Blow by blow recap from lightning delayed AMA SX in NJ

2023 AMA Supercross Championship

Round 14 – Metlife Stadium – New Jersey

Jett Lawrence had set the fastest 250 qualifying time ahead of fellow West competitor RJ Hampshire . That pair were 1-2 on the combined qualifying times ahead of 250 East competitors whose session was held after the West competitors, Hunter Lawrence topping that East session ahead of Jordon Smith.

250 West Heat

RJ Hampshire scored the holeshot ahead of Max Vohland while championship leader Jett Lawrence was outside the top ten early on in proceedings. By the end of lap one Jett was up to seventh but was already more than five-seconds behind a charging Hampshire who had clear air up front.

Jett started moving forwards on lap three, picking off Kitchen, Lopes and Mumford to move up to fourth as the contest reached the halfway mark. Hampshire led Vohland by two-seconds as that juncture. Pierce Brown was a further 1.5-seconds behind in third place and was next on Jett’s hit list.

Brown held Jett at bay for a couple of laps as the Aussie teenager bided his time and took no risks in looking for a way past.

Once past though he was on the back of Vohland in no time and then blitzed past the KTM man to leave him in his wake. RJ Hampshire had a four-secons lead with a lap and a half to run which was enough breathing space to keep the Honda man at bay, albeit by only a bike length at the flag.

RJ Hampshire the winner but Jett’s speed was far superior, Jett’s fastest lap almost 1.5-seconds quicker than the race winner.

250 West Heat Results

250 East Heat

Haiden Deegan scored the holeshot but Jo Shimoda took the lead halfway through the opening lap. Hunter Lawrence was running third after having to avoid Deegan at the first turn, the Yamaha man looked happy to battle hard with Hunter, perhaps hoping to play a little psychological warfare with the championship leader who was also nursing a recent groin injury.

Lawrence eventually managed to break away from Deegan and closed in on Shimoda. The Kawasaki man kept the Aussie at bay though and went on to take the heat victory.  Hunter second and Deegan third.

250 East Heat Results

250 East/West Showdown Main

The 250 Showdown was delayed due to some localised lightning storms forcing organisers to ask spectators to take shelter as riders were pulled off the gates to take shelter in the undercover pit area. The delay was from the danger of lightning strikes, but as the lightning threat receded the rain then came in and completely soaked New Jersey’s Metlife Stadium.

The rain had been stopped for a while when riders were called to the gates, only to then start falling heavily once again as they waited on the gates for the race to get underway. A reduced 12-minute plus two lap race to help the motorcycles last the distance and make up a little time on the program.

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Max Anstie slithered his way to the holeshot ahead of Max Vohland, Michael Hicks and Coty Schock. Jett Lawrence was fifth through the first rhythm section ahead of RJ Hampshire and Hunter Lawrence.

Briton Anstie looked at home in the puddles and mud, and of course also had the advantage of clear vision devoid of too much mud on his goggles. Two laps in, Anstie still led Vohland but Hampshire had moved up to third place while Jett and Hunter ran fourth and fifth.

RJ Hampshire then ran off the track which allowed Jett to get on terms with him and the pair then tussled for that third position, as Hunter watched on from a few lengths behind. Jett got Hampshire with eight-minutes left on the shot clock. At this juncture Anstie had a clear five-second lead over Vohland, who in turn had a couple of seconds over Jett.

Once clear of Hampshire though Jett sprinted away and onto the back wheel of Vohland, but the KTM man resisted and made him work for it.   Hampshire then came back into that battle as the minutes counted down. All the while Anstie was still running in relatively clear air with a seven-second lead with five-minutes left on the shot lock. It was at this juncture that Jett finally got past Vohland, the gap to the leader 7.5-seconds, surely victory for Jett was out of the question?

Hampshire took third place from Vohland. Hunter Lawrence was fifth but a late charge from Haiden Deegan saw the youngster close onto the tail of Hunter but Deegan then went down while trying to make a pass on the Aussie, losing a further two places in the process.

Anstie’s lead was out to ten-seconds at one point but with one-minute plus a lap left Jett had halved the Brit’s buffer to five-seconds.  Two laps to go and Jett had the gap down to two-seconds, then down to a second… On the penultimate lap though Jett got stunted by a lapper and lost a lot of time.

Just when it looked as though Anstie was home clear, Jett closed right up on him once again late on the final lap, but then the Aussie teenager lost drive on the run out of the penultimate turn. RJ Hampshire saw his chance and slid in under Jett at the final turn to try and steal second place, but took both of them out in the process.   It took Jett some time to extract his bike from the tangle but he still managed to take the flag for second place, a couple of bike lengths in front of his brother.

Hampshire was left in the mud trying to get going again but ultimately failed in that quest.

So Anstie the victor from go to whoa, Jett second and Hunter third.

That victory put Anstie within a single point of Deegan with two rounds of the 250 East Championship remaining. Hunter Lawrence leads Deegan by 49-points as the East series heads to Nashville next weekend.

With Hampshire taking only ten-points, Jett Lawrence extended his West Championship lead to 39-points with that second place finish. Their battle reconvenes in a fortnight in Denver before the joint East-West finale at Salt Lake City on May 13.

250 Main Results

250 Round Points

250 East Championship Points

250 West Championship Points

450 Heat One

Jason Anderson was the fastest 450 Qualifier ahead of Ken Roczen and Chase Sexton.  Eli Tomac had a hefty fall early in the opening qualifying session but made it back out in the later session to qualify seventh.

Aaron Plessinger also fell heavy in qualifying and hurt his back which put him out for the night.  Adam Cianciarulo collected a crossed-up Justin Barcia which left the Kawasaki man on the deck and out of the event.

Ken Roczen scored the holeshot ahead of Cooper Webb and Joan Cros when the opening 450 Heat got underway but Webb took the lead from the German late on the opening lap. Roczen came back at him though and showed superior speed to then pull away from the 2019 and 2021 AMA 450 Supercross Champion.

Roczen the victor by over three-seconds at the flag over Webb.  Justin Hill a further ten-seconds back in third place ahead of Colt Nichols and Kyle Chisholm.

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two

Chase Sexton scored the holeshot ahead of Justin Barcia and fastest qualifier Jason Anderson. Defending champ Eli Tomac was seventh at the end of lap one.

Sexton the dominant victor, taking the chequered flag eight-seconds ahead of Jason Anderson who had got the better of Barcia for second after the GASGAS man tucked the front halfway through the race.  Barcia recovered to finish third.  Eli Tomac worked his way forward to claim fourth place.

450 Heat Two Results

450 Main

The race distance was reduced from 20-minutes plus one-lap, to 17-minutes plus one lap in allowance of the schedule delays.

Chase Sexton scored the holeshot ahead of Ken Roczen and Justin Barcia but the Suzuki man was soon through to the lead.  Barcia then pushed up the inside of Sexton into a right-hander which left the Honda man on the deck. Sexton was down in eighth by the time when he was back up and running.

As they finished lap two Roczen led Barcia by just under two-seconds, with Tomac equidistant in third, that trio already had ten-seconds on the rest of the field after the first two laps. Bloss in fourth, Webb fifth, Wilson sixth. Jason Anderson went down after hitting the back of a struggling Cooper Webb.

Sexton blew past Webb with ease and then got Bloss a few turns later to promote himself back up to fourth place. They had not even been on track for five minutes at this point but Sexton was more than 30-seconds behind race leader Roczen. The German had three-seconds on Barcia, who now had a ten-second buffer over Tomac.

Lapped traffic then came into play and allowed Barcia to close right in on Roczen, he then went up the inside which forced the Suzuki man wide. Roczen not only lost the lead but also more than two-seconds to Barcia before he got back up to speed.

From there it was all Bam-Bam.  Barcia stretched away from Roczen with apparent ease, pulling away to the tune of ten-seconds over the next few minutes.  Eli Tomac then added further insult by catching and passing the German with three-minutes left on the shot clock. Tomac piled on the pressure and eventually the Suzuki man faltered, a small tip over in the whoops allowing the defending champ through to that second place.

Justin Barcia the clear victor, taking his goggles off and cruising the final lap but still taking the chequered flag 15-seconds ahead of Tomac.

Ken Roczen rounded out the podium ahead of Chase Sexton and Cooper Webb.

With that second place Tomac extends his championship lead over Cooper Webb to 11-points with three rounds still remaining. Chase Sexton now ten-points behind Webb and still has his hat in the ring.

450 Main Results

450 Round Points

450 Championship Points