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Round 2 of the #amapromotocrosschampionship experienced heavy rain, which created muddy conditions for its second race in a row at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee. It was an up-and-down day for Team Honda HRC, with #christiancraig posting a sixth-place overall result, while teammate #chasesexton wasn't able to ride to his potential in the second 450MX #moto and finished 13th overall.
Craig charged the tough track conditions in the first #moto, running in the top three before suffering a series of falls that eventually landed him in 10th. He showed good speed in the second outing, battling to a sixth-place finish and earning that position overall. Meanwhile, Sexton enjoyed a decent start in the first #moto, completing lap one in third place. He then advanced to second, butl a crash put him in sixth at the finish. #moto two saw Sexton held up after a fall in the first turn, but he gained momentum and moved up to 15th place before experiencing mechanical issues on the last lap and netting a 20th-place finish for 13th overall, and ready to apply the lessons learned.
Christian Craig
"My day started off really good. I was able to qualify ninth, which was better than last week. I felt good on the bike and we made some improvements during the week, so I was pretty happy going into the first #moto. It rained before that and was pretty sloppy, but I had a decent start. I was fifth or sixth and then passed up to third and was pretty much riding on my own around there for a while. I ended up tipping over, got stuck there for a bit and that was kind of the end of that. I fell three more times, just little tip-overs that took a lot out of me. Somehow, I still got 10th with four falls. In the second #moto I still got a pretty decent start and made some quick passes. I got up to sixth, battled with a couple good guys and ended up sixth overall, which was pretty good. It was one of my best results on the 450 overall, so I can't complain even with with how muddy it was. I was happy with my riding in the second #moto. It's good to get a decent result and have something to build on for next week."
Chase Sexton
"Today was an up-and-down day. It was pretty muddy from the rain the days before. In the only practice we got, I qualified sixth. I had a little bit of a get-off, but we were all good. In the first #moto, I got a great start and was running second. I went down a couple times, putting me back to 11th, and then I made my way back up to sixth at the end--overall, not too bad of a first #moto. Going into the second #moto, I picked a gate that I thought was good, but I couldn't see the bottom of it--the gate was full of water. It ended up being a big hole and I sunk, so I didn't get that great of a start. I made my way up but ended up getting stuck for a lap. After that I was just trying to get back up as many positions as I could and got all the way back up to 13th. On the last lap my bike malfunctioned though, so it was a little bit of a rough day for me. I obviously wanted more, but we're just trying to learn this year. Going to Indiana, one of my favorite tracks, I'll try to get on the podium; I look forward to getting back to work this week and coming back swinging in Crawfordsville."
Erik Kehoe - Team Manager
"It was a tough weekend for us. The conditions were really tough, and our guys will have to leave here and learn what we can from this weekend. Both Chase and Christian learned a lot about managing efforts through the race to get the bikes to finish. It was a tough weekend with the conditions, but we'll come back strong next week."
Jordan Troxell - Mechanic (Christian Craig)
"It was a much better round two for Christian. The track and conditions were pretty brutal, but he was able to manage well, running in the top three for much of the first #moto. A couple falls affected the final score, but still a good day in some tough conditions. Hopefully we can get back to a dry track next weekend and keep progressing."
Jade Dungey - Mechanic (Chase Sexton)
"All in all, it wasn't too bad of a day. Practice went well, with P6 in the mud. In the first #moto, Chase had a really good start and came around the corner in third. Throughout the #moto, he made good progress, was up to second at one point, and then crashed in the mud and ended up coming home in sixth. In the second #moto he didn't have as much luck on the start, with a bad jump. On the second lap he got stuck behind a rider and ended up burying it in the mud. It took him about a lap to get his bike free, and he worked his way from 30th up to 15th, and with one lap to go he had a bike malfunction. Overall the results don't reflect on how good Chase rode today, but he did and I think at Ironman we're just going to have to put two motos back-to-back. Chase is making really good progress and we're looking forward to next weekend."
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