken Roczen made a slight mistake but kept his line tight to hold onto the lead as they crossed the finish line. It was a close finish, but Roczen took the first moto win over Ferrandis. 

450 Moto Two

As the second 450 moto left the gate, Ken Roczen was off to the early lead after snagging the hole shot. Cooper Webb was just behind in second and Dylan Ferrandis trailed him. Chase Sexton went for a pass on Ferrandis as he dove inside, but Dylan grabbed a handful of throttle and held onto the spot. A lap later, Sexton then cut under Dylan and beat him to the following corner to take away third place. A few sections later, Sexton made the pass for second on Cooper Webb and began his charge towards Roczen and the lead. Dylan Ferrandis made the pass on Cooper Webb through the rollers before the finish line and picked up third place. Eli Tomac now challenged Webb for position, as he swapped lines with Cooper and pulled alongside through a sweeping corner before grabbing another gear and rocketing into fourth place. A few laps later, Dylan Ferrandis had reeled in Sexton, who had caught Roczen himself. Eli Tomac caught up to the top-three, making it a four rider battle for the lead. Sexton nearly went down before the finish, slowing him down and allowing Ferrandis to make the pass for second. Eli Tomac was now pressuring Sexton for position, as Eli pulled alongside after the finish and railed the outside berm past Sexton and into third place. Ferrandis was now challenging Roczen and searching for passing lines. Ferrandis dove inside a few times, but Ken was able to shut the door. However, Dylan hit the brakes late and took Roczen wide before the mechanics area to make the pass for the lead. On the final lap, Dylan Ferrandis pulled away from Roczen and held on to take the moto win and overall victory at Budds Creek after a 2-1 result.