Canard Capitalizes on Motosport.com Holeshot Awards to Earn First Career Win on Near-Perfect Day in Utah

The 12^th and final round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, featured an exciting afternoon of action in the series’ second visit to Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. While Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen secured his first career major title on U.S. soil, Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard was enjoying the thrill of his first 450 Class victory following a truly dominant afternoon. In the 250 Class, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Jeremy Martin capped off his championship-clinching performance from the week prior with another convincing effort that put an exclamation point on his breakout year.

Through partnerships with series sponsors, the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will recognize the riders who achieve the series’ specialty awards all summer long. Each week, MX Sports Pro Racing will recognize the riders who are able to lay claim to the Oakley Bomb Fastest Lap Program, the MotoSport.com Holeshot Award in each moto, and the Ricky Carmichael Hard Charger Award throughout the 2014 season.

The Oakley Bomb Fastest Lap Program is designed to present a unique challenge for the 2014 season, providing a different twist by recognizing the rider who sets the fastest lap of practice in both the 250 and 450 Classes. Each rider will receive special Oakley Bomb trophy, specially designed by the brand.As the season wears on, the total number of Oakley Bomb awards a rider receives will be tallied into a final season total. The competitor with the most awards at season’s end will be presented with an Elite Oakley Time Bomb II Swiss Automatic Watch.

Consistent overnight rain leading into last Saturday’s finale resulted in a wet track for the riders as they first took to the revamped layout at Miller Motorsports Park. While conditions consistently improved as the day wore on, practice became a battle of logging the cleanest lap possible on a challenging, ever-changing race surface.

Eli Tomac earned the final 450 Class Oakley Bomb Award of the season.

Photo: Matt Rice / Alli Sports 

In the 450 Class, GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac captured his second consecutive Oakley Bomb Award, bringing his season total to three. Tomac’s time of 1:57.313 was over a second quicker than Roczen in second (1:58.715) and Canard in third (1:58.996). These three riders were the only premier class competitors able to break the two-minute mark in practice.

While Tomac’s late surge in fast laps ultimately landed him with the second-highest total of the 2014 season, Roczen had already wrapped up the Elite Oakley Time Bomb II Swiss Automatic Watch with the most fastest laps of the season in the 450 Class at four. Roczen was officially awarded the one-of-a-kind timepiece in Utah, providing an added bonus on arguably the most memorable day of the young German’s career.

Christophe Pourcel earned his ninth Oakley Bomb Award of the season to claim the  

Elite Oakley Time Bomb II Swiss Automatic Watch

Photo: Matt Rice / Alli Sports 

In the 250 Class, the series’ most dominant qualifier, Christophe Pourcel, once again put his Valli Motorsports Yamaha on top of the charts to finish the 2014 season with nine of the 12 Oakley Bomb Awards. Pourcel’s time of 1:53.861 was the fastest of all competitors on Saturday, and sat nearly three seconds ahead of Martin in second. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Chris Alldredge posted a career-best third-place effort in just his third career start.

The Motosport.com Holeshot Award is brand new to Lucas Oil Pro Motocross this season and it awards $500 to the rider who gets the holeshot of each moto – in both the 450 Class and 250 Class – at every round of the 2014 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. A total of $2,000 will be up for grabs at each event between the two classes, thanks to Motosport.com.

The Motosport.com Holeshot Award proved to be the key to Canard’s afternoon, as the veteran was first to the line in both 450 Class motos and simply checked out on the field from there. Canard became the hottest rider in the series heading into Utah, winning two of his last three motos and finishing second overall in back-to-back weeks. The momentum didn’t stop at Miller Motorsports Park, as Canard led every lap of competition to secure the first win of his 450 Class career.

Canard swept both of the MotoSport.com Holeshots en route to a perfect 1-1 day in Utah.

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In the 250 Class, a pair of newer names put themselves at the front of the pack. In Moto 1, Yamalube/Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper Webb edged out his teammate Martin to claim his first Motosport.com Holeshot Award of the 2014 season. However, Webb was soon overtaken by Martin and ultimately settled for a runner-up finish in the moto and $500 extra in his pocket. The second moto was similar in that Martin just missed out on being the first across the line, but this time Rockstar Energy Racing’s Joey Savatgy beat him to it to earn his second Motosport.com Holeshot Award of the season. Savatgy fended off Martin briefly before settling in and battling his way to a seventh-place result.

Cooper Webb earned his first MotoSport.com Holeshot Award of the season in moto one.

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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 250 and 450 Classes.The award is a testament to “The Greatest of All Time” or “The GOAT” and his never-give-up attitude over the span of a career that warranted 10 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross titles and 102 wins – two feats that will likely never be duplicated. All recipients of the RC Hard Charger Award are given a custom-designed trophy.

Mere weeks after being crowned Canadian Motocross National Champion, Canadian Colton Facciotti earned a tremendous opportunity to go head-to-head against America’s elite. Facciotti took the place of an absent Malcolm Stewart at Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda and had high hopes of being able to achieve success against the world’s best riders in the most prestigious series on the planet. However, the Canadian Champ had his resiliency tested in the opening moto after getting tangled with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jake Weimer off the start and crossing the line in dead last, 40^th place. Facciotti showed why he was able to earn the title up north with an impressive come-from-behind effort, passing 24 riders en route to 16^th place and earning the RC Hard Charger Award in the process. While he didn’t necessarily achieve the results he was hoping for, the award is no doubt a consolation and memento of his foray to the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.

Several riders showed their ability to fight through adversity in Utah as the first turn off the start proved to be a focal point of attrition throughout the afternoon. Riders like BTO Sports KTM rider Andrew Short, Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Fredrik Noren, GEICO Honda’s Zach Bell and Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil Honda’s Jessy Nelson all had their work cut out for them in one of the motos, and each passed at least 15 riders to earn their results.

2014 Specialty Award Winners

Oakley Fastest Lap Program

450 Class

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

Indiana              –  Eli Tomac

Utah                  –  Eli Tomac

250 Class

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

Indiana              –  Jeremy Martin

Utah                  –  Christophe Pourcel           

Motosport.com Holeshot Award

450 Class

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

Indiana

Moto 1 – Ken Roczen

Moto 2 – Trey Canard

Utah

Moto 1 – Trey Canard

Moto 2 – Trey Canard

250 Class

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

Indiana

Moto 1 – Jessy Nelson

Moto 2 – Jessy Nelson

Utah

Moto 1 – Cooper Webb

Moto 2 – Joey Savatgy

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)

Indiana              –  Killian Rusk, Christophe Pourcel & Josh Grant (+22)

Utah                  –  Colton Facciotti (+24)

MX Sports Pro Racing

MX Sports Pro Racing manages and produces the world’s most prestigious professional motocross series – the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing. The industry leader in off road power sport event production and management, its mission is to showcase the sport of professional motocross competition at events throughout the United States. Through its various racing properties, partnerships and affiliates, MX Sports Pro Racing organizes events for thousands of action sports athletes each year and attracts millions of motorsports spectators. Visit www.mxsportsproracing.com.

Alli Sports

Alli Sports is a media, event and branded content company that specializes in action, adventure, and adrenaline based sports. Alli Properties include the Dew Tour, Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, the Red Bull Signature Series and World of Adventure Sports presented by Go Pro. Alli Sports is a division of the NBC Sports Group. More information can be found at www.Allisports.com.

AMA Pro Racing        

AMA Pro Racing is the premier professional motorcycle racing organization in North America, operating a full schedule of events and championships for a variety of motorcycle disciplines.  Learn more about AMA Pro Racing at www.amaproracing.com.

Lucas Oil Products    

Based in Corona, Calif., Lucas Oil Products, Inc is the world leader of High Performance Lubricants and Problem Solving Additives and produces and markets 272 unique formulations in thirty four countries around the globe and is growing country by country, market by market every year. Through innovative product research and development, along with progressive marketing programs, Lucas Oil Products has established itself as the top-selling additive line in the American truck-stop industry.  Lucas Oil is involved in an array of motorsports sponsorships, including the “Official Motor Oil of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.” Visit: www.lucasoil.com.

MAVTV

MAVTV is a television network with its roots deep in the automotive world.  With an unparalleled line-up of motorsports events and exclusive automotive reality shows, MAVTV is the answer for motor-heads from all walks of life.  But MAVTV is much more than a motorsports destination, with original action/adventure programming, live MMA and an unbelievable library of blockbuster movies – MAVTV is a network the whole family can enjoy.  A network by the people and for the people, made in America and American Real.  Visit: www.mavtv.com.