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ALEX MARTIN
250 MX / 2ND
IMAGE / LANG WORDS / HARNISHFEGER DESIGN / MOTOPLAYGROUND
>>Oh, so close was Alex Martin to his rst moto and overall win of the season last weekend at Muddy Creek. The older brother to two-time champion Jeremy Martin, was leading the second moto and ap- peared to have the win in hand but he crashed and threw it away with just three laps to go. He also
led laps in moto one and even both motos at High Point, but crashes derailed him in all of them. All the inconsistency with the crashes has been frustrating for him as he has been on the cusp of victory so many times now this year. Last weekend was the closest he has come so he was determined to right his wrongs in Southwick and end this streak of crashes and poor luck. Alex Martin had his Troy Lee Designs/ Red Bull KTM circulating the whooped-out sand at ‘The Wick’ nicely in the morning qualifying practice sessions. He looked comfortable and strong like he has been all season. He came away with the fth fastest lap time of the class and was more than ready to get out and battle for wins in the races that lay ahead. Martin entered the rst turn in the rst moto of the day in a relatively good position. He ended up securing the green ag in seventh place. The riders spread out a bit during the opening lap so it took him a few laps to dig in and start moving forward. He passed Jimmy Decotis for sixth on lap three and then RJ Hampshire for fth on lap ve. This is when he plugged into a freight train of riders all gunning for the lead. He started applying pressure to Chase Sexton who was just ahead of him and was searching for ways to pass. He did not have to wait too long however because third place rider Justin Cooper would go down and collect Sexton with him allowing Martin to sling past both of them and into third at the halfway point. Two laps later, he was able to pick off his teammate, Shane McElrath for second and fully set his sights on leader Austin Forkner. He ran down the young Kawasaki rider and a massive battle ensued. In the meantime, Aaron Plessinger had caught the both of them and was applying pressure to Martin. It was a three-way battle for the lead with each rider at times appearing like they would be the one that was go- ing to come away with the victory but ultimately, it ended up going chalk and the three riders would nish where they began the battle. Martin, once again, very close to a moto win but he’d have one more moto to try and do it. Martin got a good start and made some early passes to move into fourth by the end of lap one. He slotted in behind Hampshire and tried to work his way around him. He pressured the Floridian for a few laps before taking advantage of a mistake and hopping into third. From there, he began to pressure McElrath. He fought through the roost and sand for four laps before muscling his way past him on lap seven. It was about as tight of a pass one could make on a teammate. But once that pass was complete, he solely focused on the rider ahead of him, Forkner. It was a battle royale just like it had been in moto one. Martin began pressuring but Forkner did not waiver. Then, with four laps to go, Martin thought he saw an opening for a pass, but he drove it in too deep and rammed Forkner taking both of them down. Luckily for Martin, he was able to remount in fth and pass Joey Savatgy back for fourth, but his efforts would fall short on securing the overall. He would nish fourth and his 2-4 moto scores would earn him second overall. It’s his third second overall of the season and once again, he leaves the races without a victory.
38 GRITMOTO • JULY 1, 2018