1-1-2-1-2-1-1-2-1-1.
Now you know how well Ryan Dungey has raced since 2010 at Washougal. He won the overall in four of those five years and tied in points for the other with center podium occupied by Ryan Villopoto in 2013.
Needless to say, it doesn't look good for defending Champion Ken Roczen to make up some ground or season-ending heroics by Justin Barcia on Saturday at Round 9 of the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series held in the scenic foothills of Washington State about 25 miles from Portland, OR.
We're not ready to declare him the 2015 Motocross Champion as the old saying goes "anything can happen," however, Dungey has three wins in the last four motos including his first sweep of the season at Spring Creek just a week ago. His riding is something to behold. He doesn't win holeshots but it doesn't seem to matter. Once he gets out front he's hard to beat and he's only finished below second twice this year. He's starting to check out just like he did in Supercross.
Trey Canard is also back this Saturday, completely recovered from his broken arm that ended his Supercross season early, and apparently riding very well. So, if Dungey can hold serve with Canard fighting for the podium, Roczen's chances to win back-to-back titles plummet quicker if he rolls up in fourth, fifth or sixth place. Adding anymore to the already 56 point lead he holds over Roczen turns the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series into a race for second-place three rounds early. After Washougal, there's just 150 points left on the table and a rough outing this weekend from Roczen could line Dungey up for a Championship ride at Unadilla in two weeks.
Additionally, Barcia is within a Moto of taking over second place and has five straight third-place or better finishes. In fact, in the last five Motos Barcia has outscored Roczen 136-112. Blake Baggett isn't going down easy either. In his first year in the 450 class, it's unlikely he'll catch Barcia in third, but he's trying to lock down fourth-place for the season. Baggett tied Roczen in points at Spring Creek but took the overall. Regardless, Roczen lost 12 points to Dungey and Barcia lost six at Spring Creek. Dungey is in command and it's his title to lose.
Can Fredrik Noren fight for a podium at Washougal?
Then there's Fredrik Noren fresh off posting a career high fifth-place Moto last week en route to a career high overall. He likes the track at Washougal so this week is an opportune time to step on the podium for the 2010 Swedish National Champ. He's finally returned to the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda team after filling in for Canard on the Honda Factory teams so expect lots of MotoSport employees in attendance cheering him on. He sits in a solid 10th place in the standings and can easily move into eighth after this weekend.
Elsewhere with the MotoSport team, Tommy Hahn is expected back after his bout with the flu kept him from riding at Spring Creek. He raced to two Top 10 overalls prior to that and it's clear anything less won't suffice. His bike is ripping with the Top 5.
The 250 class isn't so cut and dry. Defending Champion Jeremy Martin holds his biggest lead of the season over second-place Marvin Musquin thanks to excellent riding in the previous two rounds on tracks he's familiar with and had success on.
But now it's Musquin's turn to try and keep Martin from running away with the lead. Musquin swept Washougal last year with Martin taking fourth-place twice. Musqin took third overall in 2013 and Martin, well, had a somewhat forgettable day. Martin and Musquin each have had their ups and downs this season, always seemingly when one is up the other is down.
It's more or less a lock that these two will finish 1-2 at the end of the season it's just a matter of who places where. But both now have to deal with Cooper Webb. He returned from a Round 1 injury at Budds Creek and got his first Moto win and the overall last time out. Coming in between Martin and Musquin offers more valuable points to whoever finishes first. Ironically, Musquin was in a position to help Martin win the overall at Spring Creek but ultimately wasn't able to pass Webb. The second-place overall for Martin however, netted him two additional points over Musquin instead of the victory. Wow, what if he wins the Championship by just one point?
Third-place is a toss up between Zach Osborne who currently holds the spot but Joey Savatgy is a mere four points back. Alex Martin is within earshot in fifth with 213 points but he needs to rekindle some of that High Point Budds Creek magic to join his brother on the Championship podium.
Kyle Peters' bike is fined-tuned for a Top 10
On the MotoSport team, Kyle Peters continues to inch his way into the Top 10. He grabbed ninth in Moto 1 at Spring Creek but the mud grabbed him in Moto 2. The team has done lots of work to his bike the fruits of which were evident last week if you saw his starts. Washougal might just be the turning point for him on the season.
MotoSport employee Brett Cue is also putting the whips away for a day and competing in the 250 class.
Believe it or not, rain is expected on Saturday though just light. Mild temperatures too, so should be a great day of riding for both the athletes and fans. Check out the MotoSport tent and visit with the legendary Guy Cooper, team manager for the MotoSport.com/GPI/Honda team, and the rest of the crew.
Gates to Moto 1 drop at 1 p.m. (PST) on Saturday. Buy tickets online or check out the broadcast schedule. Check out the track map:
2015 Motocross Season Standings
450 Class Standings
- Ryan Dungey (353)
- Ken Roczen (297)
- Justin Barcia (284)
- Blake Baggett (250)
- Jason Anderson (227)
- Broc Tickle (220)
- Christophe Pourcel (211)
- Phllip Nicoletti (176)
- Weston Peick (171)
- Fredrik Noren (161) - MotoSport rider
250 Class Standings
- Jeremy Martin (343)
- Marvin Musquin (324)
- Zach Osborne (235)
- Joey Savatgy (231)
- Alex Martin (213)
- Jessy Nelson (205)
- Adam Cianciarulo (178)
- Aaron Plessinger (169)
- Matthew Bisceglia (163)
- Jordon Smith (157)
