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ALEX MARTIN
250 MX / 5TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / TILLS
>> Alex Martin has quietly positioned himself in good position in the points standings so far through four rounds. The Red Bull Troy Lee Designs KTM rider has remained relatively consistent despite for a few bad starts that have held him back. He is still searching for his first win of the year after finishing second twice at the first four rounds. He’d love to make up some more ground on points leader Zach Osborne by notching that first win this weekend at Muddy Creek.
He looked poised to do just that after his qualifying practice performance. He maneu- vered through the soft, muddy early morning track to nail the third fastest lap time of the day. The track would be in much better shape come race time and he was excited to take advantage.
Moto one started with Alex Martin grabbing a good start and rounding lap one in fourth position. His pace early in the moto could not quite match that of the three riders ahead of him. He lost touch of third place Austin Forkner and it stayed that way for most of the moto. That all changed when Zach Osborne stormed into fifth and applied seri-
ous pressure. This pushed Martin to up the pace and he ended up catching Forkner. A three-rider duel began with two laps to go and despite all three riders rounding through the corners in a line, no one would make a pass and Martin would stay and finish in fourth. He may have wanted a win but he did make up two points on Osborne by hold- ing him off.
The second moto started very similar to the first. Martin started in fifth but quickly passed Sean Cantrell to settle into fourth behind none other than Austin Forkner. Same riders, same positions as the previous race. Forkner’s pace early was once again just a bit quicker than Martin’s but Martin would make his charge a little earlier this time. With about five laps to go Martin really put the heat on Forkner but the young buck would not budge. The two went at it all the way to the checkers but Forkner would come out on top again and Martin would have to settle with another fourth. His 4-4 for fifth was solid but he needs and expects more out of himself. Watch for him to come out swinging at Red Bud.
40 GRITMOTO • JUNE 25, 2017