Lawrence Bros Top Hangtown

 Post: Alex Gobert

Another 1-1 performance sees rookie increase early advantage.

Image: Octopi Media.

Another clean-sweep for Jett Lawrence saw the Team Honda HRC rider continue his dominance at Hangtown as a rookie in the 450MX class of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship.

It was Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) and Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) who got the initial jump on of the gates in moto one, but Lawrence sliced his way into the lead through the first turn and controlled the race from there.

As the 19-year-old appeared to do it with relative ease at the front, eventually extending to a winning margin of 4.122s after cruising on the final lap, a solid ride from Ferrandis saw him overcome Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) for the runner-up result – the pair battling closely throughout the moto for position and the latter keeping things interesting all the way through to the end.

Webb was a lonely fourth, as was Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) in fifth to open the day’s proceedings. P6 through 10th included Fredrik Noren (Twisted Tea Suzuki), class newcomer Ty Masterpool (Kawasaki) on debut, Derek Drake (BarX Suzuki), Lorenzo Locurcio (GasGas) and Jerry Robin (Yamaha).

Four starts, four wins. That’s the tally for Lawrence to open his 450MX career after clinching another overall at Hangtown this afternoon, building upon his points-lead in the process. Lawrence again hit the front on lap one despite not getting the holeshot and he was able to manage his buffer from there, crossing the finish-line by 5.041s in the end.

An impressive second on return to the outdoors was Webb, who was able to fend off Ferrandis in the final laps – that pair taking advantage of a late mishap for Plessinger that cost him a podium opportunity. Fourth in the race was Cianciarulo, with Jose Butron (GasGas) racing to a top-five result ahead of Plessinger, Masterpool, Drake, Robin and Romain Pape (GasGas).

It was Lawrence with the round victory ahead of Ferrandis and Webb, while in the championship Lawrence already has an 18-point lead, now over Ferrandis and with Webb climbing to third heading to Thunder Valley, Colorado, next Saturday, 10 June.

Rumour: Changes to the Yamaha MXGP structure in 2024?

Things have been quite quiet in the MXGP paddock as far as rumours go for the 2024 season but the word of the paddock at the moment is that changes are expected at Yamaha for next year.

At the moment, Louis Vosters from Wilvo runs the Factory Yamaha MXGP team with Hans Corvers from Kemea running the MX2 GP setup but changes are expected for 2024.

Vosters has been a sponsor in the sport for many years but in 2016 joined forces with Tim Mathys to become more involved. Four years later and he was running the Factory Yamaha setup in MXGP and has done ever since. Covers ran the Kemea Yamaha team for a number of years before the team also went full factory for the 2020 season.

For 2024, it’s thought that Covers from Kemea will step up and run the MXGP World Championship. The Belgian will have Jago Geerts and Maxime Renaux under the awning who he has worked with in the past while it remains to be seen if Glenn Coldenhoff or Jeremy Seewer will be retained as both their contracts are up.

The Hutten Metaal Yamaha team who have been the official Yamaha team in the EMX250 series are expected to run the MX2 GP team from 2024. It’s actually been rumoured that Covers could run both MX2 and MXGP setup’s but it’s believed that Hutten Metaal will step up and run the MX2 GP team. The team won the EMX250 titles with Thibault Benistant and Rick Elzinga in the past so know the riders well. They’d be expected to retain Andrea Bonacorsi for 2024 as well which would be his rookie MX2 World Championship season.

With the Hutten Metaal Yamaha team expected to run the MX2 GP team in 2024, that would leave space for a team to run the official EMX250 team next year.

The big question is if this comes to fruition, where would it leave Louis Vosters who has done a great job at Yamaha running the factory effort the past three years. Would he job forces with another team? Start Ja

Can Adam Cianciarulo Win Hangtown?

HOW STEM CELL TREATMENTS MIGHT REJUVENATE ADAM CIANCIARULO’S CAREER

Adam Cianciarulo was born and bred for motocross and he grew up with a spotlight following him through his amateur career and into the Pro ranks. Adam has been a lifelong Kawasaki ambassador, riding for the Team Green program since he was nine years old on a Kawasaki KX65. Unfortunately, his Pro career has seen its fair share of injuries and AC9 is working hard to get back to the same speed that we saw outdoors in 2020 and 2021 when he was battling with Zach Osborne and Dylan Ferrandis for wins during the Pro Motocross season. In this interview, MXA’s Josh Mosiman caught up with Adam after the 2023 Fox Raceway National to get his take on the track and learn more about the stem cell therapy he’s been doing on his wrist, elbow, and shoulder.

Wow Chase Sexton is Out for Hangtown!

BREAKING NEWS! CHASE SEXTON OUT FOR 2023

HANGTOWN NATIONAL

TORRANCE, Calif. (June 1, 2023) — Chase Sexton and Team Honda HRC have made the difficult decision to have the newly crowned AMA Supercross Champion miss round 2 of the AMA Pro Motocross series this weekend at Rancho Cordova, California’s Hangtown National, following a fall during testing this week.

Sexton was taking part in a multi-team test at Southern California’s Fox Raceway on Tuesday, May 30, where he had posted a strong second-overall result three days earlier during the opening round, despite some aches and pains from a qualifying crash. The Illinois native sustained a head impact in the test-session fall, prompting a doctor visit. In addition to a concussion being confirmed, Sexton was also diagnosed with mono, and the decision was made to have him take time off in order to recover. A return date isn’t yet certain, but Sexton hopes to return to the series as quickly as possible.

Red Bull Erzbergrodeo Coming Soon

It's not moto but it is wild!

Jett's Arrival Changes the Landscape

Motoonline - Dynamic shift for Sexton as Lawrence arrives

Last year's runner-up banking on that championship experience.

Image: Octopi Media.

This season marks a shift in dynamics for Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton in Pro Motocross, facing an incoming challenge from rookie 450MX teammate Jett Lawrence and becoming the more experienced rider in the fight for the premier class crown.

Last year saw Sexton take the outdoor title down to the wire against eventual champion Eli Tomac, but this time things are different with Lawrence as his primary rival after winning the Fox Raceway opener on debut.

Sexton managed to fight back from a mediocre start in the opening moto to finish in second place on Saturday, before moto two saw a much better start for the recently-crowned 450SX champion. Once again, despite a significantly better ride, he had to settle for second after being unable to make his way around Lawrence.

“The second moto was more of what we’re used to,” Sexton told MotoOnline. “I think it was me just getting a little bit more comfortable back on outdoors. I haven’t had the most time outdoors, obviously, I’ve put in as much time as I could to get ready, but just racing Supercross and being in a fight for a championship, you can’t take too much time off of that. So, had to kind of just wing it today a little bit.

“We changed a lot of bike set-up stuff before the second moto and it was a lot better. I knew on the sight lap that it was better, it felt a little more like what I was used to from last year. Obviously, didn’t get the win, but it was a good battle with Jett and I expect more of that this summer. I think from last year, going through the whole year in a battle for the championship, I think I’m ready for what I have in front of me this year, so I’m looking forward to the rest of these races.”

Sexton’s 2-2 puts him second on the 450MX leaderboard with 44 points, six behind Lawrence as the series heads to Hangtown for round two this Saturday, 3 June.

Starts Matter!

Jett jets away on the Pala start, could we see this again at Hangtown?

Could JR Win Today?

 He smoked, loved his beer, liked to laugh and maybe he trained. Hangtown is Saturday with temps expected to be in the 90s. My guess is Joel would have a good time and be fast. It's always hard to compare one era to another but skills usually prevail and Mr. Robert had skills.

Do Hole Shots Matter...Ask Honda?

Is it Honda power or Works Connection Precision? Coincidence Honda is getting all these holeshots or that they all seem to be using the WC Pro Launch Device? Starts in motocross racing are critical and it seems evident the Works Connection device is the pros choice (HRC & Star Yamaha). The Honda boys certainly think so. Get yours if you want to improve your starts. They are on the shelf awaiting your order at www.worksconnection.com

Hangtown