Tomac Does It Again!!

San Diego 450SX Main Event Results

1. Eli Tomac
2. Jett Lawrence
3. Cooper Webb

Rarely Seen

Even the very best can get anxious!

I don’t think we need to panic’ – HRC’s Lindstrom

Focused on working past the 450SX results of Anaheim 1.

Image: Octopi Media.

Honda HRC Progressive team manager Lars Lindstrom suggests there isn’t any need to panic after the Lawrence brothers both finished outside of the top 10 at Anaheim 1 on Saturday night.

While 250SX teammate Jo Shimoda delivered victory on debut aboard the new CRF250R, Hunter Lawrence finished 11th and defending 450SX champion Jett Lawrence finished 12th at the opener.

Despite experiencing success in the late stages of Pro Motocross and going 1-2 in the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) with the 2025 CRF450R upon introducing the revamped model last tear, it’s been no secret that the Lawrences are still searching for an ideal direction in Supercross.

“I’m not sure how many of these bittersweet nights we’ve had in the past, but it was a familiar feeling to have one rider have a great night, and then others have a really poor one,” Lindstrom explained afterward.

“In my opinion, our performance was actually better than it seems, with Hunter moving his way forward in the beginning until his unfortunate crash, and Jett having the fastest lap time by almost a second in the heat race.

“We definitely need to make some improvements, but at the same time, I don’t think we need to panic about our results. It’s a long series, so it’s time to trust in ourselves and come back strong in San Diego.”

After qualifying in second position, Jett finished fifth in his heat race and then recovered from a first turn incident and further trouble in the main event to finish 12th – the worst 450SX finish of his premier class career. Hunter, meanwhile, qualified fifth, then finished fourth in his heat and 12th in the main after also crashing around the midway point.

41 and Billys Back

Supercross rider returns to compete in championship at age 41

Red Bull KTM’s Daniel Sanders takes maiden victory

Daniel Sanders wins the 2025 Dakar Rally for Red Bull KTM – final stage 12 results sees the Australian take victory ahead of Monster Energy Honda’s Tosha Schareina and Adrien Van Beveren.

• The final day at Dakar is never a done deal. A handful of years ago the race was decided by a matter of seconds on the final stage between KTM teammates Kevin Benavides and Toby Price, in favour of the Argentinian.
• Not this year as Daniel Sanders takes a remarkable start-to-finish win for KTM and completes the rare honour of winning the Dakar and ISDE outright with a winning margin of 8m50s after 53h08m52s on his bike across the 12 stages.
• The Tosha Schareina, Adrien Van Beveren and Ricky BrabecHonda red army have sat behind an unassailable Sanders for the entire two weeks. But a confident ride from day one left all Daniels major rivals reflecting on ifs and buts of their own time lost on week one.
• The final 61 kilometres today was long enough, around an hour to complete and with a mass start which is a rarity for these guys who spend so much time alone in the desert.
• Easy enough you might think but as always with Dakar there was just enough jeopardy thrown in to make the butterflies swirl around.
• Sanders the racer set off from teh start and dusted his rivals, leading the pack as it ripped down the flat piste like Dakar of years gone by when it used to conclude on the shores of Lac Rose in Senagal…just up the road from Dakar funnily enough.
• Adrien Van Beveren took his chance to race like he was on Le Touquet beach once again and ran an early lead. But he was to be denied a stage win this Dakar by South African Michael Docherty who clocked in just three seconds faster to take his second stage win of his career.
• But the limelight was reserved for Sanders who completes the round 20 wins for KTM (who could do with a bit of good PR at the moment!).

• Honda will swamp the overall podium in red with four of the top six riders in the factory HRC team. Spaniard Tosha Schareina finished in second place, the youngest rider on the Honda team bettering Adrien Van Beveren who achieves his second podium on the bounce.
• Speaking of good PR for KTM, 19-year-old Dakar rookie Edgar Canet took it easy on the last day to claim the Rally 2 class win and an overall top 10. Not the best rookie appearance by a KTM rider it must be noted, we think Toby Price has that honour, but not half bad from the Spaniard who has a bright future in orange.
• Canet finishes ahead of Tobias Ebster, last year’s Original by Motul winner also on a KTM and Romain Dumontier on the customer Honda.
• The biggest contest today was in the Originals class where just one minute separated Benjamin Melot and Emanuel Gyenes. It was the Romanian Gyenes who pipped his French rival at the post, deciding the race in the last kilometres.
• Shout out to Sandra Gomez, the only female in the ’25 Dakar and who has finished in 43rd place on the Fantic. She clocks a full 15 hours more riding time than the winner Sanders.

Stage 11

Heikki Mikkola | 1978 French 500cc Race

The film 'Mikkola - Motocross Master' emphasises the sheer professionalism of Finnish rider Heikki Mikkola and shows how he mastered two major 500c Motocross events during 1978. In this clip we head to the French Grand Prix where Heikki was in fine form and too fast for his closest rivals, American Brad Lackey and Roger de Coster.

Ryan Dungey looks back on his career and talks A1

JT on San Diego SX

Who’s Hot

Chase Sexton quieted the noise around him and executed all night long. He looked comfortable, fast, and confident. He got good starts, too. Job well done at round one.

Ken Roczen shows up at races like A1. Almost always has. He doesn’t seem to feel the pressure that others do and uses that to bring his best stuff.

Jason Anderson needs wins and podiums to get a new contract and that’s exactly the form he showed on Saturday.

Eli Tomac was fifth at the checkers but woulda coulda shoulda been in the fight for the win. He’s back and it’s awesome to see.

Jo Shimoda started fast and rode flawlessly. For everyone wondering if he could ever get a series going before halfway (including me), he answered.

JuJu Beaumer proved that he will be a guy in the 250 class moving forward. Potential is one thing but acting on it is the next step.

I was very impressed with Cole Davies in his first pro race. He looked the part in every way. If this is the starting point, watch out.

Ducati announced their new team dynamic and plan. Their debut model is a work of art aesthetically.

The opener marked the best finish of JuJu's young career.Align Media

Who’s Not

Jett and Hunter Lawrence didn’t look like they were enjoying themselves on Saturday. The rumor was that they have been fighting the 2025 chassis on SX and that played out in painful ways under the Anaheim lights. They need to sort that out and quickly.

Levi Kitchen was unable to race with the flu and will now switch to the East Region. I am very much not on board with the “avoiding Deegan” theme that I have seen floated. Going east is no picnic versus that west lineup.

Dylan Ferrandis got Breece’d in the LCQ and missed the first main event of the season. Racing unfamiliar riders can be tough but I will always, always remain steadfast that passing on the outside in the LCQ is a fool’s game. Think Cade Clason and Justin Starling at Glendale, also.

Bold Predictions

Jett and Hunter arrive to San Diego on 2024 HRC models with the number “2025” spray painted on the shrouds.

Dylan Ferrandis rides with Vince Friese all week as a sort of LCQ Boot Camp.

KTM delivers 300 new bikes to Chase Sexton’s house in lieu of his A1 bonus.

Flat earthers are enraged that Ty Masterpool’s SX title chances are now dashed.

The Secret Honda Two-Stroke changed the world