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Alex Martin came into Muddy Creek with a lot of points to make up after a devastating DNF at High Point a week
ago. The Star Racing Yamaha rider struggled a bit in practice with the ninth fastest time. He had to bring his A
game in the races if he wanted to make up that lost ground on Savatgy. Martin got a decent start in the first moto emerging from lap one in eighth place. But instead of charging forward at a very fast rate like we’ve been accustomed to seeing, he would actually drop positions to Oldenburg and Osborne in the opening laps. He fell back to tenth place. He didn’t seem to be himself but he would start to pick
it back up as the moto would go on. He got back to ninth ten minutes in and started reeling in the rest of the pack. When it seemed Martin was just stuck in the water late in the moto, he started to come alive. All of a sudden he was up to seventh and passing Davalos for sixth with just a few laps to go. He began pressuring McElrath for fifth but would go down before the big uphill triple. It took him what seemed like an eternity to kick his machine back to life and when he finally did, he was back in nineteenth. He would finish the race in that position, not where he wanted to or needed to be. Alex was out for vengeance in the second moto and he flew out of the gate for a second place holeshot. He immediately put the pressure on McElrath for the lead and made the pass. But then McElrath fired back and launched back around nearly landing on Martin in the process. From there Martin locking in behind the Red Bull KTM rider. He stayed right on him for the entire moto but just couldn’t get close enough to make a real challenge. Late in the race Webb would come flying by en route to his come from behind win leaving Martin in third where he would finish. It was a so-so moto for Martin who was clearly bummed about the result on the podium. Back to back rounds of massive points losses have to sting and one can only imagine that Alex will come into Red Bud with a ton of aggression.
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