BUCHANAN, Michigan — Riders returned to the track for round five of the Pro Motocross Championship as the legendary RedBud MX celebrated its 50th anniversary at the FMF RedBud National.
An overcast morning with some light, intermittent showers gave way to plenty of sunshine for the motos, while Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence continued his dominance of the 450 class with another perfect outing, leading every lap and finishing 1st in the motos :1 drove took his fifth win in a row.
In the 250 class, an unpredictable afternoon that saw the championship leader suffer heartbreak opened the door to a game-changing performance for Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rookie Haiden Deegan as the second-generation racer emerged with the first win of his promising career.
450 class Moto 1
The first premier class round of the day showed a familiar trend as Lawrence topped Sport Clips/Beachview Treatment/HBI Racing Kawasaki’s Ty Masterpool and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Dylan Ferrandis with his seventh MotoSport.com holeshot of the season.
The open track allowed Lawrence to hit the hammer on the first lap and build up a lead of more than two seconds from the start of the race. In the early stages of the race, he continued to increase this lead.
As the race wrapped up its opening 10 minutes, four different riders were within striking distance of second as Masterpool faced pressure from Ferrandis, Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo. The Yamaha-riding Frenchman tirelessly pursued Masterpool but couldn’t find a line clean enough to allow for an overtake.
This allowed Sexton, who was starting for the first time since the opening round, to take the opportunity and secure third place. Sexton then got his turn in the fight against Masterpool and was able to take control of second place just before halftime.
In the battle for third place, Masterpool and Ferrandis fought it out again with Cianciarulo lurking in fifth place. A Ferrandis blunder momentarily halted his momentum and allowed Cianciarulo to slip past in fourth. The leaders then took up their respective positions in the middle of the race.
The action picked up again in the final five minutes as Ferrandis upped the tempo and found a way to bypass both Cianciarulo and Masterpool, working his way up from fifth to third and just inches from his rivals.
Cianciarulo tried to go around Masterpool in fourth place and as he tried to pass the rider, he slipped and fell, touching Masterpool, overturning his bike and throwing the rider onto his back. The incident allowed both Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson to make ends meet.
Back at the top, Lawrence’s dominance of the division continued with his seventh go-to finish of the season and ninth straight win. He crossed the checkered flag 17.9s from Sexton while Ferrandis completed the moto podium in third. Plessinger followed in fourth place while Anderson completed the top five on his first start this summer.
Jett Lawrence has now made the best start to a class career in pro motocross history with a perfect 10-0 record and opened his first season in the 450 class.
450 class Moto 2
The final race of the afternoon started with a victory over MotoSport.com’s holeshots for Lawrence, again ahead of Masterpool and Ferrandis, who made quick work of passing Masterpool into second place and putting both Plessinger and Sexton in third place and 11th, respectively .fourth.
As he had all season, the free stretch paid off for Lawrence as he finished the first lap with a 2.5 second lead on the field. As Lawrence’s lead increased, Sexton tried to put pressure on Ferrandis, but Ferrandis lost traction with his front tire and slipped. He quickly climbed back up but finished fourth again behind Plessinger, who took over third place.
Pressure from Sexton was a spark for Ferrandis, who was within striking distance of Lawrence. The leader reacted with his fastest lap of the race, extending the lead again and gaining an even bigger lead.
As Sexton recovered from his misfortune, he reclaimed third place from Plessinger and attempted to close a six-second deficit to Ferrandis. By the time the race had passed half-time, the top three had leveled off and the gaps were stabilizing. When time was up, the battle for second place between Ferrandis and Sexton erupted as a showdown between the two ensued in the final two rounds.
Lawrence’s lead was never in question as he completed another start-finish run to complete the races’ standings, finishing 4.8 seconds ahead of Ferrandis, who was pushing hard to keep his Honda rival at bay hold and secure second place. Sexton was a strong third.
250 class in total
Despite not winning both races, Deegan’s unprecedented 2-3 race consistency allowed him to secure the overall win and break through Lawrence’s undefeated start to the season.
Haiden Deegan won his first overall win of his career. (Photo by Stephen Hopkins)
Kitchen’s win in the final heat put him in second place (7-1), while Cooper secured a clean podium victory for Star Racing in third (4-4).
At age 17, Deegan’s first win in his first full competitive season is the latest accolade for his celebrity racing family, as he ranks alongside his former Supercross and Pro motocross racing father Brian and current NASCAR racing sister Hailie among the elite level of motorsports winners .
He is the 90th different winner in 250 class history.
At the end of the first race, the race officials reviewed the footage to confirm that Cooper violated Section 2.10, point b.iii., 9.c. had violated. of the AMA Pro Racing Pro Motocross rule book in relation to signal flag compliance. As a result, Cooper was penalized five championship points.
This did not affect the event results and he retained his podium spot.
Despite retiring in heat two, Lawrence, who finished ninth (1-40), still holds the top spot in the 250 class after five laps. Him and Deegan are separated by 11 points while Hampshire, who finished fourth (3-7), is third, 33 points back.
Comments are closed.