The historic sand track at legendary Motocross 338 in Southwick, Massachusetts, proved to be a torture test of man versus machine. Several mechanical failures brought havoc to the efforts of racers in both the 250 and 450 division.
Having no problems on the day was Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac, who put forth his second consecutive moto sweep in the 450 division. Tomac has now pulled away to a 19-point championship lead over Blake Baggett. Baggett came into the race nursing a sore thumb and put up a strong fight in the opening moto as he battled with Tomac for the lead before settling into a comfortable 2nd place. A notable performance in 450 moto 1 came from Marvin Musquin, who has been racing himself back into winning contention after a knee injury. Musquin went down on the first lap and found himself in last position, then stormed through the pack and into 4th spot. In 450 moto 2, Tomac proved to be too strong for everyone and absolutely blistered the extremely rough and sandy track on his way to the moto sweep. Musquin suffered a scary crash during the moto and flew off the track. Baggett brought it home 2nd again and lost six championship points to Tomac.
In the 250 division, it was a great battle between surging Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis and series point leader Zach Osborne. The two traded moto victories with Osborne winning the overall via a 2-1 score. Alex Martin came into round 7 hoping to close the gap on Osborne. Despite a good day with consistent 3-3 moto scores, the championship gap now stands at 45 points. Osborne has won six motos and captured four overall victories in the championship. He has definitely established himself as the rider to beat in this division. It was a less than desirable day for Monster Energy Pro Circuit as 2017 Western Region 250SX champion Justin Hill and Austin Forkner placed 39th and 40th respectively.
The Pro Motocross Championship goes on hiatus until July 22 when it will resume action at Millville, Minnesota.