Page 16 - ISSUE-81

ALEX MARTIN
250 MX / 4TH
IMAGE / LANNAN WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>> Alex Martin has had a stellar, yet frustrating season so far in the 2018 outdoor nationals. After missing a majority of the 250SX West Coast championship due to injury, he entered the opening round for the outdoors at Hangtown well-rested, fully recovered, and 100% ready to contend for wins. The Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull KTM rider sure showed everyone he can win at the rst few rounds, key word “can.” This is where the frustrat- ing part of the season comes into play for Martin. Numerous times he has led laps and been in contention for wins including BOTH motos last weekend at High Point, but mistakes have haunted him. He has been up front seemingly all year, so it comes as a surprise to nd out he has yet to win a moto this year. He was hoping he could break free of the restraints here at Muddy Creek. Martin kicked off his day in Tennessee with a suf cient showing in the morning qualifying practice sessions. He managed to put forth the seventh fastest lap time, but he did not worry because he knew the top ten to fteen riders were all so close in lap times. He knew a good start would be all he’d need. Martin got that good start he was looking for to kick off the rst moto of the day. He sent his KTM into the lead off the start with his brother, Jeremy Martin, right in tow. The two brothers set out to distance themselves from the pack. Alex Martin, the older of the two, inched away from his brother just a sliver over the rst few laps but a mistake would end up costing him. On lap four he would case the big bomber uphill triple and that allowed Jeremy to close in and make the pass a few corners later. Alex gathered his bearings and locked back in behind his brother. As they neared the halfway point, he started to lose touch of Jeremy and receive pressure from Justin Cooper and Shane McElrath. Alex was caught in the middle and then on lap nine, he would go down pretty hard and in a bad spot on the downside of a jump. Due to where he crashed, it took him slightly longer than usual to remount and when he did, he was back in eleventh. The top ten riders had a decent lead on him and with his bike all banged up, he struggled to make up ground. It looked like he would nish right there but Dylan Ferrandis emerged in the nal stages to challenge him. Alex Martin did his best to fend him off but Ferrandis would pass him with two laps to go. Martin would nish the race in twelfth place. Another very frustrating moto for him and he’d look to bounce back in moto two. Martin, red up with after how the rst moto ended, ripped another holeshot and took the early lead. Oddly enough, his late race surprise from moto one, Ferrandis, was slotted right behind him. Martin was not going to let him pass him again. He started riding some solid, consistent laps to hold Ferrandis at bay. Both riders had some pressure from Jordon Smith and Aaron Plessinger during the rst half of the moto, but they managed to edge away during the second half. Martin was doing a marvelous job keeping Ferrandis behind. Although his lead never stretched to more than two seconds, Martin repelled any attack from the Frenchman to reestablish a decent cushion. It looked like he might nally have his rst moto win of the season in the books but with two laps to go, he would get thrown off the bike by a big braking bump while enjoying his biggest lead of the moto. Ferrandis was able to get around and Martin would remount in second. He looked like he would nish there but his teammate, Shane McEl-
rath, showed no mercy and put on a huge charge to pass him with two turns to go. Martin would nish third. Alex Martin was visibly frustrated on the podium, but he did manage to nish fourth overall with his 12-3 moto scores. If Martin can nd a way to keep it on two wheels, he is clearly capable of winning motos.
16 GRITMOTO • JUNE 24, 2018