Christophe Pourcel sweeps specialty awards at Unadilla; Luke Renzland and Cade Clason each earn RC Hard Charger Award.
Christophe Pourcel had more to celebrate than just his first Lucas Oil 250cc Pro Motocross win in five years at the Red Bull Unadilla National last Saturday. The icing on the Frenchman’s cake was that he also captured three specialty awards at the race.
Pourcel’s dominant afternoon began after he earned his eighth Oakley Bomb Award, for the rider who posts the fastest time in his class during timed practice, in 10 rounds. He had already locked in the Elite Oakley Time Bomb II Swiss Automatic Watch by setting the fastest laps this season, and that trend continued with a 2-minuted, 14.349-second lap that just edged out Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin by a tenth of a second.
As he has done all season, Pourcel carried that momentum in both 250cc motos. Pourcel had swept the Motosport.com Holeshot Awards at the previous two rounds, and he did it again at Unadilla, putting his Yamaha at the front of the field each time the gate dropped. Pourcel now has a six-moto holeshot streak and has collected $3000 in bonus money in six motos. In total, Pourcel boasts a series-leading nine holeshots in 2014.
In the 450cc Class, Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard earned his second Oakley Bomb Award of the season on a day in which he was able to break through for the first moto win of his career. Canard posted a time of 2:14.313, nearly one second faster than second place, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac.
But the Motosport.com Holeshot Award in the 450cc class turned out to be a Justin Brayton benefit. Like Pourcel, Toyota/Yamaha/JGRMX’s Justin Brayton has been impressive with his starting abilities of late (and Yamaha obviously is having no trouble making competitive power), and Brayton swept the Motosport.com Holeshot Awards for the second straight round at Unadilla, to give him four straight holeshots for a total $2000 in bonus money. Brayton parlayed those hot starts into season-best fifth overall, via 6-7 moto results. Brayton now has five holeshots since returning to action from an injury.
The RC Hard Charger Award is entering its sixth season in 2014. Named after Ricky Carmichael, the most winning motocross rider of all time, the award recognizes the one competitor at each of the 12 rounds of the championship who overtakes the highest number of his fellow racers in any of the four championship motos between the 250cc and 450cc classes.
While the award is normally only given to one rider, at Unadilla it went to one rider in the 450cc class and another in the 250cc class as both proved they had the ability to fight their way through pack. In the 450cc class, privateer Cade Clason rode his Gurrnaid Energy/AG Motorsports Honda through the pack from a 39th-place start to pass 17 riders and finish 22nd. In the 250cc class, recent amateur graduate Luke Renzland fought for a pair of finishes in the points in his pro debut for Cycle Trader/Rock River Yamaha. Renzland proved his resiliency in his very first pro moto, overcoming a 35th-place start to also pass 17 riders and finish 18th.
2014 Specialty Award Winners (Year to Date)
Oakley Fastest Lap Program
450cc
Glen Helen- Ryan Dungey
Hangtown- Ken Roczen
Thunder Valley-Trey Canard
High Point- Ken Roczen
Muddy Creek-Eli Tomac
Red Bud-Ken Roczen
Budds Creek-James Stewart
Spring Creek-Ken Roczen
Washougal-Ryan Dungey
Unadilla-Trey Canard
250cc
Glen Helen-Christophe Pourcel
Hangtown-Christophe Pourcel
Thunder Valley-Christophe Pourcel
High Point-Jeremy Martin
Muddy Creek-Christophe Pourcel
Red Bud-Christophe Pourcel
Budds Creek-Christophe Pourcel
Spring Creek-Christophe Pourcel
Washougal-Marvin Musquin
Unadilla-Christophe Pourcel
Motosport.com Holeshot Award
450cc
Glen Helen
Moto 1-Josh Grant
Moto 2-Ken Roczen
Hangtown
Moto 1-Ryan Dungey
Moto 2-Jake Weimer
Thunder Valley
Moto 1-Josh Grant
Moto 2-Trey Canard
High Point
Moto 1-Chad Reed
Moto 2-Chad Reed
Muddy Creek
Moto 1-Eli Tomac
Moto 2-Ryan Dungey
Red Bud
Moto 1-Ryan Dungey
Moto 2-Ken Roczen
Budds Creek
Moto 1-Justin Brayton
Moto 2-Ryan Dungey
Spring Creek
Moto 1-Ryan Dungey
Moto 2-Eli Tomac
Washougal
Moto 1-Justin Brayton
Moto 2-Justin Brayton
Unadilla
Moto 1-Justin Brayton
Moto 2-Justin Brayton
250cc
Glen Helen
Moto 1-Jeremy Martin
Moto 2-Jeremy Martin
Hangtown
Moto 1-Zach Bell
Moto 2-Jeremy Martin
Thunder Valley
Moto 1-Jessy Nelson
Moto 2-Zach Bell
High Point
Moto 1-Christophe Pourcel
Moto 2-Christophe Pourcel
Muddy Creek
Moto 1-Christophe Pourcel
Moto 2-Justin Bogle
Red Bud
Moto 1-Matt Biscegila
Moto 2-Joey Savatgy
Budds Creek
Moto 1-Justin Bogle
Moto 2-Jeremy Martin
Spring Creek
Moto 1-Christophe Pourcel
Moto 2-Christophe Pourcel
Washougal
Moto 1-Christophe Pourcel
Moto 2-Christophe Pourcel
Unadilla
Moto 1-Christophe Pourcel
Moto 2-Christophe Pourcel
RC Hard Charger Award
Glen Helen-Josh Grant (+22)
Hangtown-Andrew Short (+24)
Thunder Valley-Fredrik Noren (+21)
High Point-Shane Sewell & Zack Williams (+14)
Muddy Creek-Josh Grant (+29)
Red Bud-Fredrick Noren & Joey Savatgy (+21)
Budds Creek-Dean Wilson (+21)
Spring Creek-Jason Anderson (+25)
Washougal-Tevin Tapia (+18)
Unadilla-Cade Clason & Luke Renzland (+17)
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