Lawrence brothers look to extend Motocross domination this weekend
Motocross celebrates the 4th of July weekend in Buchanan, Michigan to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Red Bud MX.
This will be the fifth race of the outdoor season and through the four previous events, one thing has proven true: If a rider wants to win they have to ride around a Lawrence brother.
Through four weekends and eight motos, Jett Lawrence has been perfect, winning each as well as the overall. This is the first time in the 450 series that a rider has won one of the opening eight races.
If Lawrence wins moto one this weekend he’ll break the overall sport tie held with David Bailey, who won the first eight races in the 500 class, which was the big bike class in 1984.
The 2023 season is Lawrence’s rookie campaign on a 450, moving up to the class for the outdoor season after successfully winning the Supercross 250 West Championship, his second Supercross championship after winning the East in 2022.
Jett Lawrence has been perfect thus far in the Motocross season. He looks to extend his winning streak this weekend at Buchanan, Michigan. Photo courtesy Align Media.
Lawrence leads Dylan Ferrandis and Copper Webb in the motocross points. Webb will not race this weekend after a practice crash this week.
The team announced in their newsletter, “Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Copper Webb will miss this Saturday’s Red Bud MX National, Round 5 of the 2023 AMA Pro Motocross Championship, following a practice crash that left him pretty banged up earlier this week.”
It has been clear since Fox Raceway in Pala, California, that Lawrence did not need to adapt to the higher class. Due to the longer-than-usual list of injuries and attrition from the Supercross season and the start of Pro Motocross, there’s a weaker field than what was initially expected.
Notable injuries still affecting the field from the Supercross season include defending Motocross champion Eli Tomac (Achilles tendon injury at Denver) and Justin Barcia (collarbone and shoulder injuries at Nashville). Jason Anderson (vertebrae injury also at Nashville). Anderson will return for the RedBud Nationals.
Chase Sexton Returns
After Week 1 of the Moto seasons, we lost the 2023 450 Supercross champion Chase Sexton. The rider of the Team Honda #23 was one of the few riders to survive all 17 races of the Supercross season and often credited his overall success with his ability to hang on through the full season.
The outdoor campaign would not treat him so kindly and fans have been waiting with bated breath to see when the champion would return to the gate.
The answer is now.
Sexton returns after missing three rounds to try to reclaim the SuperMotocross points lead and ruin Lawrence’s perfect summer record. So far this season, Sexton has been the only rider to keep pace with his teammate through an entire moto when he pressured him in Race 2 at Fox Raceway.
Sexton wants to continue to put pressure on Lawrence, but he is also focused on regaining the No. 1 seed in the SuperMotocross World Championship battle. He lost that distinction just last week when Webb took a 35-point lead.
A strong showing this weekend can help Sexton reclaim the lead but with three missed races he will not be able to catch Lawrence for the outdoor championship. Sexton finished second to Lawrence in both motos in Week One and is geared to be the stiffest weekly competition moving forward.
Last week at High Point was the first time Lawrence did not completely dominate a race. He crashed on Lap 5 after failing to stick the landing on a jump.
Ken Roczen led for six laps before Lawrence was able to overtake and reclaim the lead. This was the first race Lawrence did not lead from the drop of the gate to the final lap.
The competition continued to hold back Lawrence in Moto 2 and he didn’t take the lead until Lap 11 of 16, passing Roczen once again.
Sexton’s return puts Lawrence’s perfect season to a major test and Red Bud’s 50th anniversary will be all the better because of it. Both riders will have major pressure to come out on top this weekend.
250 Class
In the 250 Class, Hunter Lawrence has won the overall all four weekends and has podiumed in all eight individual races. He has won Moto 2 in each round, proving to get stronger as the day progresses. This is a stunning stat that is slightly overshadowed by the history his brother is making in 450s.
Hunter Lawrence leads the points over Haiden Deegan in his Motocross rookie season, and RJ Hampshire, who finished second to Jett Lawrence in the 250SX West standings this year.