Ryan Nitzen | August 13, 2022
And we are back! After a two week hiatus, the Pro Motocross Championship returns to action for the Unadilla National. Eli Tomac and Jett Lawrence lead the points into the day, but Chase Sexton won the day’s overall and took over the red plate in the 450 championship. Jo Shimoda also claimed his second overall of the year in the 250MX class. Let’s break down all the action from today.
450MX
450 Moto 1
So much action to unpack in the first 450 moto. In his return to racing, the number one of Dylan Ferrandis took the holeshot . He led most of the opening lap before giving the lead up to Ken Roczen. Ferrandis stayed in the hunt and eventually finished fourth.
Roczen, the morning’s top qualifier, found himself at the front and put in a good charge early on. Eli Tomac smelled the blood in the water and ran down Roczen to take the lead position. The 94 machine showed great pace early on but later dropped to fifth.
It looked to be Tomac’s day at the front, but his championship rival Chase Sexton had other plans. The 23 did not get a great start and was outside the top five on the opening laps. That didn’t seem to matter though as Sexton picked his way through the field which saw Tomac’s lead dwindle. The two eventually went bar to bar in the back part of the track with Sexton emerging as the lead. In the matter of a lap he extended a gap of 2.8 seconds.
From there, Sexton marched off with the win and cleared Tomac by over 10 seconds at the line. Jason Anderson worked his way up to a moto podium in third.
450 Moto 2
This time around Eli Tomac grabbed a rare holeshot. He took off with the lead and looked to make a break for it, leading the opening lap and keeping the win insight. Eventually, Tomac was passed for the top spot. Tomac stayed close to the front but couldn’t manage to put up any real fight for a pass back. Sexton managed to get away with the lead and Tomac finished a consistent 2-2 for second on the day.
Sexton was a man on a mission today. His second moto performance was just as impressive as the first, seeing Sexton come from fourth and slowly chip away at Tomac’s lead. He skied the infamous Gravity Cavity and slipped to the inside rut to clear Tomac. From there, Sexton put the hammer down and broke away with the lead. His dominant 1-1 scores earned him the overall and the series points lead.
Jason Anderson and Aaron Plessinger found themselves in a battle for the final podium spot. These two were neck and neck for the majority of the moto with Anderson eventually gaining the advantage. His x-3 finishes gave him third on the day while Plessinger finished fourth.
450MX Results (Top 10)
1. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
1-1 |
2. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
2-2 |
3. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
3-3 |
4. |
Aaron Plessinger |
(KTM) |
7-4 |
5. |
Ryan Dungey |
(KTM) |
6-6 |
6. |
Ken Roczen |
(Hon) |
5-7 |
7. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
4-10 |
8. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
10-5 |
9. |
Joey Savatgy |
(Kaw) |
9-8 |
10. |
Christian Craig |
(Yam) |
11-9 |
250MX
250 Moto 1
Just when you thought the 250 class was all about Jett Lawrence, the youngsters of the sport made you think again. New York natives Justin Cooper and Nick Romano took the holeshot and the early race lead before Cooper fell and handed the position over to Jo Shimoda. Shimoda capitalized on the mistake and held on for the moto victory, riding great and winning by over 10 seconds.
Behind him the action continued to unfold. Jett Lawrence and Romano duked it out for second but Jett fell going for the pass and dropped to sixth. He remounted at the tail end of a charging pack and was forced again to pick the riders off one by one. Jett worked his way back up and exchanged some contact passes with RJ Hampshire before going down again. He lost the front in a high speed turn and was tossed off the bike. He jumped up unhurt, but this second crash seemed to take the wind out of his sails. He finished seventh.
Hunter Lawrence continued to plug away and found himself in a podium position by the end of the moto. Hard-fought battles with Jett and Romano eventually saw the Honda rider solidify second place and put him in contention for the overall.
RJ Hampshire came from behind and was not afraid to band bars with the top dogs. He stayed in the fight to finish third in moto one.
250 Moto 2
After a wild first moto, the gate dropped again for the 250 class. Justin Cooper grabbed his second holeshot on the day over Jett Lawrence and Cameron Mcadoo who returned to racing today. Cooper was the man to beat and fended off charges from Lawrence early on. The Yamaha rider made right on his first moto mistake and held on for the win this time around. His 5-1 finishes earned him second overall.
The issues continued for Jett Lawrence in moto two. He started right behind Cooper and just as he started to feel his flow, he high-sided in a rut and hit the ground again. This mistake dropped him to fifth in the running order. In typical Jett fashion, he worked his way back up to second place by the time the checkers flew. 7-2 isn’t the consistency we’ve seen this year from Jett, but still good enough for fourth overall and the points lead.
First moto winner, Jo Shimoda, found himself locked in a battle for almost the entire second race. He tipped over in the early stages of the race and made things difficult for himself moving forward. Shimoda clawed back up and fought hard with team mate Mcadoo, going back and forth for a number of laps. Finally Shimoda sealed the deal with one lap left and landed on the last spot on the box. 1-3 scores gave him the day’s overall win.
Hunter Lawrence looked to be a threat for the day’s overall but bike problems hindered his performance. After doing a motor swap between races his bike continued to have issues, possibly with the rear brake. This caused Hunter to crash off the track and set him back to fifth in the race. He finished third on the day.
250MX Overall Results (Top 10)
1. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Kaw) |
1-3 |
2. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
5-1 |
3. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
2-5 |
4. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
7-2 |
5. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
3-8 |
6. |
Max Vohland |
(KTM) |
6-6 |
7. |
Nick Romano |
(Yam) |
4-9 |
8. |
Cameron Mcadoo |
(Kaw) |
11-4 |
9. |
Nate Thrasher |
(Yam) |
10-7 |
10. |
Pierce Brown |
(GG) |
9-10 |
QUALIFYING
450MX
The track is a bit different this year than normal. Unseasonably hotter conditions in the upper part of New York state has made the track much drier and looser than years past. Usually we see deep, rutted conditions but the ground just isn’t shaping up that way this time around. In the 450’s we saw Ken Roczen lay down the fastest lap, a full second quicker than Jason Anderson in second. Joey Savatgy put in a great lap in the first session and grabbed the third fastest spot.
450MX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
1. |
Ken Roczen |
(Hon) |
2:14.543 |
2. |
Jason Anderson |
(Kaw) |
2:14.840 |
3. |
Joey Savatgy |
(Kaw) |
2:15.181 |
4. |
Eli Tomac |
(Yam) |
2:15.374 |
5. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
2:15.522 |
6. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
2:16.069 |
7. |
Justin Barcia |
(GG) |
2:16.321 |
8. |
Ryan Dungey |
(KTM) |
2:16.424 |
9. |
Garrett Marchbanks |
(Yam) |
2:17.117 |
10. |
Fredrik Noren |
(KTM) |
2:17.889 |
250MX
Perhaps the biggest surprise today was Jett Lawrence’s qualifying speed. Obviously the Honda youngster is fast and has won all but one overall this season, but the 250 rider put down the fastest lap of the morning with a 2:12.7. This time was by far the fastest, and even bested Ken Roczen’s time by almost two seconds. Justin Cooper and Hunter Lawrence were second and third, both in the 2:14 range.
250MX Combined Qualifying (Top 10)
1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
2:12.777 |
2. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
2:14.525 |
3. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
2:14.755 |
4. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
2:16.107 |
5. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Kaw) |
2:16.199 |
6. |
Seth Hammaker |
(Kaw) |
2:16.570 |
7. |
Nathanael Thrasher |
(Yam) |
2:16.652 |
8. |
Nicholas Romano |
(Yam) |
2:17.187 |
9. |
Carson Mumford |
(Suz) |
2:17.670 |
10. |
Pierce Brown |
(GG) |
2:18.074 |
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