On any other day, a season-worst 15th-place moto finish for Jeremy Martin may have left the young rider feeling seriously disappointed.
Not Saturday though. Martin had plenty of reason to celebrate after officially clinching the 250 Class title in the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.
Thanks to some heavy rain on Saturday morning that came in time for the first practice session at the Thor Indiana National, the Ironman Raceway track was turned into a wet, sloppy, muddy mess. Although the rain held off once the racing got underway, the damage had already been done. Lap times were slow. Several riders found themselves stuck in the mud and struggled to get their bikes free. Riding behind someone else meant getting roosted in the face with mud, and as a result, some riders were forced to toss their goggles and pull into the mechanic’s area to get a new pair.
Despite the unpredictable conditions, Martin didn’t have much issue navigating the track in the first 250 Class moto. The Yamalube/Star Racing/Yamaha rider finished second behind Jessy Nelson, and thanks to poor outings from the two riders still mathematically alive in the title race – Blake Baggett and Cooper Webb – Martin was able to lock up the title with three motos still left in the season.
A 15th-place finish in Moto 2 left Martin off the overall podium for the day, but after the conclusion of the race, he was presented with the #1 plate in honor of his championship. The title is the first of Martin’s career, and he accomplished it in just his second full season of professional racing.
“To be able to have the number one plate, I’ve been thinking of how good it would feel to hear Kevin [Crowther] from the AMA to be passing on the number one plate to me and this is the greatest moment of my life,” Martin said after receiving the plate.
Martin also acknowledged the fans that have been supporting him throughout the season.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” he said, “I heard the fans cheering me on the whole time out there, and that was the motivation I needed. You guys [the fans] have been cheering me on all year, and you don’t know how much that means to me.”
The overall victory in Indiana went to Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin, who placed third in Moto 1 and then won Moto 2. After starting the year off slow as he recovered from ACL surgery, Musquin is on fire lately, with victories at two of the last three rounds.
Joey Savatgy (4-3 moto finishes) had his best race ever and finished second overall. Jessy Nelson – whose Moto 1 victory was the first of his career – earned the final spot on the overall podium despite an eighth-place finish in the second moto.
Indiana 250 Class Overall Results
1. Marvin Musquin (3-1)
2. Joey Savatgy (4-3)
3. Jessy Nelson (1-8)
4. Christophe Pourcel (9-2)
5. Cooper Webb (6-5)
6. Dean Wilson (8-6)
7. Alex Martin (7-7)
8. Jeremy Martin (2-15)
9. Jason Anderson (5-10)
10. Blake Baggett (14-4)
*Moto 1 and Moto 2 results in parenthesis