Lakewood, CO (June 2, 2018) – Jeremy Martin’s championship experience and strength—and a little extra acclimation to altitude—paid off with a big overall win at round three of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross, the True Value Thunder Valley National, near Denver. Not only the GEICO Honda rider deliver the day’s victory with 2-1 scores, but Martin took over the series’ points lead in the 250MX division.
“It was a pretty cool feeling,” said Martin. “It’s been three years since I had the red plate. Kind of had goosebumps after that. Really enjoying the moment for having it. It’s a lot of struggles since I won my title in 2015. I was in a pretty big hole in 2016 and last year. We were able to dig ourselves out of it and get back to where I belong.”
Martin rallied to second late in the first moto after winning a big battle with about six riders for a podium position. In the second race, he had to track down his older brother Alex to engage in a fight for the win. The brothers got close several times, but Jeremy finally made a pass stick and then pulled away to victory.
“It’s pretty cool that you have two brothers from the same family battling like that,” said Martin. “Out of everyone that I like to battle with, he’s probably my favorite. I got him to look over at me a couple times. It was a good day.”
With the Thunder Valley track situated at nearly 6000 feet above sea level, Martin benefitted from additional altitude acclimation due to mid-week training with Colorado’s own Eli Tomac. Jeremy has based himself out of Tomac’s compound since last fall, and that helped give him extra endurance late in Saturday’s races.
Solid day for Martin’s teammates Chase Sexton and RJ Hampshire, who once again scored top-ten results. Sexton went 10-6 for seventh overall and Hampshire went 13-7 for tenth.
“Thunder Valley was one of my favorite nationals so far!” said Sexton. “It was my first time there and I liked the track and the views of Colorado. Qualified sixth out of practice which was okay, and then in first moto I got a good start but didn’t make passes quick enough. I actually ended up getting passed by a few riders, and I also had a few tip overs. Really, that’s been the story of my first motos these first few rounds. Second moto got a seventh or eighth place start and made a few passes mid moto which put me sixth. Not what I want at all but we have two weeks to fix the problems and come out swinging at High Point.”
“I felt pretty fast all day, even on press day I felt like I could push and be pretty comfortable,” said Hampshire of his tenth. “First moto I had a decent start, inside the top 10 and landed in a slick spot off one of the jumps and just lost my front wheel. Was pretty much last and came up pretty far, but once you get closer to the top 10 the gap is so far to the next rider it’s hard to keep moving forward. Second moto my start wasn’t too good but I had good speed all moto. Caught up to Chase about half way and we were able to pick a couple good guys off. The team and I will work these next couple weeks to fix these start issues and come ready to battle closer to the front at High Point.”
The team gets an off weekend before racing resumes for Father’s Day Weekend, June 16th at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania.
GEICO Honda Results
1. Jeremy Martin
7. Chase Sexton
10. RJ Hampshire
Was this post helpful? Add yours to our service or subscribe to our feed above.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.