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

Celebrate This Special Day!

Herlings Wins Dutch Straight Rhythm

why not come to America and join the fun?

Honda Sweeps Pala

 Post: MotoOnline

1-1 result ensures Team Honda HRC racer remains undefeated at Pala.

Image: Foremost Media.

Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence completed a near-perfect day at the opening round of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship at Fox Raceway, with a double-moto victory in his first 450MX outing.

The talented rookie’s impressive performance means he remains undefeated at the Pala circuit, as he saw off a fierce challenge from his team-mate, Chase Sexton, who finished the day with 2-2 results.

Returning former motocross champion Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) completed the podium with a consistent 3-3 scorecard.

After topping the qualifying sheets earlier in the day, Lawrence put in a near-flawless performance to open his 450MX account with a win in the opening moto.

Lawrence found himself leading the field through the first turn, and after quickly establishing a healthy buffer, controlled the race to finish with a 10-second margin over Chase Sexton.

Ferrandis finished third after holding down P2 for the first half of the moto.

Red Bull KTM pairing Cooper Webb (P4) and Aaron Plessinger (P5) traded positions throughout the race as Plessinger crashed multiple times.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo finished a distance sixth ahead of the Venezuelan Lorenzo Locurcio (Wildcat Race Team), Jerry Robin (Yamaha), Grant Harlan (Yamaha) and Spain’s Jose Butron (Wildcat Race Team).

Off the gate for the second moto, Lawrence again led the pack through the first turn, and spent the vast majority of the race holding off a relentless attack from Sexton on his way to a perfect 1-1 450MX debut.

Sexton clung doggedly to the back of Lawrence, but couldn’t quite get close enough to stick a pass around the degrading Pala track, and had to settle for second, just one second behind his team-mate.

A distant 44.90 seconds down the track, Ferrandis successfully defended his third-place spot from Plessinger after a lengthy battle, while Webb finished with another top five result.

P6 went to Harlan, while Cianciarulo rebounded from an opening lap crash to finish seventh. Butron, Noren and Drake rounded out the top 10 spots.

The second round of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship will be held at Hangtown, Sacramento, CA on 3 June.

Is Honda Back?

Is Honda on the verge of returning to their glory days? Are the Lawerence brothers their future? Can they keep Sexton? It all starts tomorrow.

Fox Raceway Before the Storm!

The 2023 Pro Motocross series kicks off this Saturday at Fox Raceway in Pala, California, and to get some final pre-season testing and training in, Dylan Ferrandis, Chase Sexton, Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence, Cooper Webb, Justin Cooper, Michael Mosiman, Haiden Deegan and many more factory Pro riders showed up at Fox Raceway. The track was a little dry and dusty for today's practice which means that the track crew will be ripping it even deeper and watering it even more on Saturday to make the track even tougher for these riders.

Riders National Expectations

From Motoonline.com

Selection of contenders outline thoughts on the season ahead.

The anticipated 2023 Pro Motocross Championship is set to drop the gates this Saturday at Fox Raceway, featuring a mix of returning champions and fresh challengers. During the pre-season press conference today, a wide-range of key contenders share their expectations for the opening round in this Input feature.

Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC):
I flew home from Salt Lake on Sunday, and it was back to outdoors testing on Tuesday. I think it’s honestly made me more motivated to come out here and win. I don’t know, I don’t feel like I have that lack of motivation right now. The first week back I tested three days and I put over seven hours on my bike, so it was right back to work and looking forward to this championship.

Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC):
This is very exciting for me. It’s kind of like I’m starting from the bottom again. I get to see where I stack up in the first round. I was lucky that I was on the west coast, cause I got to do quite a lot of 450 testing. We’re feeling good, we’ve been pretty lucky here at this track, so I’m keen to see how it plays out in qualifying and where I stand. but, until the gate drops, I can’t really tell where I’m going to finish, but I’m just stoked to get out there and start the new chapter in my life on the 450. I’m going to be here for a while since I’m only 19. It’ll be fun to learn from the older guys, unfortunately, we lost [Eli] Tomac, but I’m still looking forward to it.

Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing): 
I’m back to normal with my fitness and my health, so all’s good. I’ve won this championship before, so my goal is only to win. Now I know I’m back from injury, we also have this new Yamaha bike that is very different and, I think it’s going to take a little bit for us to learn the bike and get adjusted to it, because obviously, we have only practised supercross through winter on it and we didn’t do much testing on motocross on it, so we don’t really know what the bike is going to be in race condition. But, other than that, I feel good, my injuries have passed and I feel ready. Like I said, the first few rounds I will try to be smart and not take any unnecessary risks. But yeah, I did it in 2021 and when I ride I feel the same, so hopefully, I can do the same this season.

Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing):
The goal has been mainly just about getting back healthy. I got to a point where I was feeling good, then went and saw some neurologists and did some testing to make sure everything was good and I got cleared. So, it was all definitely last minute, I think it came around in the 24th hour for sure. But, I just wanted to be out here, with the lineup right now, and with the SMX coming up, I wanted to better my chances any way possible. The first few rounds, I’m not sure how they’re going to go, I definitely haven’t had much time on the bike, but it’s good to be back racing and I’m feeling healthy again. It was definitely a bummer the way supercross ended. So, I just want to be on the gate, and it was something I didn’t do last year, so I just wanted to get back into it.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing):
It was definitely important to get back out there and get some races [in supercross] before the season ended. But, I’ve been looking forward to motocross before supercross even started, so this is exciting for me, I always love outdoors and the long grind of it. But yeah, capping the supercross season off with a podium was really good and it gives me really good momentum coming into outdoors.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing):
I kind of got a little bit of the same last year, I came off my injury and there was no point for me to really come back to [supercross], it was still hard to even ride with what I had going on, so it was pretty much all outdoor prep for me last year too, but not as intense. I was more just getting the feel of the bike back. With that much time off the bike, it was really tough. so, this year we’ve been healthy coming in and had a lot of time to work on the bike and get set up for this series. So, it’s been quite a grind, but now we’re here. It comes fast, so we’re going to enjoy this.

Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing):
I’m super excited for outdoors, especially this year. Last year when I did those two rounds, it wasn’t the greatest. So, I think the supercross season, mixing it up with those faster dudes, helped me get comfortable racing with those guys, so I think it’s going to be good for outdoors.

Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing):
I think it’ll definitely be a little easier for me, coming off of supercross and just having that experience and being in race mode. With sup[ercross going fairly well for me, I look forward to hopefully kicking it off well this weekend. I want to be there until the end this year and I believe I can.

Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing):
There are a lot of new things for me, in Europe we ride only motocross all year. So, when you come to the first round you’ve already ridden a few months. It’s pretty weird to switch between supercross and motocross, and it’s only two weeks from when we finish supercross, so just getting used to it is a little bit special. Those guys are used to it for many years already, so I’m really looking forward. It’s new for me, every track is going to be new. I’m really looking forward to it.

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna):
It’s a fresh start for all of us, we had a successful supercross season. It’s going to be a lot of fun, I’ve been doing this for a while now. I enjoy the suffer and I enjoy these the gnarlier they get, so I’m super excited.

Jeremy Martin (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX):
Obviously, I won my championships on the Star bike and I know how good that thing is. The team that they have, they have an amazing crew and they’re always developing the bike. I have an idea of what I had and what I’m comfortable on and we’re worked hard on that for this outdoor season. We’re a privateer effort, I think it’s going to be exciting to see if we can mix it up with these factory boys. I think it’s something that the industry is looking to see, ‘Can he be the same guy he used to be?’ I’m excited to fight that challenge and see what we can do, that starts on Saturday when the gate drops.

Selection of contenders outline thoughts on the season ahead.

The anticipated 2023 Pro Motocross Championship is set to drop the gates this Saturday at Fox Raceway, featuring a mix of returning champions and fresh challengers. During the pre-season press conference today, a wide-range of key contenders share their expectations for the opening round in this Input feature.

Image: Foremost Media.

Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC):
I flew home from Salt Lake on Sunday, and it was back to outdoors testing on Tuesday. I think it’s honestly made me more motivated to come out here and win. I don’t know, I don’t feel like I have that lack of motivation right now. The first week back I tested three days and I put over seven hours on my bike, so it was right back to work and looking forward to this championship.

Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC):
This is very exciting for me. It’s kind of like I’m starting from the bottom again. I get to see where I stack up in the first round. I was lucky that I was on the west coast, cause I got to do quite a lot of 450 testing. We’re feeling good, we’ve been pretty lucky here at this track, so I’m keen to see how it plays out in qualifying and where I stand. but, until the gate drops, I can’t really tell where I’m going to finish, but I’m just stoked to get out there and start the new chapter in my life on the 450. I’m going to be here for a while since I’m only 19. It’ll be fun to learn from the older guys, unfortunately, we lost [Eli] Tomac, but I’m still looking forward to it.

Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing): 
I’m back to normal with my fitness and my health, so all’s good. I’ve won this championship before, so my goal is only to win. Now I know I’m back from injury, we also have this new Yamaha bike that is very different and, I think it’s going to take a little bit for us to learn the bike and get adjusted to it, because obviously, we have only practised supercross through winter on it and we didn’t do much testing on motocross on it, so we don’t really know what the bike is going to be in race condition. But, other than that, I feel good, my injuries have passed and I feel ready. Like I said, the first few rounds I will try to be smart and not take any unnecessary risks. But yeah, I did it in 2021 and when I ride I feel the same, so hopefully, I can do the same this season.

Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing):
The goal has been mainly just about getting back healthy. I got to a point where I was feeling good, then went and saw some neurologists and did some testing to make sure everything was good and I got cleared. So, it was all definitely last minute, I think it came around in the 24th hour for sure. But, I just wanted to be out here, with the lineup right now, and with the SMX coming up, I wanted to better my chances any way possible. The first few rounds, I’m not sure how they’re going to go, I definitely haven’t had much time on the bike, but it’s good to be back racing and I’m feeling healthy again. It was definitely a bummer the way supercross ended. So, I just want to be on the gate, and it was something I didn’t do last year, so I just wanted to get back into it.

Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing):
It was definitely important to get back out there and get some races [in supercross] before the season ended. But, I’ve been looking forward to motocross before supercross even started, so this is exciting for me, I always love outdoors and the long grind of it. But yeah, capping the supercross season off with a podium was really good and it gives me really good momentum coming into outdoors.

Image: Foremost Media.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing):
I kind of got a little bit of the same last year, I came off my injury and there was no point for me to really come back to [supercross], it was still hard to even ride with what I had going on, so it was pretty much all outdoor prep for me last year too, but not as intense. I was more just getting the feel of the bike back. With that much time off the bike, it was really tough. so, this year we’ve been healthy coming in and had a lot of time to work on the bike and get set up for this series. So, it’s been quite a grind, but now we’re here. It comes fast, so we’re going to enjoy this.

Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing):
I’m super excited for outdoors, especially this year. Last year when I did those two rounds, it wasn’t the greatest. So, I think the supercross season, mixing it up with those faster dudes, helped me get comfortable racing with those guys, so I think it’s going to be good for outdoors.

Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing):
I think it’ll definitely be a little easier for me, coming off of supercross and just having that experience and being in race mode. With sup[ercross going fairly well for me, I look forward to hopefully kicking it off well this weekend. I want to be there until the end this year and I believe I can.

Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing):
There are a lot of new things for me, in Europe we ride only motocross all year. So, when you come to the first round you’ve already ridden a few months. It’s pretty weird to switch between supercross and motocross, and it’s only two weeks from when we finish supercross, so just getting used to it is a little bit special. Those guys are used to it for many years already, so I’m really looking forward. It’s new for me, every track is going to be new. I’m really looking forward to it.

RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna):
It’s a fresh start for all of us, we had a successful supercross season. It’s going to be a lot of fun, I’ve been doing this for a while now. I enjoy the suffer and I enjoy these the gnarlier they get, so I’m super excited.

Jeremy Martin (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX):
Obviously, I won my championships on the Star bike and I know how good that thing is. The team that they have, they have an amazing crew and they’re always developing the bike. I have an idea of what I had and what I’m comfortable on and we’re worked hard on that for this outdoor season. We’re a privateer effort, I think it’s going to be exciting to see if we can mix it up with these factory boys. I think it’s something that the industry is looking to see, ‘Can he be the same guy he used to be?’ I’m excited to fight that challenge and see what we can do, that starts on Saturday when the gate drops.