Oh brother! Lawrence "Jetts" to 450 Motocross title; Hunter takes 250 crown
With the championship under his belt, Jett Lawrence only had one last dragon to slay, with two motos stood in the way of him and the perfect season a feat only accomplished three times in Motocross history, twice by Ricky Carmichael in 2002 and 2004 and once by James Stewart in 2008.
450 wrapup -- Moto 1:
A heavily motivated Chase Sexton only goal was to play heel and fans watched with bated breath through two motos to see if he could get it done. Lawrence was simply unbeatable, smooth, and determined through every turn of the Ironman Raceway track.
On the first Moto, Sexton lined up next to Lawrence, a move that teammates usually won’t pull on each other to ensure that they don’t mess up the other start, but all is fair in love and Moto.
Lawrence pulled out to the lead and captured the holeshot as Adam Cianciarulo followed. Sexton’s reaction time slowed at the drop and the Honda teammate fell into the first lap pace in fifth place.
Within a lap, Aaron Plessinger made his way up to second and Sexton to third, with the three riders staying within two seconds of each other.
Sexton made the pass on Plessinger and focused in on the only rider he’s been thinking about, at his closest in this moto Sexton found a way to shorten the lead to under a second but by halfway Lawrence was out to a strong lead and the only hope for Sexton is a mistake.
By halfway, the young Australian rider leads his teammate by five seconds and holds on for his 21st win of the season, one away from perfection.
Dylan Ferrandis completed the podium followed by Jason Anderson and Plessinger.
“You don’t usually get teammates lining up next to each other,” Lawrence responded when asked about Sexton’s gate pick, “I just didn’t want to mess his start-up.
“We’re both trying to go for a win, he's going to try to do whatever he can and I’m the same. We live for this. We want to finish on top but it puts the extra bit of pressure because if you don’t these guys close you out real fast.”
450 wrapup -- Moto 2:
The pressure between the two riders carried into the second moto, and this time with Sexton located down the line Lawrence did flinch on gate drop. It was only a matter of a few turns for Lawrence to take the lead but he had to pass Dylan Ferrandis when he did, Sexton followed through.
Plessinger followed Sexton and was quoted throughout the weekend saying that maybe he could be the one to spoil the win. He kept some pressure on the Honda duo through the opening laps but by five minutes in Sexton and Lawrence were in a class of their own.
Lawrence made one mistake in the second moto going off course with nine minutes remaining and only a three-second lead on Sexton, but in tandem, Sexton made a similar exit and was unable to capitalize on the leader's mistake.
For everything Sexton can give it seems that Lawrence can give just a little bit more as he sailed around the track, but the pressure remains to the final moments. Lawrence crossed the finish line after 19 laps with Sexton just 1.0738 seconds behind, the third smallest margin of victory this season.
Lawrence let his bike ghost ride over the next hill and screamed into the sky. He rode perfect this weekend, he stayed perfect all season and wrote his name in the records book next to his ideas.
Taking a path to the pinnacle of the sport that didn’t seem to exist, the Lawrence brothers built their castle on the top of the hill.
“There was no pathway for us to be where we are,” Jett Lawrence said on the season, “Undefeated in our rookie season and the 450 championship, I mean, there was no pathway for us to win a 250 championship. I mean what we’ve done and make history and be up there with Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart, it means the world. They are such a household name in our sport.”
It’s hard not to notice how effortless Lawrence made these motos look all season, and in the final Moto, he saw arguably the most pressure while still having gas in the reserves.
“I was not at a full hundred percent, but we were going at least 95%,” Jett Lawrence said in the special combined Lawerence brothers post-event press conference. “We were trying to push the envelope and push Chase to his limits to try and break him.
"It’s the only way to beat Chase. It’s already hard enough to do that, it’s almost impossible, This man does not stop at all. I was pushing hard and he was pushing hard. It was awesome racing against him this year. I was glad he came back because he’s made me a better rider.”
While Sexton can’t view their competition as cheerily as Lawrence, he can see how much he grew through adversity this outdoor season.
“I’m honestly grateful for where I’ve come from,” Sexton said on his career, “It’s hard to see past what’s in front of me, and getting beat today was not great but I’m very grateful to be where I am and to be a Supercross champion is something that I’ve always dreamed of.
"It’s easily forgotten when you have a not-so-great outdoor season but I plan on trying to right that wrong at SMX and get into the off-season on a positive note.”
Chase Sexton didn't make it easy for Jett Lawrence. Photo: Align Media.
Both riders now prepare for the inaugural SuperMotocross Playoffs with Sexton seeded first and Lawrence third, with Plessinger sandwiched in-between.
With Lawrence’s move from 250s to 450s coming between the Supercross and Motocross seasons, his perfect season netted him 550 points, propelling him to third overall without a single Supercross start. Just one more insane moment of the season.
The best of the indoors and outdoors will battle it out with the World SuperMotocross Champion walking away with a million dollars. These are three weeks you don’t want to miss.
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250 wrapup: Hunter Lawrence Captures ProMotocross 250 Championship to Complete Honda’s Perfect Season
Hunter Lawrence entered the summer with a Supercross 250 East championship and potentially his biggest competition; his brother Jett, moving up to the 450 class.
Entering the final weekend of the season, Hunter Lawrence was just a few moves away from locking up his second championship of the year, and the fifth championship of the year for his manufacturer Honda; a manufacturer has not won all available championships in more than 40 years.
While his brother had already wrapped up his championship the week prior at Budds Creek and pivoted focus to a potential perfect season, Hunter Lawrence still needed to lock down his own crown in the series finale at Ironman Raceway.
After qualifying sixth, Lawrence lined up at the gate of Moto 1 and had a slow start, one of the few repeated flaws of his summer campaign. What could’ve caused catastrophe at one of Lawrence’s worst tracks on the circuit, turned into a mere blip when he rounded the corner and saw Justin Cooper, one of the only two riders that could catch and pass him in points lying on the ground in a multi-bike pile-up.
Once the dust of the first lap settled, Lawrence was in 17th and Copper was at the back of the field. Jo Shimoda, who entered the weekend third in points, started making his campaign near the front battling with teammate Ryder DiFrancesco and fellow international rider Tom Vialle.
Racing while battling the flu, Haiden Deegan, younger brother of NASCAR star Hailie Deegan, made his way into the top three while Vialle and DiFrancesco battled up front, when Vialle made the pass the bleeding started for DiFrancesco who would fade to ninth by the end of the Moto.
Joe Schmida leads the field in Moto 1. Photo: Align Media.
With 15 minutes remaining, Shimoda makes the pass on Vialle for the lead, while third in points he would have to finish 37 points ahead of Lawrence in the moto to stay in the battle for Moto 2, yet by halfway Lawrence had climbed back into the top 10.
Shimoda’s focus was just one part of the weekend’s success. Shimoda took the Moto 1 victory over Deegan and Vialle. Austin Forkner, who was fighting this weekend to make it into the top 30 of combined SuperMotocross points, finished in fourth position ahead of 250 champion Hunter Lawrence.
Cooper rebounded as much as he could but would stay in the hunt if he finished within three positions of Lawrence. As it turned out, he would finish the Moto in 13th.
“I saw the chaos in the second turn and I saw blue bikes and the 32,” Hunter Lawrence said. “And I was like, ‘Damn that sucks.’ I was laying back and being patient, trying not to rush anything. What a year. Never say die; never give up.”
Hunter Lawrence celebrates his championship. Photo: Align Media.
With a #1 plate secured, it was not the end of the day for the older Lawrence brother as he would need to battle through the final Moto and anxiously await to see if his brother could pull off his perfect season.
At the start of 250 Moto 2, the Kawasaki riders of Shimoda, DiFrancesco, and Seth Hammakeer were on another level from the field as the green machines rocketed to the lead and DiFrancesco captured the Holeshot.
Teammate Shimoda would follow him to second and before Shimoda could put his attention on the lead had to deal with a challenge from Levi Kitchen, the fastest qualifier of the day who suffered a fall in Moto 1 finishing 15th.
Shimoda was passed by Kitchen but the top three stayed under a blanket through the opening laps. Shimoda made it by Kitchen and ran up to begin a multi-lap battle with his teammate for first.
With two-thirds of the race remaining Shimoda makes it by setting himself up for only the second 1-1 of the season, the first being accomplished by Haiden Deegan at Washougal.
Shimoda didn’t know at the time, but if he clinched the overall it would keep Kawasaki’s streak of wins alive going back to 1982, as the manufacturer had yet to win this year.
“I didn’t know that,” Shimoda said of the surviving streak, “My mechanic told me after the race. They’ve been working so hard for me, it’s nice to bring something to the table for them. It’s good for the business and it’s pretty good for me too.”
Kawasaki team manager Mitch Payton was interviewed mid-race about the team’s late-season turnaround: “We found something around Southwick that is quite a bit better, they’ve all got to ride it, they like it and that’s what we’re running. (It’s) Definitely better on starts.”
The Moto finished with the exact same podium as the first with Shimoda going 1-1 over Deegan in second and Vialle in third.
“I’ll be honest, I woke up this morning sick as a dog,” Deegan said after finishing second. “One of those when you don’t want to get up at all, but you know me: I’ll keep fighting to the end but we were able to get second overall. The first loser, but I’m still happy.”
Cooper finished fourth in the moto and held on to second overall in the Motocross season.
Lawrence, who once again had a slow start at the gate, would end up finishing fifth, same as the first moto.
With the ProMotocross season wrapped up for the first time in history, riders are not done.
Focus shifts to the three-round playoffs starting September 9th in Charlotte, North Carolina at ZMax Dragway before heading to Chicagoland in Joliet, Ill., and concluding at the LA Coliseum in Los Angeles on September 23rd.
The 250 Class has a points fund of $1,245,000, with a half-million dollars going to the first SuperMotocross World Champion.
Hunter Lawrence leads the combined points over Haiden Deegan and Levi Kitchen. A total of 20 riders have been locked in and the final two spots of each Moto will be filled by the Last Chance Qualifier.
[Full List] -- https://www.supermotocross.com/points-standings/