Dylan Ferrandis maintains his lead in the Motocross Power Rankings after the Washougal Nationals, Chase Sexton moves up a spot and Justin Cooper holds onto his top ranking in the 250 class with seven of 12 rounds in the books.
A rookie contender in the 450 class, Ferrandis has looked like a veteran since the gate dropped on the season at Fox Raceway in Pala, California. He started the season with 11 straight moto podium finishes. He showed the slightest chink in his armor in Moto 2 of Round 6 at Spring Creek MX Park with a fifth and it appeared that he might have lost some of his momentum last week at Washougal with another fifth-place finish in Race 1.
A strong start in Moto 2 last week gave him his fourth moto win - and just as importantly, it allowed him to continue his sweep of the overall podium with a worst of third in seven rounds. Ultimately what will be remembered is who becomes the 2021 champion. Right now, Ferrandis has a 47-point lead over Ken Roczen, which is almost equal to a full round with five remaining.
“It was nice to get out front and not have to eat roost at all” 😁🗣 @_chasesexton leading that first 450 moto start to finish 🏁 #ProMotocross pic.twitter.com/SkGiq58rg6
— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) July 26, 2021
Eli Tomac finally seems to be finding a spark. After two disappointing rounds to start the season, he has swept the top five in the last five events. And since we look back 45 days to determine our Motocross Power Rankings, that means he has been perfect in that span of time. He has three moto wins and added two more second-place finishes at Washougal.
Washougal revealed a Chase Sexton that has been mostly missing in 2021. After just missing his first moto win in Race 1 of Round 1, he struggled with only one more podium finish in the next 11 motos. One would not have known that last week when he won both his first moto and the overall at Washougal.
With his strong run, Sexton moved Justin Barcia one spot down the Motocross Power Rankings chart. Barcia showed flashes of speed early at Washougal, but ultimately failed to stand on the podium in either moto and finished fifth overall.
Aaron Plessinger rebounded from his DNF in Moto 2 at Southwick to finish 5-9 at Spring Creek MX Park. He backed that up with a seventh-place overall finish at Washougal. His weekend was not without drama, however, because he managed only a 12th-place finish in Race 1 last week.
450 Power Rankings (Last Week)
- Dylan Ferrandis [4 overall, 4 moto wins] (1)
- Eli Tomac [3 moto wins] (3)
- Chase Sexton [1 overall win, 1 moto win] (4)
- Justin Barcia (3) [1 overall, 1 moto win]
- Aaron Plessinger (5)
- Ken Roczen [1 overall, 4 moto wins] (6)
- Christian Craig (7)
- Cooper Webb (8)
- Joey Savatgy (9)
- Marvin Musquin (10)
- Brandon Hartranft (12)
- Justin Bogle (13)
- Dean Wilson (21)
- Max Anstie (14)
- Chris Canning (15)
- Justin Rodbell (16)
- Ryan Surratt (18)
- Fredrik Noren (17)
- Coty Schock (22)
- Ben Lamay (23)
Like Ferrandis, Justin Cooper kept his perfect record of overall podium finishes alive last week at Washougal, but he will still be happy to have the next couple of weeks off. He won Moto 1 in convincing fashion, but caught an awkward edge in the closing laps of the second race and fell from second to eighth. That was barely enough to secure his third-place in the overall standings.
Jeremy Martin put in another gutsy performance at Washougal. Failing to score points in Moto 2 of Round 2 and then missing the next round completely has likely put a championship out of reach, but that doesn’t mean he is not one of the strongest riders in the field. He has shown as much with back to back overall wins and three moto victories in four attempts.
If he continues to win and Cooper or Jett Lawrence stumble, he still has a shot at the 250 championship.
Jett Lawrence needs to stop his downward slide. He has not stood on the overall podium in the last three rounds - mostly because of poor starts. When he manages to get a good jump out of the gates, he is still strong with two moto podiums in those six races.
Likewise, Jett’s brother Hunter Lawrence needs the break in action to reset his mindset. After going 1-1 and winning the overall at Southwick, Lawrence has not stood on the podium again. The next week he finished fifth overall with a 5-5. Last week he finished fifth once more in Moto 1, but a 10th in the second race left him seventh overall.
We’ll need to see if there are any residual effects from Colt Nichols’ crash in Moto 2 at Washougal. He failed to earn points in that race and with a 15th in the overall standings, he is teetering on the brink of falling out of the top five.
250 Power Rankings (Last Week)
- Justin Cooper [1 overall, 2 moto win] (1)
- Jeremy Martin [2 moto wins] (3)
- Jett Lawrence [1 overall, 3 moto wins] (2)
- Hunter Lawrence [1 overall, 2 moto wins] (4)
- Colt Nichols (5)
- RJ Hampshire [1 overall] (10)
- Michael Mosiman (8)
- Jo Shimoda (7)
- Max Vohland (9)
- Austin Forkner (11)
- Pierce Brown (16)
- Jalek Swoll [1 overall, 1 moto win] (6)
- Stilez Robertson (12)
- Dilan Schwartz (15)
- Garrett Marchbanks (13)
- Carson Mumford (14)
- Ty Masterpool (17)
- Jarrett Frye (18)
- Ramyller Alves (19)
- Brandon Scharer (21)
JMart wants to have fun on his dirt bike, and win, of course 😉 61 points down with 250 points left on the table, is a championship possible⁉️ #ProMotocross pic.twitter.com/loxw7PIAiV
— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) July 27, 2021