Round 9 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship is underway from Washougal. Check back throughout the day for recaps and highlights from the 250 Class.

QUALIFYING

Justin Cooper kept doing what he does best — winning qualifying. For the fifth time this season (in just nine rounds), the Star Yamaha rider was the day’s fastest qualifier with a 2:11.328 in the second practice session. His time narrowly edged out Joey Savatgy, who set a 2:11.452 in that same session. Savatgy was fast all morning, as he was on top of the first practice session earlier in the day.

A notable name inside the top ten was Michael Mosiman, the second-year pro for Rockstar Husqvarna. Mosiman has quietly had some solid results in recent weeks, including a career-high sixth-place moto finish last week at Spring Creek.

250 Combined Qualifying Times
1. Justin Cooper, 2:11.328
2. Joey Savatgy, 2:11.452
3. Austin Forkner, 2:12.337
4. Dylan Ferrandis, 2:12.395
5. Aaron Plessinger, 2:12.474
6. Michael Mosiman, 2:12.556
7. Chase Sexton, 2:12.854
8. Jordon Smith, 2:13.052
9. Alex Martin, 2:13.199
10. Shane McElrath, 2:13.227
11. Colt Nichols, 2:13.496
12. RJ Hampshire, 2:14.364
13. Mitchell Harrison, 2:15.017
14. Sean Cantrell, 2:15.763
15. Enzo Lopes, 2:16.777
16. Jordan Bailey, 2:16.784
17. Dakota Alix, 2:16.851
18. Martin Castelo, 2:16.894
19. Cameron McAdoo, 2:17.043
20. Hayden Mellross, 2:17.081
Full Results

MOTO 1

A pair of Kawasakis led the field out of the first turn, with Joey Savatgy taking the holeshot and Austin Forkner running just behind him. Dylan Ferrandis was making moves to get into the top five on the opening lap but then went down and lost quite a few positions.

At the end of two laps, it was Savatgy, Forkner, Jordon Smith, Michael Mosiman and Aaron Plessinger making up the top five. Mosiman, who’s coming off a career-high moto finish (6th) last week at Spring Creek, nearly crashed after making a mistake on a jump but somehow managed to save it. The bobble did allow Plessinger to get around him for fourth place though. One lap later, the top four riders (Savatgy, Forkner, Smith, Plessinger) were separated by less than two seconds.

The battle up front remained close, with the top three riders pulling away just a bit from Plessinger. Shortly before the midway point of the race, Forkner finally found a line inside of Savatgy that allowed him to move into the lead. It looked like Smith would also get around Savatgy for second place, but Savatgy was quickly able to come right back and retake the position. Meanwhile Plessinger closed back in on the pack.

Although the action settled down a bit over the next few laps, it heated back up with five minutes to go. That’s when Savatgy caught back up to Forkner and was all over him. Savatgy continued to apply pressure until eventually going inside of Forkner with an aggressive (but clean) pass to retake the race lead. Trying to come right back, Forkner got side-by-side with his teammate, but Savatgy was able to hold him off.

Savatgy held it together over the final laps to take his first moto win of the season. Not only was it his first victory, it was also the first time this year that he finished in the top three. With another win in the second moto, Savatgy would secure an overall victory for the first time since last year at Washougal.

Forkner finished in second place in Moto 1, while Smith landed on the podium for the second week in a row after holding off Plessinger for third.

250 Moto 1 Results
1. Joey Savatgy
2. Austin Forkner
3. Jordon Smith
4. Aaron Plessinger
5. Chase Sexton
6. Justin Cooper
7. Michael Mosiman
8. Alex Martin
9. Shane McElrath
10. RJ Hampshire
11. Dylan Ferrandis
12. Mitchell Harrison
13. Sean Cantrell
14. Enzo Lopes
15. Colt Nichols
16. Cameron McAdoo
17. Dakota Alix
18. Jimmy Decotis
19. Jordan Bailey
20. Tommy Weeck
Full Results

MOTO 1 EXTENDED RECAP

MOTO 1 HIGHLIGHT: FORKNER PASSES SAVATGY FOR LEAD

MOTO 1 HIGHLIGHT: SAVATGY PASSES FORKNER TO RETAKE LEAD

MOTO 1 HIGHLIGHT: SMITH WHEELIES THROUGH THE WHOOPS

MOTO 2

A trio of Yamahas got a strong start, with Aaron Plessinger taking the holeshot, but Shane McElrath was right up there with them. By the end of the first lap, McElrath had gotten around Plessinger and into the lead.

It was the opposite story for the podium finishers from the first moto. Joey Savatgy found himself outside the top 20 after Lap 1, and then his teammate Austin Forkner crashed hard on Lap 2. Forkner’s been the victim of bad luck recently, as he’s collided with another rider at some point during each of the last three rounds, but this time he crashed on his own. The end result is the same though — for the fourth straight round, he has one top-two moto finish and one bad moto finish, this time a DNF. The other podium rider from Moto 1, Jordon Smith, was outside the top 30 after the opening lap.

With those three riders all struggling in Moto 2, the door was open for Plessinger to win the overall. Tracking down McElrath for the moto win was a different case though. Not only was Plessinger unable to catch McElrath, he also had a little spill with about five minutes to go that caused him to lose a spot to his teammate Dylan Ferrandis. McElrath went on to win the moto by a comfortable 12-second margin, with Ferrandis taking second and Plessinger third.

Thanks to the inconsistency of other riders, Plessinger’s 4-3 moto results were enough to earn him the day’s overall victory. It’s AP’s fifth overall win of the season and his third straight, but it’s his first win that didn’t come by virtue of a 1-1 sweep.

McElrath’s moto win was the first of his career, and it comes just a few weeks after he scored his first overall victory (even though he didn’t win either moto on that particular day). His 9-1 moto results were enough for second place overall today at Washougal.

Savatgy managed to earn the final spot on the overall podium after battling back in Moto 2 to finish ninth. His 1-9 results matched McElrath’s performance, but McElrath won the tiebreaker thanks to his better result in the second moto.

One rider whose name was not mentioned much today was Alex Martin. His 8-6 moto finishes made for one of his worst days of the season, as he finished sixth overall and lost 10 more points to Plessinger in the championship race. AP now holds a 59-point edge over Martin with three rounds left to go. Although it’s not likely to happen, it’s still mathematically possible for Plessinger to clinch the 250 Class championship as soon as the next round.

250 Moto 2 Results
1. Shane McElrath
2. Dylan Ferrandis
3. Aaron Plessinger
4. RJ Hampshire
5. Colt Nichols
6. Alex Martin
7. Mitchell Harrison
8. Justin Cooper
9. Joey Savatgy
10. Chase Sexton
11. Cameron McAdoo
12. Michael Mosiman
13. Jordon Smith
14. Jordan Bailey
15. Enzo Lopes
16. Tommy Weeck
17. Sean Cantrell
18. Challen Tennant
19. Dakota Alix
20. Hayden Mellross
…
39. Austin Forkner (DNF)
Full Results

MOTO 2 EXTENDED RECAP

MOTO 2 HIGHLIGHT: MCELRATH TAKES EARLY LEAD

MOTO 2 HIGHLIGHT: FORKNER GOES DOWN

250 OVERALL RESULTS

1. Aaron Plessinger (4-3)
2. Shane McElrath (9-1)
3. Joey Savatgy (1-9)
4. Dylan Ferrandis (11-2)
5. RJ Hampshire (10-4)
6. Alex Martin (8-6)
7. Justin Cooper (6-8)
8. Jordon Smith (3-13)
9. Chase Sexton (5-10)
10. Mitchell Harrison (12-7)
11. Michael Mosiman (7-12)
12. Colt Nichols (15-5)
13. Austin Forkner (2-39)
14. Cameron McAdoo (16-11)
15. Enzo Lopes (14-15)
16. Sean Cantrell (13-17)
17. Jordan Bailey (19-14)
18. Tommy Weeck (20-16)
19. Dakota Alix (17-19)
20. Challen Tennant (37-18)

250 POINT STANDINGS

1. Aaron Plessinger, 371
2. Alex Martin, 312
3. Justin Cooper, 267
4. Shane McElrath, 251
5. Austin Forkner, 238
6. RJ Hampshire, 230
7. Jordon Smith, 225
8. Chase Sexton, 222
9. Joey Savatgy, 214
10. Dylan Ferrandis, 204

(Story and photos from ProMotocross.com)