Jeremy Martin breaks through for third career 250cc supercross win at Daytona International Speedway.
After just missing the podium at the 2016 Monster Energy AMA 250SX East Supercross Series opener in Atlanta last weekend, Yamalube Star Racing’s Jeremy Martin chose a good race to step up and snatch his third career 250SX win, the Daytona Supercross by Honda at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, tonight.
And that’s pretty much what the Minnesotan did—snatch it. After trailing GEICO Honda’s Malcolm Stewart for most of the race, Martin finally found the speed to jump his way past Stewart with three laps to go, and he pulled away to a convincing enough win in a thrilling Daytona main event that featured a four-rider breakaway among Stewart, Martin, Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Justin Hill and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Martin Davalos. Perhaps the most exciting part was that, behind Martin, the battle for the final podium spot wasn’t decided until the last few corners of the race.
Martin’s night got off to a decent start as he finished second to Davalos in the opening 250cc heat race. GEICO Honda teammates RJ Hampshire and Stewart would run 1-2 in heat race two. When the 15-lap main event got underway, Stewart bagged the holeshot just ahead of Martin, MTF KTM’s Dakota Alix and Davalos, while the night’s quick qualifier, Hill, was mired in seventh place but quickly began to move past the riders in front of him. Davalos quickly passed Alix, who would eventually begin a backward slide into the pack.
It took him three laps to pass Alix for fourth place, but Hill soon began to cut into the lead of the top three, and by lap six the front four began to bunch up as they pulled clear of the rest of the field. Martin took his first shot at the lead on lap six when he attempted to go around Stewart in a left-hand corner, only to get pinched off by Stewart, who came from the outside in the very next right-hander.
The race calmed down a bit from there, with Stewart leading the four-rider freight train for the next six laps before Martin got a drive through one of the track’s treacherous rhythm sections and shot past Stewart for the lead. Martin then pulled away to score the win by 1.6 seconds, but Stewart’s troubles weren’t over, as Hill, who had passed Davalos on lap eight, jumped past Stewart into second place with two laps to go. Davalos then tried to take third place away from Stewart just three turns from the finish line, only to slip wide and hit a Tuff Blok. That would have been it, except Stewart then stalled in the very next corner and handed the final podium spot to Davalos.
Martin, who came into 2016 nursing an injury suffered while getting ready for the supercross season, said that he and his team put in a lot of work to prepare for the East series.
“We worked a lot on bike setup and proper technique for supercross, because it is a whole different animal from outdoors,” Martin said. “I like to bulldog it, and you can’t quite do that in supercross. We worked really hard this off-season, and it’s really paying off.”
For Hill, who struggled with illness for much of last season, second place was a definite improvement over his fifth-place finish at the series opener in Atlanta.
“Definitely the ride was good,” Hill said. “I can’t complain about the ride. We put it in strong, but I’m not happy with second. That was a real close race. Jeremy was riding good. This is a hard track to pass on, and me and him were really going at it, trying to get around Malcolm Stewart, and it was just one of those things. It was just really hard to pass out there.”
Davalos’ third-place finish meant that he retains the 250SX East series points lead, although the battle has shifted a little. Davalos now leads with 45 points to Martin’s 43 and Stewart’s 40. Hill is still very much in the hunt for the title, with 38 points.
“The starts are one of the main keys, as everybody could see,” Davalos said. “Everybody is really close throughout the race. [I’m] just trying to get myself in a good position. I’m really stoked to be sitting up here on the podium, and I want to congratulate my friends on the podium. They rode a really good race. It was an awesome, fun race.”
The series next heads north of the U.S. border to Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for round three on March 12.
2016 Monster Energy AMA 250SX East Supercross Series
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
Results: March 5, 2016 (Round 2 of 8)
250 Main
1. Jeremy Martin-Yam
2. Justin Hill-KTM
3. Martin Davalos-Hus
4. Malcolm Stewart-Hon
5. Aaron Plessinger-Yam
6. Arnaud Tonus-Kaw
7. RJ Hampshire-Hon
8. Shane McElrath-KTM
9. Jesse Wentland-Hon
10. Tyler Bowers-Kaw
11. Benny Bloss-Yam
12. Cedric Soubreyras-Kaw
13. Anthony Rodriguez-Kaw
14. Dakota Alix-KTM
15. Gannon Audette-Kaw
16. Jimmy Albertson-Suz
17. Vann Martin-Hon
18. Joshua Cartwright-Yam
19. Matt Bisceglia-Suz
20. Paul Coates-Hon
21. Justin Starling-Kaw
22. Alexander Frye-KTM
2016 Monster Energy AMA 250SX East Supercross Series Points Standings (after 2 of 8 rounds)
1. Martin Davalos-45/1 win
2. Jeremy Martin-43/1 win
3. Malcolm Stewart-40
4. Justin Hill-38
5. Aaron Plessinger-36
6. RJ Hampshire-29
7. Tyler Bowers-24
8. Benny Bloss-18
9. Arnaud Tonus-17
10. Jimmy Albertson-16
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