It’s time to play in the sandbox as the Pro Motocross Championship invades The Wick 338 for round six of the 2026 campaign. There’s a lot going on today in the northeast and we’re here to cover the action!
SOUTHWICK NOTES
- Lucas and Sacha Coenen are back stateside as they compete in their second round of Pro Motocross this summer. Lucas finished second overall at Thunder Valley in the 450 class, while Sacha scored a moto win in 250MX.
- Antonio Cairoli adds to the Euro flavor as he’s lining up for the second weekend in a row with the Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati Team.
- Cornelius Tondel is filling in for the Monster Energy Kawasaki Team. The Norwegian rider will race round six for the team as Chase Sexton recovers from a torn ACL.
- Aaron Plessinger suffered an injury at RedBud that required stitches just above his tailbone. He’s out for rounds six and seven.
- Austin Forkner announced his retirement earlier this week and will no longer be competing with the 5.11 Triumph program.
- Tony Lorusso is attempting to qualify in the 250MX division at 54 years old. He was 42nd in the first qualifying session.
- Honda HRC controls the points in both classes with Jo Shimoda (250MX) and Hunter Lawrence (450MX).
- Jo Shimoda is sitting out today’s round after suffering a fractured collarbone in practice.
450 MOTO 1
The first 450 moto looked all too familiar with both of the Lawrence brothers starting first and second with Haiden Deegan following closely behind. The excitement around Lucas Coenen was cut short in turn one as he hit the deck and remounted in dead last.
Jett Lawrence led the first half of the moto over Hunter and looked to be comfortably maintaining his spot up front. With 10 minutes to go Jett looked to be putting in a sprint lap and finally got the gap to more than two seconds. Disaster struck shortly after as he knifed the front end and launched off the bike into a sand berm. He got up unscathed and still finished second, handing the lead over to Hunter in the process.
Hunter Lawrence stayed close to Jett for the entire race and capitalized on the late-race fall. This put Lawrence into first and allowed him to take yet another moto win. The race did end under red flag conditions and was cut one lap short to attend to the downed rider Christian Craig. Regardless, Hunter Lawrence is credited with the win, eight seconds clear of Jett.
Haiden Deegan held tough for third in moto one. The Star Racing Yamaha rider stayed close to the Lawrence’s early in the moto but eventually lost the tow as the race wore on. He finished a lonely third but still grabs a remarkable result for the 450 rookie.
Lucas Coenen was on a blistering pace after falling in turn one. The Red Bull KTM rider battled all the way to fourth after passing teammate Jorge Prado but suffered a huge crash in the closing laps after an apparent bike malfunction just after the mechanics area. The team announced he will not line up for the second moto.
450 MOTO 2
Hunter Lawrence stole the holeshot as he led lap one narrowly over Haiden Deegan and Jett Lawrence. The race was on at the front as Deegan split the two brothers and pushed the pace towards the leader. While these two upped the ante, Jett sat back and waited as he dropped to three seconds behind the two front runners.
10 minutes into the race Jett decided to turn up the heat and easily made his way around Deegan for second before setting his sights on Hunter up front. Jett closed the gap to just over one second and the two brothers ran extremely close in the final stages of the moto. With only five minutes remaining, Hunter put in a hot lap with one last burst of energy but buried the front end and fell from the lead.
This late-race fall let Jett slip by for the lead and the eventual overall win as he scored 2-1 finishes on the day. This is Jett’s 27th career win and sees him reclaim the series points lead.
Hunter Lawrence still took second overall after falling late in the second moto. He says he bumped neutral while going into the turn which knocked the wind out of himself and forced him to take a full lap to catch his breath. 1-4 finishes put him second on the day and just one point out of the championship points lead.
Haiden Deegan finished second in the second moto which netted him third overall. Deegan ran up front once again as he trailed Hunter Lawrence to start the race but slowly lost the tow to the two leaders. He charged to the end and fended off Jorge Prado to keep himself on the overall podium.
Prado closed in on Deegan on the final lap but couldn’t find a way around the 450 rookie. He took third in the moto and fourth overall.
450MX OVERALL RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Jett Lawrence | (Hon) | 2-1 |
| 2. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 1-4 |
| 3. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 3-2 |
| 4. | Jorge Prado | (KTM) | 4-3 |
| 5. | Garrett Marchbanks | (Kaw) | 5-5 |
| 6. | Cooper Webb | (Yam) | 10-6 |
| 7. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Duc) | 6-11 |
| 8. | RJ Hampshire | (Hus) | 8-10 |
| 9. | Mikkel Haarup | (Tri) | 12-7 |
| 10. | Jordon Smith | (Tri) | 11-8 |
250 MOTO 1
Sacha Coenen absolutely dominated the opening moto of the day. After a sketchy first lap with multiple near-crashes, the Belgian rider took off and was nearly two seconds faster per lap over the rest of the field. Coenen extended his lead to more than 30-seconds and easily claimed the race victory. This is the largest margin of victory so far this season and marks his second-consecutive moto win in the US.
Levi Kitchen scored second at the line after crashing early in the race. He started outside the top five and the fall dropped him nearly outside the top 10 to in the opening half of the moto but the Monster Energy Kawasaki rider continued to chip away as he passed through the field. A hard fought fight to the finish saw Kitchen pass all the way to second as he technically takes over the points lead after race one.
Ryder DiFrancesco earned his best first moto result of the year in third. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider stayed consistent behind the early leaders and was running in second after Cole Davies hit the deck. Ryder D found himself in a three-way fight with Kitchen and Chance Hymas but only surrendered one position when all was said and done.
Cole Davies took the holeshot and ran second for the first half of the race. He later crashed and salvaged a seventh place finish.
250 MOTO 2
The second 250 moto kicked off with all of the heavy hitters at the front of the field as Davies, Kitchen, DiFrancesco, and Coenen all grabbed excellent starts. Davies led early on and put up a good fight as Coenen tried multiple times to pass for the top spot. It took half the race for Coenen to find a way through but once he did, the KTM rider put five seconds on second-place Davies in just one lap.
Coenen was all alone out front with a 16-second but suffered a massive crash with only four-minutes left on the clock. He remounted and still held on for the race win, going 1-1 for a dominant performance and his first win overall win on American soil. After the race Coenen was seen holding his collarbone and did not celebrate on the podium.
Kitchen scored second overall thanks to 2-4 finishes, marking his third podium result of the year. He sits just two points back in the series standings.
A second in race two put Davies on the overall podium and sees him take over the championship lead by two points over Levi Kitchen. Davies said he’s taking the positives from today’s race and despite a seventh in race one, he’ll carry the red plate into Millville.
Kayden Minear scored a moto podium in race two after passing Levi Kitchen for third late in the race. 6-3 finishes put him fourth on the day, one spot up on Julien Beaumer’s 4-5.
250MX OVERALL RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Sacha Coenen | (KTM) | 1-1 |
| 2. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 2-4 |
| 3. | Cole Davies | (Yam) | 7-2 |
| 4. | Kayden Minear | (Yam) | 6-3 |
| 5. | Julien Beaumer | (KTM) | 4-5 |
| 6. | Chance Hymas | (Hon) | 5-7 |
| 7. | Nate Thrasher | (Yam) | 11-6 |
| 8. | Francisco Garcia | (Kaw) | 9-8 |
| 9. | Carson Mumford | (KTM) | 10-11 |
| 10. | Michael Mosiman | (Yam) | 12-12 |
450MX QUALIFYING
Lucas Coenen returns to the 450MX grid as his usual MXGP series has a weekend off. The Belgian teenager was one to watch as he set the fastest qualifying time in Q1 with a lap more than a full second quicker than second place. He took full advantage of the smooth track and was the only rider on the 1:53 mark. Jorge Prado made it a European 1-2 as the second Red Bull KTM rider clocked second overall with a 1:55.1, but was fastest in the second session. Jett Lawrence grabbed the third best time just ahead of points leader Hunter Lawrence. Haiden Deegan rounded out the top five with a 1:56.8-second lap time.
450MX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Lucas Coenen | (KTM) | 1:53.903 |
| 2. | Jorge Prado | (KTM) | 1:55.139 |
| 3. | Jett Lawrence | (Hon) | 1:55.276 |
| 4. | Hunter Lawrence | (Hon) | 1:55.376 |
| 5. | Haiden Deegan | (Yam) | 1:56.804 |
| 6. | Roan Van De Moosdjik | (KTM) | 1:57.053 |
| 7. | RJ Hampshire | (Hus) | 1:57.531 |
| 8. | Mikkel Haarup | (Tri) | 1:57.637 |
| 9. | Garrett Marchbanks | (Kaw) | 1:57.984 |
| 10. | Dylan Ferrandis | (Duc) | 1:58.415 |
250MX QUALIFYING
Sacha Coenen didn’t want his brother to steal the spotlight as the MX2 points leader also grabbed the fastest qualifying time in the 250MX division. The Red Bull KTM rider looked comfortable in the deep sand and clicked off the only time in the 1:56’s. With a lap like that he could be the favorite for the win today. Cole Davies didn’t care about the smooth track as he set his fastest lap in the second session and jumped to second overall, about half a second off Coenen’s best time. This is Davies’ first time at the Southwick venue and we know he’s been on a roll as of late. Jake Cannon, an EMX regular (and brother to Charli Cannon), grabbed the third-best time as he enjoyed a smooth track in the B Practice session. Connecticut’s Larry Fortin logged a time just 0.001 seconds behind Cannon and narrowly claimed fourth overall. Levi Kitchen rounded out the top five.
Also worth noting that points leader Jo Shimoda was 11th fastest in Q1 but crashed hard in the Q2 and returned to the pits before the session concluded.
250MX OVERALL QUALIFYING RESULTS (Top 10)
| 1. | Sacha Coenen | (KTM) | 1:56.691 |
| 2. | Cole Davies | (Yam) | 1:57.258 |
| 3. | Jake Cannon | (Kaw) | 1:58.445 |
| 4. | Larry Fortin | (KTM) | 1:58.446 |
| 5. | Levi Kitchen | (Kaw) | 1:58.530 |
| 6. | Kayden Minear | (Yam) | 1:58.667 |
| 7. | Julien Beaumer | (KTM) | 1:58.739 |
| 8. | Michael Mosiman | (Yam) | 1:59.134 |
| 9. | Jesson Turner | (Yam) | 1:59.370 |
| 10. | Ryder DiFrancesco | (Hus) | 1:59.583 |
