Things are heating up in Thunder Valley for round three of the 2026 Pro Motocross Championship. The series takes to the elevation in Lakewood, Colorado for another weekend of close racing action. As always, there’s a lot to talk about and we’re here to cover it all.
Lakewood Notes
- Hunter Lawrence leads the points in the 450MX division
- Seth Hammaker is the 250MX points leader
- Chase Sexton will not race today after crashing during Friday’s press day
- MXGP and MX2 points leaders Lucas and Sacha Coenen make their US debut today
- Justin Cooper is missing today’s race after crashing last weekend in the second 450 moto. This is the first time he’s ever missed a round of Pro Motocross
- Still no Eli Tomac as he continues to recover from a crash at round one
- Drew Adams returns to action today in the 250MX class
- Enzo Temmerman is racing under the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki tent
- Carson Wood makes his pro debut with the Star Racing Yamaha team
450 MOTO 1
What a race to start the day as the 450MX division raced first here in Lakewood. Jett Lawrence grabbed the holeshot over Hunter Lawrence and Haiden Deegan and the battle for the top spot quickly ensued. Hunter and Jett went wheel to wheel in the opening laps while Deegan lurked closely in third to maintain the pace of the leaders.
By lap three, Deegan made his move for second around Hunter and tried to latch onto Jett. He’d get close only for Jett to pull away and open up a small lead. This back-and-forth continued until the half way mark when Deegan suffered a series of mistakes saw him go off track and eventually crash twice. He’d later drop to fourth at the line but was docked seven positions for cutting the track at the top of the hill. This penalty puts him 11th in the moto.
Jett maintained the lead for all 17 laps and clinched his third consecutive moto win. Despite efforts from the rest of the field, no one could pass the defending champ even though he “couldn’t find a flow” on the rough racetrack.
Lucas Coenen might be the surprise of the weekend as he finished second behind Jett Lawrence. The MXGP points leader started inside the top 10 and slowly began moving his way forward as the laps wore on. Crashes from Deegan and Hunter Lawrence allowed the KTM rider to slot into second place where he set the fastest times in all five of the final laps. With a second place result, he’s well within reach of the day’s overall win.
Hunter Lawrence hit the deck with three laps to go but still held on for third. He came under fire from Deegan in the final few laps but maintained the pace to bring home a podium at the line. After the race Lawrence received a one-position penalty for cutting the track which dropped hm from third to fourth and put Garrett Marchbanks into the final podium position.
450 MOTO 2
Jett Lawrence absolutely dominated the second moto to make it another 1-1 day. He took the holeshot over Lucas Coenen which set up a dogfight for the day’s overall win but a matchup near really materialized. Jett quickly opened up a three second lead over Coenen and continued to sprint away in the first 10 minutes of the race. He rode a mistake-free race and took the win by nearly 10 seconds. This marks his fourth moto win in a row, his second-consecutive overall victory, and more importantly sees him take over the points lead by eight points over Hunter Lawrence. Jett remains unbeaten at the Colorado venue and marks his 26th win in 30 450MX starts.
“I felt a lot better in moto two with a lot better lines and better flow,” Jett said. “It was a really tricky track. It was a good 1-1 weekend and I’m happy with that. I’m getting more used to riding with my foot, but it wasn’t easy on a track like this. But it was still good enough for a 1-1.”
Lucas Coenen rode to an impressive second place finish in race two. He started behind Jett but never got close enough to make a pass. Coenen looked to be in contention for the overall win but a 2-2 day still saw him beat all but one of the US regulars. Coenen is the first Belgian to grab podium since Clement Desalle at Unadilla 2010 and the MXGP regular is set to return to The States on July 11 for round six at the Southwick National.
“This was amazing,” Coenen said. “My start wasn’t that good, but I managed to go quick in the first corner and then just enjoy [myself] out there. I can’t thank the team enough for making this happen, and with the Roger De Coster kit, it’s amazing – I loved every lap out there. The second moto was hectic with lapped riders, but you know, I am racing the best riders in the world and it’s a lot of fun.”
Haiden Deegan battled back after a poor start to take third at the checkered flag. He and Hunter Lawrence battled in the closing stages of the race but a crash from Lawrence saw Deegan regain the podium position. Unfortunately, the penalties from race one put Deegan sixth overall with 11-3 finishes.
Hunter Lawrence crashed on lap one but clawed his way back in the final laps of the race. He found himself all over Deegan and made the pass for third stick with just three to go. Lawrence tipped over again in the same corner as his first-lap crash and handed the position back to Deegan. A fourth at the line still kept him on the overall podium in third overall but he drops to second in the championship.
“It was a tough one today,” Lawrence said. “I felt like my riding was really good, but I struggled with the connectivity of the track and my motorcycle. I struggled a lot more than I usually do in keeping the bike under me. All good, we’ll move on to the next one.”
Garrett Marchbanks earned a season-best result in fourth overall after going 3-6 on the day. “Fourth overall today, I’m feeling really good about it,” Marchbanks said. “It’s a career-best finish for me. I didn’t know I was battling for fourth or third the whole moto until two laps to go, so I really wish I got third, but for how stacked the class is and how the day was going, I’m super pumped on my result here. I’m really happy with the consistency on my starts so far, that was a career-best today as well.”
Jorge Prado received a two-position penalty in moto one, going 7-5 for a top five overall. “Not the best weekend for me at Thunder Valley,” Prado said. “I struggled with starts and then also just finding a flow all day. When you don’t start up front, it’s hard to make up time on the leaders, especially when there are many lapped riders. So not my best performance, but we will regroup and bounce back at High Point.”
450MX OVERALL RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Jett Lawrence | (Hon) | 1-1 |
| 2. | Lucas Coenen | (KTM) | 2-2 |
| 3. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 4-4 |
| 4. | Garret Marchbanks | (Kaw) | 3-6 |
| 5. | Jorge Prado | (KTM) | 7-5 |
| 6. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 11-3 |
| 7. | Aaron Plessinger | (KTM) | 6-7 |
| 8. | RJ Hampshire | (Hus) | 5-8 |
| 9. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Duc) | 8-9 |
| 10. | Cooper Webb | (Yam) | 10-10 |
250 MOTO 1
Seth Hammaker continued his moto one mastery as he took the holehsot and the early lead in the first 250MX race. The 250 points leader held the top spot for nearly the entire race as he led a trio of Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki riders through the first 15 minutes.
Levi Kitchen eventually slotted into second behind his Kawasaki teammate and stalked the early leader as the clock wound down. The round two winner made his bid for the lead with only two laps remaining and proceeded to drop the hammer on the white flag. Kitchen set the fastest lap of the race on the second-to-last lap and won the race by eight seconds over Hammaker.
Hammaker still held on for second after leading all but two laps. The points leader rode a strong race and still managed to take home a good result in terms of the overall championship. Jo Shimoda bounced back to a hard-fought third after crashing on lap one.
250 MOTO 2
Another big pileup took place at the start of the second 250 moto which took down Kitchen and Hammaker before even crossing the holeshot line. Sacha Coenen benefitted with a big holeshot as he took off ahead of the championship leaders. Coenen ran first for the entire race and dominated the rest of the field by more than six seconds. Both Coenen brothers definitely made an impression today but Sacha missed out on an overall podium due to a 14th place finish in race one.
Jo Shimoda earned the overall win, his first win of the season, with a second place result in moto two. The overall win hung in the balance between Shimoda and Nick Romano with the tie breaking going to whoever took the better second moto finish. The Honda HRC rider eventually marched his way around Romano and continued towards the front with a second place result. 3-2 on the day was the best score and puts Shimoda back into the points hunt. This marks his seventh career 250 class victory and sees him jump to third in the championship points.
“I just needed to start up front,” Shimoda said. “I wasted too much energy in the first moto, so I didn’t have as much in the second moto. We still have a lot of things to work on but still got a win. Coming back from my [offseason] neck injury, this win means a lot. Let’s keep the ball rolling.”
Ryder DiFrancesco finished third after being passed by Shimoda late in the moto. Another moto podium for the Husqvarna rider is a strong result despite narrowly missing out on the overall podium.
“Moto two was a big confidence booster,” said DiFrancesco. “This whole class right now is just about getting off the gate, and in the first motos, I have been eating a lot of roost. It was good to get a start and run up there in moto two – my eyes were on Sacha [Coenen], and it was actually really cool to mark a guy on the track. If I can get two good starts, we’ll be up there no problem.”
Levi Kitchen remounted after a first turn crash and got all the way back to eighth place at the line. A win in moto one helped bump his overall score as he used that raw same speed from race one to claw his way back through the field. An eighth place finish which proved enough to land him second on the day with 1-8 results. More importantly, he now sits tied with his teammate Seth Hammaker – who finished off the podium with a 2-12 – for the series lead. Both riders will hold the red plate at round four.
“If I want to be in it for the title, those are the kinds of rides I need to keep putting in, where I keep fighting until the end,” Kitchen said. “My eyes were set to leave here with the red plate; that was the goal, and I now have it shared with my teammate. Glad we’re both alright after going down, glad I can keep fighting and chipping away at the championship.”
Another Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider, Nick Romano, rounded out the box for his first overall podium. The #141 is currently a fill-in rider for the Kawasaki team and held control of the overall win at one point during the race. He eventually slipped from second back down to fifth but 4-5 moto scores still proved consistent enough for an overall podium. This is a career best day for the Kawasaki rider who has never even finished in the top five overall and is currently signed as a fill-in rider for the team. He sits fifth in the 250MX points.
“Getting my first career podium today feels unreal,” Romano said. “I told myself about 6-8 months ago that if I can get back on a factory bike, then I know I can do it. I am so thankful for Mitch [Payton], who gave me this opportunity, and everyone on the team that has helped and supported me. On paper I am the fill-in guy, but I’m trying to establish myself to be a full-time guy on the team.”
Sacha Coenen made the trip to America worthwhile with a dominant performance in the second moto as he took the holeshot and led every lap en route to the race win. Unfortunately a crash and an 14th place finish in moto one dropped him to fourth overall.
“I’m really happy to come over to America,” Coenen said. “We made it happen and the second moto was really good. I had a good start and the riding was just perfect. I’m just bummed about the first moto, but we need to accept it, and I am just really happy with the second moto. Thanks to everyone, it’s good confidence to take knowing that I can win a moto, so I am feeling very confident.”
250MX OVERALL RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Jo Shimoda | (Hon) | 3-2 |
| 2. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 1-8 |
| 3. | Nick Romano | (Kaw) | 4-5 |
| 4. | Sacha Coenen | (KTM) | 14-1 |
| 5. | Ryder DiFrancesco | (Hus) | 9-3 |
| 6. | Julien Beaumer | (KTM) | 7-4 |
| 7. | Seth Hammaker | (Kaw) | 2-12 |
| 8. | Kayden Minear | (Yam) | 13-6 |
| 9. | Michael Mosiman | (Yam) | 5-14 |
| 10. | Cole Davies | (Yam) | 6-15 |
450MX QUALIFYING
Points leader Hunter Lawrence finds himself back on the top of the time charts as he set the fastest lap of the day. The Honda HRC Progressive rider grabbed the top time late in the second session as he stole the pole position away from brother Jett by about half a second. This is only the third time Hunter has qualified first in the 450MX division. Belgian MXGP transplant Lucas Coenen showed the field that he’s for real as he qualified second overall and split the two Lawrence brothers with a fast lap late in the second session. Jett was fastest in the first qualifier but his time held up for third overall. Haiden Deegan and Jorge Prado rounded out the top five overall.
450MX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 2:01.727 |
| 2. | Lucas Coenen | (KTM) | 2:02.201 |
| 3. | Jett Lawrence | (Hon) | 2:02.489 |
| 4. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 2:02.851 |
| 5. | Jorge Prado | (KTM) | 2:04.286 |
| 6. | RJ Hampshire | (Hus) | 2:04.737 |
| 7. | Cooper Webb | (Yam) | 2:04.763 |
| 8. | Mikkel Haarup | (Tri) | 2:05.137 |
| 9. | Garret Marchbanks | (Kaw) | 2:05.302 |
| 10. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Duc) | 2:05.528 |
250MX QUALIFYING
Cole Davies topped the leaderboard with the fastest qualifying time in the 250MX class. This is the first time Davies has raced this track and he clocked his best time on the final lap of the second session. Davies won the final moto at Hangtown but narrowly missed the overall podium at round two. He was the only 250 rider on the 2:04 mark and about half a second quicker than second place Sacha Coenen. Coenen is the current MX2 points leader and is making his Pro Motocross debut today. He took the top time in the first session and held the overall spot until Davies stole it away on the final lap. Julien Beaumer took third overall, two-tenths back from his KTM teammate Coenen. Points leader Seth Hammaker qualified fourth with round two winner, Levi Kitchen, rounding out the top five.
250MX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Cole Davies | (Yam) | 2:04.463 |
| 2. | Sacha Coenen | (KTM) | 2:05.217 |
| 3. | Julien Beaumer | (KTM) | 2:05.465 |
| 4. | Seth Hammaker | (Kaw) | 2:05.597 |
| 5. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 2:05.786 |
| 6. | Michael Mosiman | (Yam) | 2:06.374 |
| 7. | Chance Hymas | (Hon) | 2:06.543 |
| 8. | Lux Turner | (Yam) | 2:06.684 |
| 9. | Jo Shimoda | (Hon) | 2:06.841 |
| 10. | Landen Gordon | (Yam) | 2:06.983 |
