The Pro Motocross Championships in the United States headed to Colorado for its third stop of the summer and round 20 of the 2026 SMX World Championship in Denver.
The Thunder Valley National featured another captivating afternoon of racing, which saw Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence put forth a statement performance with a pair of wire-to-wire motos to claim back-to-back wins and seize control of the 450SMX Class points lead.
In the 250SMX Class, the unpredictability continued for the third straight race as Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda became the third different winner in as many races, albeit without winning a moto.
It signified Honda’s first sweep of class victories this season.
The most competitive qualifying session of the young season saw several riders put themselves in the mix for pole position.
While Jett Lawrence topped the charts after the first session, it was his Honda HRC Progressive teammate and older brother Hunter Lawrence, who ultimately led the way at the end of the second session with a time of 2:01.727, which put him a half-second ahead of the 2:02.201 by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Lucas Coenen, the MXGP points leader who took advantage of an off weekend to make his US motocross debut.
Jett Lawrence’s 2:02.489 from the first session placed him third.
The opening moto of the afternoon got underway with Jett Lawrence out front with the holeshot over Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb and Hunter Lawrence, the championship leader.
Lawrence pushed on the opening lap to get around Webb and looked to close in on his younger brother.
Meanwhile, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan was able to climb his way up to third.
The Lawrence brothers engaged in a spirited fight for the lead, with Jett able to keep Hunter at bay.
For a moment Hunter appeared to have the pass made on his brother, but Jett responded immediately to prevent Hunter from completing it. That allowed Deegan to make it a three-rider battle.
Deegan then made the pass for second and pressured for the lead for the first time this season. The highly anticipated showdown between Jett Lawrence and Deegan unfolded, to the roar of the crowd. While Deegan kept Lawrence honest, the gap between them soon stabilised as the moto reached its halfway point.
Deegan overcame a couple minor miscues to close back in on the lead and brought Hunter Lawrence with him to reignite the three-rider battle.
However, with a little more than 12 minutes to go Deegan slid out and dropped to third. He then went down again a short time later and dropped to fourth, which allowed Coenen to take third.
The final 10 minutes turned into a Lawrence versus Lawrence affair, with Coenen gaining ground from third. The siblings traded momentum throughout various parts of the racetrack, which ultimately prevented Hunter from getting close enough to mount a challenge.
As the clock wound down, Jett seemingly ended the threat and opened up a lead of more than three seconds, while Coenen settled into third.
As time ran out on the race clock, Hunter Lawrence went down and remounted in third, which moved Coenen up to second. Lawrence re-entered the race just ahead of Deegan to set up a last lap battle for the final podium spot.
As Jett Lawrence took the white flag he held a mere two second advantage over Coenen, who made one final push.
In the end, Lawrence held on to take his third straight moto win by 1.4 seconds over the Belgian in his first ever gate drop.
Hunter Lawrence followed in third, with Deegan fourth and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado in fifth.
At the conclusion of the moto race officials reviewed an inside line that several riders used across multiple laps that took them beyond the track limits.
The racing line was deemed illegal, and three riders were subsequently penalised for cutting the track, with each lap infraction taken into account.
The top-finishing rider to receive a penalty was Hunter Lawrence, who was docked one position from third to fourth.
Deegan was penalised seven positions, dropping him from fourth to 11th, while Prado received a two-position penalty, dropping from fifth to seventh.
Jett Lawrence completed off a sweep of the holeshots to begin the second moto with the lead ahead of his brother and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger.
As he looked to apply pressure on the lead, Hunter Lawrence went down. He remounted quickly but resumed deep in the top 10.
The clear track allowed Jett Lawrence to establish a two-second lead at the conclusion of the opening lap over Coenen, who quickly fought his way up to second.
Plessinger settled into third. Meanwhile, Hunter Lawrence made an impressive recovery to fight back up to fifth place in a matter of a couple laps.
Jett Lawrence was able to stabilize the lead at about 3.5 seconds through the middle of the moto as Coenen strengthened his grasp of second. The fight for third saw Deegan methodically close in on Plessinger and successfully take the position.
Hunter Lawrence followed into fourth several laps later.
As the lead duo continued on in their respective positions Hunter Lawrence was determined to complete his comeback from the early tip over.
He closed in on Deegan and made a quick, aggressive move with less than two minutes to go to take over third. Moments later, he fell again, which gave the position back to Deegan. Lawrence resumed in fourth, but just ahead of Prado and Britain’s Garrett Marchbanks.
Jett Lawrence completed a perfect afternoon by extending his moto win streak to four, taking the checkered flag 9.6 seconds ahead of Coenen. Deegan finished more than 30 seconds back in third, with Hunter Lawrence able to salvage fourth.
Overall, a pair of wire-to-wire performances and the 20th 1-1 result of his career gave Jett Lawrence his 26th win in 30 premier class starts.
With back-to-back race victories, he has also grabbed control of the 450SMX Class points lead.
It’s his fourth straight win at Thunder Valley, where he remains unbeaten, and marks the sixth consecutive year Honda has claimed victory in Colorado.
Coenen’s Pro Motocross debut resulted in an impressive runner-up effort (2-2) as he’ll now return overseas to defend his lead in the MXGP championship. He’ll race once more this summer, at Southwick on July 11th.
Despite numerous bouts of adversity and the penalty in the first moto, Hunter Lawrence still secured a podium finish (4-4) to minimise the points lost in the championship.
A 14-point swing at Thunder Valley has moved Jett Lawrence atop the points standings with an eight-point lead over Hunter. Deegan remains third, 32 points out of the lead.
Photo courtesy Honda
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RESULTS AND STANDINGS AFTER 3 OF 11 ROUNDS:
450SMX Class Overall Results (Moto Finishes // Points):
Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda (1-1 // 50)
Lucas Coenen, Brussels, Belgium, KTM (2-2 // 44)
Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda (4-4 // 36)
Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki (3-6 // 36)
Jorge Prado, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, KTM (7-5 // 32)
Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha (11-3 // 31)
Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM (6-7 // 31)
RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna (5-8 // 31)
Dylan Ferrandis, Avignon, France, Ducati (8-9 // 27)
Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha (10-10 // 24)
450SMX Class Championship Standings (Race 3 of 11):
- Jett Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda – 138
- Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda – 130
- Haiden Deegan, Temecula, Calif., Yamaha – 106
- RJ Hampshire, Hudson, Fla., Husqvarna – 94
- Dylan Ferrandis, Avignon, France, Ducati – 86
- Jorge Prado, Lugo, Galicia, Spain, KTM – 85
- Garrett Marchbanks, Coalville, Utah, Kawasaki – 83
- Aaron Plessinger, Hamilton, Ohio, KTM – 68
- Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha – 68
- Mikkel Haarup, Silkeborg, Denmark, Triumph – 66
SMX World Championship Regular Season Standings (Round 20 of 28):
Hunter Lawrence, Landsborough, Qld., Australia, Honda – 476
Cooper Webb, Newport, N.C., Yamaha – 383
Ken Roczen, Mattstedt, Germany, Suzuki – 349
250SMX Class Overall Results (Moto Finishes // Points):
Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda (3-2 // 42)
Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki (1-8 // 39)
Nick Romano, Bayside, N.Y., Kawasaki (4-5 // 35)
Sacha Coenen, Brussels, Belgium, KTM (14-1 // 33)
Ryder DiFrancesco, Bakersfield, Calif., Husqvarna (9-3 // 33)
Julien Beaumer, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., KTM (7-4 // 33)
Seth Hammaker, Bainbridge, Pa., Kawasaki (2-12 // 32)
Kayden Minear, Perth, Western Australia, Yamaha (13-6 // 25)
Michael Mosiman, Sebastopol, Calif., Yamaha (5-14 // 25)
Cole Davies, Waitoki, New Zealand, Yamaha (6-15// 23)
250SMX Class Championship Standings (Race 3 of 11):
- Seth Hammaker, Bainbridge, Pa., Kawasaki – 117
- Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki – 117
- Jo Shimoda, Suzuka, Japan, Honda – 111
- Julien Beaumer, Lake Havasu City, Ariz., KTM – 104
- Nick Romano, Bayside, N.Y., Kawasaki – 96
- Cole Davies, Waitoki, New Zealand, Yamaha – 93
- Ryder DiFrancesco, Bakersfield, Calif., Husqvarna – 80
- Kayden Minear, Perth, Western Australia, Yamaha – 69
- Chance Hymas, Pocatello, Idaho, Honda – 67
- Carson Mumford, Simi Valley, Calif., KTM – 58
SMX World Championship Regular Season Standings (Round 20 of 28):
Cole Davies, Waitoki, New Zealand, Yamaha – 324
Seth Hammaker, Bainbridge, Pa., Kawasaki – 297
Levi Kitchen, Washougal, Wash., Kawasaki – 294