Honda dominate AMA Pro Motocross season opener

2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship
Round One – Fox Raceway, California

Images by Jeff Kardas

250 Moto One

The opening moto of the afternoon saw Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Justin Cooper emerge with the MotoSport.com Holeshot ahead of Jett Lawrence and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawaski’s Seth Hammaker. Cooper paced the field for the first 10 minutes until Lawrence applied the pressure and made the pass for the lead.

Once out front, Lawrence easily opened a big lead over the field that he maintained through the rest of the moto. Behind him, teammate and brother, Hunter Lawrence, was making moves forward after starting fourth. He made the pass on Hammaker for third and then took over second from Cooper just past the halfway point.

The battle for third tightened up considerably in the final 10 minutes of the moto as Cooper was forced to deal with a collection of riders. He lost hold of third to Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire and continued to lose positions after that. That left the fight for third to be decided between Hampshire and a hard-charging Jo Shimoda aboard his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki machine.

The Lawrence brothers made an assertive opening statement with a 1-2 finish, as Jett took the moto win 6.6 seconds ahead of Hunter. Hampshire successfully fended off heavy pressure from Shimoda for third, while Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Levi Kitchen rounded out the top five.

250 Moto One Results

250 Moto Two

The second and deciding moto began with a new face at the front of the field as Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Nick Romano earned the MotoSport.com Holeshot in his pro debut, with Jett Lawrence and Hammaker in tow.

Lawrence was patient for the opening laps but then pulled the trigger and made the pass on the rookie, while Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing’s Michael Mosiman slotted into the top three with a pass on Hammaker.

Lawrence sprinted out to a multi-second lead and put the pressure on his rivals, with Mosiman responding by making a pass on Romano for second. Behind them, several riders jockeyed for position in the battle for third, including Shimoda and Hunter Lawrence, who soon made their way around both Hammaker and Romano.

With the race in hand, Jett Lawrence managed a double-digit lead over the second half of the moto and left the fight for the remaining spots on the podium to be decided amongst three riders. A crash by Mosiman caused him to drop from second to fourth and allowed Shimoda to move into second, with Hunter Lawrence into third.

Jett Lawrence was dominant en route to a sweep of the motos and took the checkered flag 5.3 seconds ahead of his brother, who used lapped riders to his advantage to make a last-lap pass on Shimoda for second.

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Jett Lawrence’s title defense couldn’t have started better with a 1-1 effort and a fourth straight victory at Fox Raceway to keep his undefeated record in Southern California intact. Hunter Lawrence’s 2-2 performance helped solidify Honda’s dominance on the afternoon and clinched the siblings’ first ever 1-2 performance. Shimoda’s consistent 4-3 effort landed him third overall for his fourth career podium result.

Jett Lawrence has established a six-point lead over his brother in the initial 250 Class standings, while Shimoda sits 12 points back in third.

2022 Fox Valley National Video Recap

Jett Lawrence – P1

“That HRC Honda bike is hooking up out of the gate and making it easy. Four wins here (at Fox Raceway) and undefeated, even though it’s not my favorite track. Really happy for Hunter (Lawrence) as well, I was looking to see where he was the whole time. Great day for Honda with a 1-2 here.”

Hunter Lawrence – P2

“It was a tough track to pass on, but it was a lot of fun battling with Jo (Shimoda). I’m happy (with the result), it’s a great way to start the season. I’m looking forward to the summer.”

Jo Shimoda – P3

“The track here at Fox Raceway is always fast and tough,” said Shimoda. “I am thankful I got two decent starts so I could go for the podium. It’s a long season and to start on the podium is a great feeling. I’m looking forward to a fun summer.”

RJ Hampshire – P4

“It was a pretty crazy day and I was able salvage a fourth overall,” Hampshire said. “The day started off wild, I came together with someone in practice and hit the ground pretty hard but I was able to put that behind us. I feel like I was riding well today and we had really good speed, it’s not like we’re far off. I’ll work on getting a better start next weekend at Hangtown, and being up there and staying consistent.”

Michael Mosiman – P5

“What a day! You name it, I saw it, from a heavy crash in practice, to getting caught up in a second-turn pileup in the first moto and coming back to ninth. I had really good speed all day and I felt comfortable on the bike. In the second moto, I got a good start and was right there in the mix running second for a while and I felt good. To have the day that I’ve had, it’s good to get the first one over with and I think you can expect a lot more from me going forward. I’m excited for the season!”

Austin Forkner – P6

“I had higher expectations of the first round, but I also knew I wanted to get through this first one healthy,” said Forkner. “I know I have good pace out there so we’ll be working on a few things this week that will hopefully help me reach those expectations at Hangtown.”

Seth Hammaker – P7

“It’s a huge relief to get a race in and see what I can start to work on this week,” said Hammaker. “I’ve been feeling good as we prepped for the season, but it’s always different when you finally line up for the race. I didn’t really put in any great results last season and now we have something to build off of as the season gets going.”

Pierce Brown – P9

“It was a pretty good day for me. I had two solid motos – nothing too flashy – with two sevenths. I made it through both motos with no crashes, passed guys and got good experience in the battle and that’s what I’ve been looking for the last couple seasons. All-in-all, I think we’re in a good spot for the season. I’m stoked for Hangtown next weekend!”

Stilez Robertson – P10

“Qualifying was a little rough for me,” Robertson said. “I just overrode, honestly, but it’s round one of 12, so my main goal this year is to be there every weekend and then I think the results will come. Going 10-11 for 10th overall is not the greatest day but it’s not the worst day. We’re going to keep plugging away.”

Max Vohland – P11

“Today went pretty good. I came out with more points than I did last year, so that’s a plus. My starts are what really hurt me today. I rode strong and hard, and I feel like I’m in better shape by far than last year, I just need to get off that gate and get a good start. We’ll definitely work some starts this week and I’m looking forward to my hometown race at Hangtown next weekend.”

250 Moto Two Results

250 Championship Points Standings

450 Moto One

The first 450 Class moto of the afternoon began with Roczen at the front of the field for the MotoSport.com Holeshot, followed by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Shane McElrath and Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Eli Tomac.

Roczen and Tomac quickly asserted themselves up front and established a multi-second lead, while McElrath lost third place to Sexton. Roczen separated himself from Tomac through the first 10 minutes of the moto, while Sexton closed in on the Yamaha rider to initiate a battle for second.

Sexton made quick work of Tomac and set his sights on the lead. The Honda teammates were separated by less than a second at the halfway point of the moto as a spirited battle for the top spot unfolded. A persistent Sexton eventually made the pass stick to seize control of the moto.

Behind them, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ryan Dungey, in his first start since retiring in 2017, made the pass on Tomac for third. A couple laps later, the position changed hands again as Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s Christian Craig took the position from Dungey.

Sexton closed out the moto in strong fashion to capture the first moto win of the season, while Roczen helped secure a Honda 1-2, 15.8 seconds back. The battle for third intensified in the closing laps, but Craig held off a hard-charging Jason Anderson and his Monster Energy Kawasaki for third, while Dungey completed the top five.

450 Moto One Results

450 Moto Two

The field stormed out the gate for the final moto of the day with Sexton back out front for the MotoSport.com Holeshot, followed closely by Roczen and Dungey, while Anderson went down fighting for a spot near the front and dropped well back in the field.

A determined Roczen put the hammer down on the opening lap and went on the attack with his teammate, storming past Sexton for the lead as Dungey settled into third ahead of Craig.

Roczen sat firmly in control of the first half of the moto, but as the 15-minute mark passed Sexton started to erase the deficit and soon enough moved to within a few bike lengths of his teammate.

Much like the first moto, the battle for the lead spanned multiple laps, as Roczen fended off the pressure. As the fight out front unfolded, Dungey lost positions to the Yamaha duo of Craig and Tomac, who moved into third and fourth, respectively.

Back out front, Sexton was able to make a pass stick on Roczen and grabbed the lead with just under 10 minutes to go. Roczen didn’t let up and responded to the pass by keeping the pressure on Sexton as they navigated through lapped riders.

However, Sexton was simply too consistent over the final stages of the moto and carried on to complete the sweep of the motos by 4.5 seconds over Roczen, while Craig withstood a persistent challenge from Tomac to claim third.

The first 1-1 performance of Sexton’s career resulted in his third premier class victory at the same track in which he captured his maiden triumph at the final round of the 2020 season. Roczen finished in the runner-up spot with 2-2 finishes, while Craig captured the first overall podium result of his career in third (3-3).

Sexton now leads the point standings for the first time in his career and has established a six-point lead over Roczen, while Craig sits 10 points back in third.

Chase Sexton – P1

“It was a dream day for me. I think it’s one of the hardest things to go 1-1 but I felt great all day. I feel like I’m riding my best right now. I’m just stoked, this is a big day for me and I’m excited to get the points lead and start the summer like this.”

Ken Roczen – P2

“I fought hard. That was my game plan. I had some good lines and just hung in there all day. He (Sexton) is riding really well right now. The track was really tricky and really difficult, so we had to ride smart. I’m on a good roll right now and I just want to build momentum and keep it going.”

Christian Craig – P3

“Coming off of my supercross championship, I really wanted to keep the momentum going. My confidence is really high right now and it’s showing on the track with my first career podium on the 450, and my first overall podium in the outdoors. It’s something special going 3-3, and being competitive and battling up there with those guys – racing legends like Ryan (Dungey) Tony (Cairoli), and my teammate. It was just a super positive day to start the outdoor season off right and gives us something to build off of for the rest of the year.”

Eli Tomac – P4

“Today was a little bit tough in the first moto. I rode a little bit tight, but the positive from that moto was that my start was really good and the bike was really strong off the start. Then in Moto 2, my riding was better but I didn’t have as great of a start. I’m more satisfied with my second moto. I felt like it was a lot closer to the way I’m supposed to ride. I still wanted to be on the podium, but that was a decent way to end the day, making improvements from that first moto.”

Ryan Dungey – P5

“I’m excited to be here racing and super thankful it worked out. Going into the first moto, it was important to just let it come to me – don’t rush, don’t override, hit your marks and find good lines as the race goes on. I was able to make some passes and I was actually pretty happy with fifth. I got a really good start in the second moto and that was nice because I got to run up there with Chase and Ken and get a feel of that pace that I need to work towards. I’m actually really happy with the day and the bike, too. We made some changes going into the second moto and that really helped. For me, it’s the best outdoor bike I’ve ever ridden at KTM, so that’s really pleasing. The cool part is I see the areas I need to work on and that’s the challenge and the motivation moving forward.”

Antonio Cairoli – P7

“Here at Pala, it’s a very nice debut for me. Of course, it could be a little better without the crash in the first moto but I was close to the top-five in both races. I’m really happy about how it went considering my fitness, I only started doing some race training two or three weeks ago. Before, I was just testing for the team and for R&D at KTM so I didn’t really have the plan until one month ago that I would race here. It was feeling a little bit like your mind wants to do it more but you’re careful because this track was very sketchy and demanding so you need to just take whatever comes and we build up a little bit race after race.”

Aaron Plessinger – P8

“This was my first race back since Minneapolis and I had a pretty good day overall. The first moto, I actually surprised myself. I didn’t really know I was going to be that fast, catching up to Ryan and actually riding with him a little bit in the top-five. I had a little tip-over that brought me back to sixth but I felt good. Going into the second one, I knew my arm was a little bit tired so I wanted to get a good start and that didn’t really happen but I pushed through. It was a grind the second moto and I’m just happy I made it through. I’m also happy to be back at the races and looking forward to improving from here.”

Justin Barcia – P9

“I felt good on the bike in qualifying practice. First moto, I got pinched on the start and I had to come from pretty far back, so it was a good charge through the moto and I felt pretty good. We made a few changes going into the second moto and I got off to a really good start and then in the second corner there was a bit of a pileup and unfortunately, I ended up going down in that, so I had my work cut out for me today. The results don’t really show the riding that I did – I did some really good riding – and I feel like the bike is in a good spot, my fitness is really good and I’m super motivated going into next weekend.”

Shane McElrath – P10

“It was honestly a good start to the season,” McElrath said. “It was a quick deal that we put together and for me, it’s been a couple years since I’ve raced outdoors. I had a good feeling on the bike but I’ve not been racing in a couple months so there were a lot of questions I had for myself. I knew that once I got going, I could find a flow, I just had quite a bit of nerves today. First moto was tough but we had some changes for the second moto and regrouped. This is a very good opportunity in front of me and I don’t want to let it go to waste. I want to keep building on today. I think we have a lot of room to grow and I’m excited about it.”

450 Moto Two Results

450 Championship Points Standings