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Alex Martin put himself in a great position for the motos by posting the 4th fastest time in qualifying practice. In doing so, he made a statement that Hangtown was no fluke and he’s going to be battling at the front of the 250 championship all season long. He carried that momentum directly into the
first moto where it appeared he was shot out of a cannon through the first couple of corners. Martin was 3rd coming through Talladega corner, but he had no plans to hang around there for too long. Going up the hill out of the second turn, A Mart rocketed past his brother and took advantage of a Charboneau mistake to split the pair of them and move into the lead. He hung it out on the opening laps and was able to put a gap between himself and Cooper Webb in 2nd place. It was a display of opening lap aggression that was reminiscent of Ken Roczen’s performance last weekend at Hangtown, something that Martin hasn’t shown yet in his career. He logged consistent lap times within about a second of one another for the first half of the moto, but as soon as his mechanic showed him a pit board fitted with the words ‘NO LAZY’, things began to fall apart. The nerves began to get to Martin as Webb closed the gap from 2nd and the two of them played a game of cat and mouse, losing and gaining time on different parts of the track. It seemed A Mart was faster on the Mount St. Helen section of the course, but Webb picked up on an inside line before the last rhythm section going onto the start straight that gained him a ton of a time.
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