Dylan Ferrandis finished second in both motos of Round 3 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season at High Point Raceway in Mount Morris, Pennsylvania, and took the points lead.
In Moto 1, Adam Cianciarulo grabbed the holeshot and led flag to flag, but his win was not uncontested.
Cianciarulo visualized the start and jumped out to an early lead, but he could not afford to feel comfortable. The opening laps have not been an issue for him so far this season. He has seen leads disappear with minor mistakes and it appeared the same might be true at High Point when he clipped a banner at the 10-minute mark and almost gave up a two-second lead.
Chase Sexton and Ken Roczen were on his back tire until each of them also bobbled a few minutes later, allowing Cianciarulo to extend his advantage again.
Just as it appeared he would walk away with the win, another rider went down right in front of him just short of the finish line.
“A little fire drill at the end,” Cianciarulo said at the end of the race. “It’s kind of funny. The guy just dumped the clutch right in front of me. I tried to wheelie over his bike. I got up real quick, but it’s memories I guess.”
Cianciarulo righted his bike and walked it across the line to secure the Moto 1 win. This is his first moto win of the season.
Riding second in the closing laps, Sexton buried his front tire in a rut and crashed, handing the runner-up position to Ferrandis.
Roczen rounded out the podium.
Dylan Ferrandis takes the overall win and the red plate 😬 🏆 🔴 #LetsTakeItOutside pic.twitter.com/v38oGjfQcS
— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 19, 2021
Cianciarulo also had the early lead in Moto 2 until Eli Tomac finally found his rhythm for what seems like the first time in 2021.
With a best moto finish of eighth at Fox Raceway, Tomac started the season with disappointing results. At High Point he finally looked like the rider who won the 2019 outdoor title.
But he also faced a late race challenge. As Tomac settled into his pace, Ferrandis and Roczen got around Cianciarulo and started to catch the leader despite being engaged in a fierce contest for second. The battle finally proved to be a distraction, which allowed Tomac to pull away to a three second lead and score his first moto win of the year.
Consistency proved to be the key to Ferrandis’ day and his second-place finish in Moto 2 gave him the overall lead.
Roczen took the final podium spot, going 3-3 on the day, and finished fourth overall. Roczen and Tomac earned the same number of points in the race, but with his Moto 2 win, Tomac earned the tiebreaker.
Ferrandis gained four points on his principle rival and left Pennsylvania with the red plate.
450 results (moto finish)
- Dylan Ferrandis, France, Yamaha (2-2)
- Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki (1-4)
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (6-1)
- Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda (3-3)
- Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda (4-5)
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha (5-8)
- Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., GASGAS (9-6)
- Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (10-7)
- Joey Savatgy, Thomasville, Ga., KTM (8-9)
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM (7-11)
450 points standings
- Dylan Ferrandis, France, Yamaha - 133
- Ken Roczen, Germany, Honda - 130
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, Yamaha - 103
- Chase Sexton, La Moille, Ill., Honda - 101
- Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki - 101
- Justin Barcia, Monroe, N.Y., GASGAS - 96
- Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki - 86
- Marvin Musquin, France, KTM - 76
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., KTM - 76
- Christian Craig, El Cajon, Calif., Yamaha - 72
It was a career day for Jalek Swoll in the 250 class.
Last week he earned a career-best of sixth in Moto 2 and finished seventh overall. At High Point, Swoll chased teammate RJ Hampshire for most of the race until a chain fell off the leader’s bike. Swoll had to fend off a late-race charge by by Colt Nichols, but did not put a wheel wrong on his way to not only his first top-five, but the moto win.
“I got that second in Supercross and that was great, but geez - an outdoor nationals win is unbelievable,” Swoll said from the top spot on the podium. “It’s one of those things I always dreamed about growing up.
“I’m not going to get too high on this. I’m just going to go out and try to do it again next moto.”
But the question remained if Moto 1 was a fluke. Swoll answered with a resounding ‘no’ in the second race with another podium finish. His 1-3 on the day gave him his first overall win of his career.
“To get a win here in front of all these fans is incredible,” Swoll said at ProMotocross.com. “My tongue was in the spokes, I was so tired, but I dug deep. I knew I could do this (win). We’ve put in so much work to have the opportunity to be here. I’m at a loss for words right now.”
CAREER FIRST ☝️ Moto Win for Jalek Swoll 💪 pic.twitter.com/7OglyqARZI
— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 19, 2021
Jett Lawrence finished third in Moto 1 behind Swoll and Nichols. He improved by a position in Moto 2 and finished second overall in Round 3.
For Lawrence, it was risk versus reward at the end.
“I got into second and tried to put in a charge on (Justin) Cooper, but noticed I wasn’t gaining much ground,” Lawrence said. “I realized I’d rather just settle in and ride for second rather than potentially lose more points. I’m not totally happy with my effort today, but we still finished second and had a good day in the championship.”
Cooper minimized the points’ loss by winning Moto 2. After tipping over in the first race and finishing fifth, he knew he could not give up any ground.
Cooper got out to an early lead and protected the gap between himself and Lawrence to win his first moto of the year.
With his 3-2, Lawrence was able to extend his points lead over Cooper to 11 points.
250 results (moto finish)
- Jalek Swoll, Belleview, Fla., Husqvarna (1-3)
- Jett Lawrence, Australia, Honda (3-2)
- Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha (5-1)
- Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha (2-5)
- Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Yamaha (10-4)
- Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki (7-6)
- Ty Masterpool, Paradise, Texas, GasGas (9-10)
- Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda (8-11)
- Dilan Schwartz, Alpine, Calif., Suzuki (6-13)
- Carson Mumford, Simi Valley, Calif., (13-7)
250 points standings
- Jett Lawrence, Australia, Honda - 132
- Justin Cooper, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Yamaha - 121
- Hunter Lawrence, Australia, Honda - 90
- Jalek Swoll, Belleview, Fla., Husqvarna - 88
- Colt Nichols, Muskogee, Okla., Yamaha - 87
- Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Yamaha - 85
- Austin Forkner, Richards, Mo., Kawasaki - 77
- Jeremy Martin, Millville, Minn., Yamaha - 72
- Jo Shimoda, Japan, Kawasaki - 68
- RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna - 68
2021 SEASON SO FAR
Round 1: Dylan Ferrandis, Jett Lawrence victorious at Fox Raceway
Round 2: Ken Roczen’s perfect day as Justin Cooper takes 250s at Thunder Valley