2020 Ironman Motocross Recap
Eli Tomac finally got his season underway taking the overall for Round 3 of the 2020 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series on Saturday at the Ironman National in Crawfordsville, IN.
The defending three-time 450 class Champion struggled in the two openers of this shortened nine-round season, because of the coronavirus, and last week failed to cross the finish line in both Motos as his Kawasaki had enough of the day-long mudder. This weekend, dry weather gave riders natural conditions and helped Tomac cut into a 40 point lead held by Zach Osborne, who was unable to win for the third straight time.
Tomac finished second in Moto 1 to a very dominate Marvin Musquin who check out, but took control in Moto 2 and fended off a feisty Justin Barcia for the checkers and grab the overall on a (2-1) day. He shaved 13 points off Osborne's lead in the Championship standings and jumped from seventh-place to fourth, just a point behind Barcia for third, and now 27 points from the lead. Musquin (1-6) finished second overall retaining his hold on second in the standings. Osborne, who ran upfront in Moto 1 before coming together with a lapped rider, took fifth overall on a (7-3) day while Adam Cianciarulo (3-4) rounded out the podium and Barcia (6-2) got his best finish so far this season in fourth.
In the 250 class, Dylan Ferrandis dominated the field in Moto 1 beating Jeremy Martin by 26 seconds but a first turn crash in Moto 2 left him in the back of the pack, however, a Tomac like surge through the field brought Ferrandis up to third allowing him to secure second overall and a hold on the Red Plate. Martin meanwhile checked out for the second race, grabbing his first Moto win in more than two years and his second straight overall to cut Ferrandis' Championship points lead to a mere four. Martin, a two-time 250 class Champion, returned to racing in 2020 after a crash in Motocross two years ago left him with burst fracture of his L1 vertebrae.
Brandon Hartranft (3-4) took third helping to erase last week's 21st overall, Justin Cooper's (8-2) second-place in Moto 2 helped get him fourth overall and rookie Jett Lawrence (4-5) had his best day so far in Outdoors with a fifth overall.
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures as Redbud hosts an unprecedented double-header for Rounds 4 & 5.
UNPRECEDENTED!
Gates drop at 10 a.m. (PST) on Friday for Round 4 and Monday for Round 5.
Until then, live Round 3 all again at Ironman. Photos by Ryne Swanberg.
2020 Ironman Motocross
