The opening 250 Class moto of the afternoon saw Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Justin Cooper emerge with his class-leading seventh Motosport.com Holeshot of the season ahead of Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo and FCC/Signation privateer Jerry Robin. As Cooper quickly set the pace out front with Cianciarulo in tow, Ferrandis began to make moves and overtook Robin before the completion of the opening lap.
Cianciarulo applied heavy pressure on Cooper in the early minutes of the moto, but Cooper was able to respond and open a small cushion. Ferrandis, who started just outside of the top three, began to inch up on the front-runners and had his sights set on the lead group. A mistake by Cooper through the rollers on Lap 5 sent him to the ground, surrendering the lead to Cianciarulo. Cooper picked himself up to remount in fourth position, just behind GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton.
Once in the lead, Cianciarulo used a clear track to consistently click off laps, maintaining a slight advantage over his championship rival Ferrandis. When the checkered flag waved, it was Cianciarulo who held on to take his seventh moto victory of the season by 3.6 seconds over Ferrandis. Behind the lead duo, Sexton claimed his third moto podium finish of the season, followed by Cooper.
The deciding 250 Class moto once again saw a Star Yamaha lead the field through the first turn as Ferrandis earned his first Motosport.com Holeshot of the season with teammate Cooper and Cianciarulo in tow. Cooper quickly went after his teammate out front and made an attempt for the lead, however, Ferrandis would shut the door and hang on. Ferrandis led the opening lap, followed by Cianciarulo and Cooper.
Knowing that every point in the championship matters, Cianciarulo had his sights set on Ferrandis for the race lead. On Lap 2, Sexton used his race craft to takeover third from Cooper and quickly focused in on the two riders out front. Every time Cianciarulo appeared to make a run at Ferrandis, the Frenchman would counteract and prevent his rival from picking up momentum.
With the race winding down, Ferrandis remained consistent at the head of the 40-rider field to keep Cianciarulo at bay and take his seventh moto win of the season by 1.1 seconds. Cianciarulo finished just behind in second, followed by Sexton in third.
Ferrandis’ better second moto finish gave him the edge in a tiebreaker with Cianciarulo for his fourth career victory (2-1). Cianciarulo finished runner-up overall (1-2) on the day, while Sexton earned his second overall podium of the season in third (3-3).
“Today, the track was very challenging and rough,” said Ferrandis. “My bike setup was not perfect in the first moto, but the team made some changes for me between motos and I think that really helped me heading into the second moto. I’m happy to grab another win, my second in a row, and need to keep it going into the final two rounds for a shot at the championship.”
Cianciarulo’s tiebreaker finish with Ferrandis was good enough to keep his championship lead at 28 points. Cooper maintains his solid hold of third, 59 points out of the lead.
The 2019 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will continue next weekend for the penultimate round of the championship on Saturday, August 17, at the legendary Budds Creek Motocross Park. First motos of the GEICO Motorcycle Budds Creek National can be seen live on MAVTV at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET. The second motos will be aired via tape delay on NBCSN at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET. Additionally, all motos can be watched live on the NBC Sports Gold app.
