The Red Bud circuit in Michigan hosted round five of the United States Motocross Championships at the weekend and, after fierce fighting throughout, there was a new hero to talk about.
This is the same track that will host the Motocross of Nations later in the year and so it was probably also significant to see who performed best there at the weekend.
Colorado’s Eli Tomac (Yamaha) scored the overall in the 450cc class, with championship leader Chase Sexton (Honda) settling for runner-up spot, but it’s still Sexton who tops the championship standings.
In the 250cc class, it’s still non-American riders who are dominating with Japan’s Jo Shimoda (Kawasaki, pictured) winning the day, while Australian Hunter Lawrence (Honda) finished the day runner-up and he took over the championship lead from his bother Jett Lawrence (Honda).
Shimoda’s victory meant he became the first Japanese rider ever to win the 250cc class in the US and, what’s more it was Independence Day weekend in America.
450cc CLASS
As the 450 class field launched out of the gate it was Tomac who emerged with his first holeshot of the season over Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Joey Savatgy and Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia.
Tomac quickly sprinted to a two second advantage on the opening lap over Savatgy as Barcia engaged in a battle with the Team Honda HRC duo of Ken Roczen and Sexton over third.
Tomac’s early race speed was too much for the competition to match as he steadily pulled away from Savatgy who held a comfortable gap over the rest of the field.
The Honda team-mates of Roczen and Sexton found their way around Barcia as they continued to fight over a spot on the podium.
With just under 10-minutes remaining in the moto, Sexton used an inside line before the famous Larocco’s Leap to take Roczen’s line away and make the pass stick for third.
The push to the front for Sexton continued as he began inching onto the rear wheel of Savatgy for second. He would try the same line he used on Roczen, but Savatgy refused to surrender as he launched back around on Larocco’s Leap.
Sexton regrouped and made the pass stick by getting a strong drive through the sand rollers.
Tomac proved to be unstoppable with a wire-to-wire performance that earned him his fourth moto win of the season with 6.3 seconds to spare over Sexton who finished runner-up.
Savatgy finished an impressive third, marking his career-best moto result.
Roczen followed in fourth, while Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Christian Craig completed the top-five.
The final moto of the afternoon saw Barcia charge to the holeshot ahead of first moto winner Tomac and Roczen.
Using incredible opening lap speed, Roczen made his way around Barcia to take the lead, followed by Tomac, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ryan Dungey, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson and Sexton.
As Roczen maintained a clear track out front, Tomac took control of second with a move on Barcia who continued to keep Dungey, Anderson and Sexton at bay. Just as Anderson and Sexton made their way around Dungey, a mistake saw Anderson go down, collecting Sexton with him in the process.
Tomac began to hit this stride, slowly working his way closer to Roczen with each passing lap. With just under 15-minutes to go, Tomac saw an opening and struck to take the lead from Roczen. Behind the battle up front, Sexton remounted from his early race incident with Anderson to pass Barcia for third.
It was another dominant effort for Tomac, bringing home his fifth moto win of the season by six seconds over Sexton.
A late surge by Barcia landed him on the podium for the first time this season in third. Anderson and Dungey finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Tomac’s double moto sweep (1-1) carried him to his second victory of the season and the 29th of his career. A pair of consistent moto results (2-2) earned Sexton the runner-up position on the day. Barcia’s strong second moto was enough to give him his first podium of the season (8-3).
250cc CLASS
The opening 250 class moto saw Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence take the holeshot, followed by Shimoda and his brother and team-mate Jett Lawrence.
As the field navigated the opening lap, the top three positions remain unchanged with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Stilez Robertson and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker just behind.
Hunter continued to control the race out front as Shimoda began to feel the pressure from Jett who started searching for a way around.
Jett muscled his way around Shimoda and quickly set his sights on Hunter in an attempt to make a bid for the race lead. Shimoda refused to settle as he latched onto the rear wheel of Jett to make it a three way battle up front.
Lap-after-lap, Hunter fended off Jett’s pass attempts before Jett eventually made his pass stick with an aggressive downhill move just prior to the halfway point of the 30-minutes-plus-two-lap moto.
As Jett continued to hold a narrow lead over Hunter, disaster struck when his bike began smoking and it eventually came to a stop with just 10-minutes remaining in the moto.
Jett’s misfortune allowed Hunter to retake the lead with Shimoda hot on his heels. Robertson would move into third.
Shimoda was determined to find his way to the front, taking the lead from Hunter with less than five-minutes remaining. He pushed hard to the chequered flag to take his first career moto win by 21.6 seconds over Hunter. Robertson took his first career podium result in third, followed by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team-mate RJ Hampshire in fourth. Hammaker completed the top-five. Jett was scored in 35th after retiring early with a mechanical issue.
The second 250 class moto kicked off with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryder Difrancesco taking the holeshot in his pro debut over Hammaker and Ty Masterpool.
A mistake by Difrancesco allowed Hammaker to slip by, however, it was short-lived as he grabbed a handful of throttle and crashed just moments later.
As the field came around to complete the opening lap, it was Masterpool out front, followed by Hunter Lawrence, Difrancesco and Robertson.
Jett Lawrence circulated the first lap in eighth, while first moto winner Shimoda found himself near the tail end of the field following a crash.
Hunter made quick work of Masterpool, who continued to run at an impressive pace, taking the race lead. With damage control on his mind, Jett put his head down and began picking off one rider after another and eventually made his way around Masterpool for second. Jett didn’t stop there as he set after Hunter for the race win.
In a league of their own, Hunter and Jett continued to pull away from the 40-rider field.
With 10 minutes left, Jett used an aggressive move as he nearly collided with Hunter to take the race lead. There was no looking back for Jett as he quickly pulled away.
The battle for the final podium position began to heat up during the final minutes of the moto with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Levi Kitchen and Shimoda finding their way around Masterpool.
Shimoda’s unbelievable ride through the field saw him get around Kitchen for third with three laps to go.
Jett won in convincing fashion by more than 16.9 seconds over Hunter. After starting the race outside the top-20, Shimoda rode to a hard-fought third. Kitchen held on for fourth, followed by Robertson in fifth.
The second moto efforts by Shimoda awarded him with the overall victory (1-3), marking the first of his young career and the first for a Japanese rider.
Hunter Lawrence was second overall (2-2), followed by Robertson taking his first career podium in third (3-5).
Championship points leader Jett ended the day ninth overall (35-1) following his first moto mechanical, surrendering the championship lead to his sibling rival Hunter.
Photo courtesy Kawasaki
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RESULTS & STANDINGS:
450MX Results:
- Eli Tomac (YAM) 1-1
- Chase Sexton (HON) 2-2
- Justin Barcia (GAS) 8-3
450MX Rider Points Standings:
- Chase Sexton (Honda) – 224 points
- Eli Tomac (Yamaha) – 217 points
- Ken Roczen (Honda) – 194 points
- Jason Anderson (Kawasaki) – 179
- Ryan Dungey (KTM) – 153
250MX Results:
- Jo Shimoda (KAW) 1-3
- Hunter Lawrence (HON) 2-2
- Stilez Robertson (HUS) 3-5
250MX Rider Points Standings:
- Hunter Lawrence (Honda) – 218 points:
- Jett Lawrence (Honda) – 211 points
- Jo Shimoda (Kawasaki) – 182 points
- Justin Cooper (Yamaha) – 159
- Levi Kitchen (Yamaha) – 145