Top 10: Unadilla

When the going gets tough and muddy, you might be at Unadilla.

The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship round at Unadilla is always a challenge...even on a good weekend. At various points it's rutty, fast, steep, and has enough big launches to keep everyone on their toes. But this time around it had a whole different set of challenges. It was blazing fast during qualifying, since the track had been sealed with the expectation of bad weather. Pouring rain at the end of the first 450 moto soaked the course, and left moto two of the 250s, and the final moto of the 450s completely sloppy. Needless to say, it was a bit of an adventure for everyone from the riders, to the mechanics, crews, and track personnel. Heck, it even knocked the TV feed offline.

Let's take a peek at the top ten in each class.

450s

Marvin Musquin.

1Marvin Musquin was perfect again, winning both motos...his fifth and sixth in a row. With his knee and crash problems from earlier in the season, he was 54 points behind Eli Tomac after Washougal. After Unadilla? The gap was trimmed to 31 points...but he's still also behind Blake Baggett. Momentum is on his side, but time's running out. There are only four motos left to make up ground this season.

Martin Davalos.

2Martin Davalos was third overall in Washougal, and moved up a step to second overall after a tough day of racing at Unadilla. A second in moto two was the highlight of his moto finishes.

Cole Seely.

3On the day it was announced that Cole Seely would be the MX1 entry for Team USA at this year's MXoN in Great Britain, he grabbed a podium spot with a 3-6 score.

Cooper Webb.

4It looked like Cooper Webb was aboard a steam-powered Yamaha as he exited one of the bigger ponds on the track in the second moto. He put in some of his best work there, passing both Eli Tomac and Dean Wilson in rapid succession by mid-moto, and going from seventh at the start to third at the finish.

Blake Baggett.

5Blake Baggett is still struggling a bit with his thumb injury. A second in moto one looked more like his usual self, but it looked like he got blasted with muddy water early in moto two, and he slipped to 11th. This was about the time the skies opened up in moto one, and he was getting close to Marvin Musquin.

Fredrik Noren and Dean Wilson.

6Dean Wilson chasing Fredrik Noren in moto one. Dean was ninth there, and fourth in the mud of moto two.

Justin Bogle.

7Why do they call it Gravity Cavity? It looks like it still has ahold of Justin Bogle as he makes his way out. He was fourth in moto one, but slipped to tenth in moto two.

Christian Craig.

8The rain had started by midway through moto two, and then really started dumping near the end. Christian Craig was eighth overall with a 5-9 score.

Eli Tomac.

9Eli Tomac had an off weekend in Unadilla, with a tenth in moto one, and a fifth in the second frame. His points lead took a hit, but he still has 27 points over Blake Baggett with four motos remaining.

Benny Bloss.

10With a 13-12 score, Benny Bloss rounded out the top ten in the 450 class. It's good to see him working his way back up after missing so much of '17 with injuries.

250 Class

Jeremy Martin, Justin Cooper, and Dylan Ferrandis got away relatively mud-free on the start of moto two.

1Jeremy Martin looked like a different rider compared to his ride at Washougal. After a second in the first moto, he nailed this start to lead moto two from wire-to-wire. Afterwards, the former champ looked plenty pleased at his overall win.

Joey Savatgy.

2Joey Savatgy ran away and hid from the pack in moto one, but while he was out there in the lead he came together with a lapped rider, and connected with him hard enough to punch a hole in his boot and have a black and blue foot. He followed up the win in moto one with a fourth in the second moto, and will get his foot checked out this week.

The start of 250 moto one, with Zach Osborne the third from the left.

3250 series points leader, Zach Osborne, stayed according to plan, with a pair of moto finishes in the top five, and a third overall. If all goes well, next week at Budds Creek, he'll clinch the 250 title a full race early.

Dylan Ferrandis.

4Mud? What mud? Dylan Ferrandis had a solid sixth in moto one, but seemed happier in the mud, finishing third in the slop.

Justin Cooper.

5The surprise of Unadilla probably had to be Justin Cooper. A 12th in moto one was nothing to sneeze at for a pro debut. But a great start and clear vision in the mud of moto two definitely helped, and resulted in a second-place finish. That's an awesome start for a rookie.

Adam Cianciarulo.

6Adam Cianciarulo led a chunk of the first moto, before a crash dropped him to third. He eventually finished fifth in that one, and was eighth in moto two.

Aaron Plessinger.

7Aaron Plessinger was a solid fourth in moto one, and a crash in moto two dropped him to tenth.

RJ Hampshire and Colt Nichols.

8A 6-8 day was good enough to slot RJ Hampshire into eighth overall for the round at Unadilla.

Chase Sexton.

9Chase Sexton's seventh in moto one matched his best of the season, but the second moto mud wasn't as kind to him, where he finished 12th.

Kyle Cunningham.

10Yikes, check out that mug. Kyle Cunningham obviously got punished in the mud, but really, anyone who didn't start in the first three or four as they headed into the first turn got ruined. That didn't prevent Kyle from scoring his best moto finish of the season, a seventh, in the muck of moto two.

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