Hearts race in Washougal

Marvin Musquin turned in a masterpiece at Washougal Motocross Park Saturday.

The Red Bull KTM rider out of La Reole, France, refused to give up the lead to Eli Tomac and the rest of the field in the 450 class. Musquin and Tomac rubbed tires at one point during the first moto, but then Musquin kicked it up a notch and turned in some of his fastest rounds of the season.

“Eli was going fast. I was struggling at the beginning,” Musquin said. “For some reason, I got a little bit better and more confident.”

Although frustrated by the fact that he couldn’t hang with Musquin Saturday, Tomac decided not to take risks and just continued to collect points. He leads the series with 373 points. Blake Baggett ranks second with 341, and Musquin is in third with 319.

“It was just one of those days where I was the second-place guy,” Tomac said. “I’m glad to have the points. You got to look at the big picture. Inside, I don’t like to lose. I just have to learn from my mistakes and try to do better here next year.”

Musquin put the finishing touches on his masterpiece by “high-fiving” as many fans as he could on his way back to the tent.

“(It’s) a pretty little town,” he said of Washougal. “It’s got a lot of heart. I have good memories here.”

Joey Savatgy, Zach Osborne and Dylan Ferrandis turned the 250 class on its head in Washougal Saturday. Savatgy leapt from placing seventh in the first moto to winning the second moto to taking the overall for the day by one point.

“7-1 doesn’t win often,” Savatgy said. “The cards just fell my way, and I was able to walk away with the win. I wouldn’t expect that to happen again.”

Osborne, Ferrandis and Adam Cianciarulo tied for second-place based on points. Osborne and Ferrandis earned the second- and third-place trophies because they took third- and fourth-place, respectively, in the second moto.

“It was a really crazy track today,” Ferrandis said. He added that the shadows from the trees made it difficult to see.

After dealing with his share of obstacles, Osborne was happy to still be on the podium and pad his lead in the standings.

Aaron Plessinger won the first moto, fell to ninth place in the second moto and settled for sixth place overall. RJ Hampshire earned second place in the second moto to secure fifth overall.

Osborne leads the 250 class by 75 points. He doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon.

“I’m not that type of a rider,” Osborne said. “I’m just going to keep racing hard.”

The Unadilla National is up next on Saturday, Aug. 12, in New Berlin, New York. The Budds Creek National takes place the next Saturday on Aug. 19, in Mechanicsville, Maryland.

The season wraps up with the Ironman National on Aug. 26, in Crawfordsville, Indiana.