Posts
497
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
BR
Fantasy
2538th
Edited Date/Time
8/9/2017 3:29am
After thinking about attending Washougal for several years, I finally did it and here are some of my impressions and pictures from behind the fence.
I flew into Seattle and drove to Portland, which is 40 minutes away from Washougal. However, my route to Portland was anything but a straight line, as I had decided take the opportunity to visit Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and Sawtooth National Forest.
Here's my Long Way Round drive from Seattle to Portland:
After 2,000 miles of some amazing views, I finally arrived at the track on Saturday morning right before practice.
Having been to many nationals (including Glen Helen, Hangtown, Lake Elsinore, Budds Creek, Unadilla, Broome Tioga, Gainesville and Red Bud - yes, I know I'm getting old), I was really impressed with the beauty of the place. There are other tracks that offer better spectator viewing, but I had never been to such a scenic location for a motocross race!
I'll try to post some comments and pictures covering practices, the 125 dream race and the motos. So, shall we get started with practice?
250 timed practice
I believe Adam Cianciarulo was fastest on both 250 sessions. He was really aggressive from the get go, immediately attacking the track even when it was fairly wet in the first session. In person AC looks kind of tall for the 250F, and I believe a transition to the 450s should suit him.
Versace Savatgy was second, roughly half a second slower than AC. Savatgy was deceptively fast, as it didn't look like he was pushing that hard. In this picture you can see how loamy the track looked in the first practice session. Mitch Payton was probably smiling at this point, with both of his riders up front!
Shane McElrath and Zach Osborne followed in 3rd and 4th, with less than a second between them. Here's a couple of shots from similar angles to compare their styles.
McElrath carries good speed and flows everywhere, while Osborne looks much more aggressive all the time.
Here are a couple of bonus shots from Justin Hill, who qualified in 12th but, unfortunately, didn't race.
And also one of Kyle Cunningham (14th), just because I think the early morning light looks kinda of cool
I flew into Seattle and drove to Portland, which is 40 minutes away from Washougal. However, my route to Portland was anything but a straight line, as I had decided take the opportunity to visit Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and Sawtooth National Forest.
Here's my Long Way Round drive from Seattle to Portland:
After 2,000 miles of some amazing views, I finally arrived at the track on Saturday morning right before practice.
Having been to many nationals (including Glen Helen, Hangtown, Lake Elsinore, Budds Creek, Unadilla, Broome Tioga, Gainesville and Red Bud - yes, I know I'm getting old), I was really impressed with the beauty of the place. There are other tracks that offer better spectator viewing, but I had never been to such a scenic location for a motocross race!
I'll try to post some comments and pictures covering practices, the 125 dream race and the motos. So, shall we get started with practice?
250 timed practice
I believe Adam Cianciarulo was fastest on both 250 sessions. He was really aggressive from the get go, immediately attacking the track even when it was fairly wet in the first session. In person AC looks kind of tall for the 250F, and I believe a transition to the 450s should suit him.
Versace Savatgy was second, roughly half a second slower than AC. Savatgy was deceptively fast, as it didn't look like he was pushing that hard. In this picture you can see how loamy the track looked in the first practice session. Mitch Payton was probably smiling at this point, with both of his riders up front!
Shane McElrath and Zach Osborne followed in 3rd and 4th, with less than a second between them. Here's a couple of shots from similar angles to compare their styles.
McElrath carries good speed and flows everywhere, while Osborne looks much more aggressive all the time.
Here are a couple of bonus shots from Justin Hill, who qualified in 12th but, unfortunately, didn't race.
And also one of Kyle Cunningham (14th), just because I think the early morning light looks kinda of cool
Hard to say what is the deal with Jeremy Martin, who qualified in 6th, but he never looked that comfortable on the bike.
Here are a couple of Luke Renzland...
Jon Ames
Sean Cantrell
And another one of Savatgy to wrap the 250 practices
ML512
Ivan Tedesco
Josh Hansen
Tyler Villopoto
The Shop
Eli Tomar was on it, besting Musquin by about a second and a half! Here he takes the inside line on the first leg of the S turn...
...while Musquin and Justin Barcia rail the outside.
MM25 would go on to have a great day, while JB51 would, later in practice, crash in the finish line area and would not line up for the motos.
However, the biggest story from practice, was Noren in 4th place. Impressive!
Blake Baggett (5th) airs it out over the wall jump...
...while Tomac takes the more traditional approach.
Bisceglia qualified in 12th, and what a cool style on the bike!
Musquin preferred to hug the inside on the turn before the uphill...
... while Tomac was drifting wider at the exit.
Ryan Lockhart (#81) got the holeshot, with Ivan Tedesco (#9) hot on his heels. After two turns they reached the uphill, where Tedesco took the lead. Tyler Villopoto was right there (weird scrub on the #61), as well as Devin Watson (#777). Unfortunately, Lockhart would crash at the top of the hill, on the very first lap, and would DNF.
With Tedesco and Lockhart already gone, Tyler leads the rest of the pack on the first lap.
Vital's ML512 on the first lap, after a mid-pack start.
Tyler pressured Tedesco, and eventually got by...
...before his bike started losing power (it was very noticeable on the uphill) and he settled for second.
Vernon McKiddie
The 125 race was a very interesting idea, and I wish it took place at every round. Seeing those bikes at full tilt brought back a lot of good memories!
Well done, and thanks for sharing.
A few pics of ML512 from practice:
Later on I'll post about the 250 and 450 races.
After I'm done sorting through the race pictures, I'll post a few from the parks.
After the big crowds at Yellowstone, it was nice to have all those views and barely any tourist activity.
Pit Row
som
Sorry about the soft focus, as I wasn't following anyone in particular.
It was more a case of "let`s hope something interesting happens here in the first lap."
Now we finally get to the 1st 250 moto:
The 250 class is pretty evenly matched. Case in point is Plessinger only posting the 10th fastest time in practice, but running away with the moto after getting a great start.
These were all taken in sequence after one lap - Plessinger already stretching out a lead.
Sean Cantrell under pressure from Ferrandis.
Mitchell Harrison just ahead of...
Cianciarulo, who was under fire from Savatgy
Meanwhile, Osborne had a lousy start and halfway through the first lap he was coming through the pack, battling with local hero Gared Steinke (#726) on the 125.
A nice view of the uphill, when you have a clear track ahead and the entire pack behind you.
Sean Cantrell rode great, holding 2nd place for almost half the race.
Sometimes these scrubs look a little awkward to me, but what do I know...
Cianciarulo got into second, but finished about 10 seconds behind the #23. Impressive ride, nonetheless. Here he is tripling through the whoops just before the finish line.
Savatgy, who was close to AC in the initial laps, would finish in 7th and probably thought his shot at an overall win was gone.
A dogfight in the uphill, with Savatgy attacking Harrison, while Hampshire goes for the scrub in an attempt to gain on Colt Nichols.
Jeremy Martin, avoids one of these pesky yellow track markers that got in the way of my pictures the whole day
Ferrandis did hold Osborne back, barely edging him out for 3rd.
Nice top 5 finish for Harrison. The kid rides with a lot of heart!
At one point Plessinger's lead was so big that even the public started losing interest
Colt Nichols always has great body position on the bike. Cool style!
Thanks for watching, and tomorrow we'll be back with the 1st 450 moto.
Awesome
EZZA, it's good to be back posting here and I missed our frriendly exchanges.
Later on today (after I'm done with my real job
Musquin grabs the holeshot, while a fan waves a french flag (is it really?) and Benny Bloss goes down hard in the background.
Benny's bike is now on top of him, and I was impressed that he recovered all the way to 17th place.
Tight formation flying
Bogle gives Musquin a run as they head for the uphill in the first lap.
MM25 with a clear track
Tomac quickly passed a few guys, soon being right on Davalo's rear wheel
By the fifth lap, Tomac had passed Davalos and started narrowing the gap to Musquin
Vital's own GuyB (#404) getting up close with the wide angle and flash
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