Chase on Red Bud

“I heard gnarly conspiracies about why I wasn’t racing.”

Antonio Cairoli discusses Ducati’s American debut at RedBud

Located on the shores of Lake Michigan, on the opposite side to Chicago, the legendary RedBud track hosted the American debut of the Ducati Desmo450 MX. The bike, entered with the support of Factory Connection, was piloted by nine-time World Champion Antonio Cairoli in the sixth round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship.

After serving as Grand Marshal at the Southwick round the previous weekend and completing some valuable testing sessions, Cairoli lined up for qualifying at RedBud eager to begin his day in fine style.

Despite scorching temperatures and just two 20-minute timed practice sessions to get up to speed, Tony posted the 10th fastest time out of 80 riders – showcasing his ability to quickly adapt to the unique format and intensity of AMA motocross compared to the MXGP series.

In the opening moto, the Sicilian rider got off to a rapid start, exiting the first turn in fifth place. However, with the blistering intensity early on, Cairoli slipped back to 12th by the end of lap two. Admirably regaining his rhythm, Tony found a solid pace and began to climb back through the field, eventually taking the chequered flag in ninth after a close battle with the two riders ahead of him.

In the second moto, despite a last-minute gate position change, Cairoli launched to an even better start to propel himself into fourth and into the top-five fight for the first four laps. He even challenged for third place before an electrical issue forced him to retire early, ending what had been a promising run on the Desmo450 MX.

Image: Ducati

The testing and development effort for Borgo Panigale’s first motocross bike will now continue ahead of the next round at Spring Creek in Millville, Minnesota.

Antonio Cairoli: “It was an amazing experience to ride here in RedBud. In the first moto, I had some trouble during the first laps. I had a good start in P5, but my starting hook got stuck, and I lost a few positions. Then I was able to find a nice flow, and I came back to P9. I was happy with my pace. In the second moto, my plan was to get another fast start and manage the opening laps better, but after a strong launch into fourth and while pushing for third, we had a small issue with the bike, and I was forced to pull out. Overall, it was still a positive day. We’re here to test and develop the bike, and these things can happen. Now we’re looking forward to a solid week of training and coming back ready to battle for another top 10 in Millville.

Jett Goes 1-1 Again

BUCHANAN, Mich. – The 2025 Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, officially reached its halfway point at the crown jewel event on the calendar from Michigan’s legendary RedBud MX. The Honda RedBud National Presented by Dixxon Flannel Co. signified Race 6 of the summer campaign and Round 23 of the SMX World Championship regular season in a showcase of American motocross’ own Independence Day tradition. In the 450 Class, Honda HRC Progressive rider and championship point leader Jett Lawrence put forth one of his most impressive single-moto performances to complete a 1-1 sweep and capture a sixth straight victory. In the 250 Class, Honda HRC Progressive’s Jo Shimoda completed a dominant afternoon for the brand with a 1-1 performance of his own to put the “Red Riders” atop both classes at Honda’s title event.

450 Class

Moto 1

The opening moto of the afternoon began with Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire side-by-side exiting the first turn, with Lawrence narrowly securing the Pro Motocross Holeshot and control of the lead. Hampshire went on the attack, nearly making the pass, but the Australian fended him off. As this unfolded, Jett Lawrence closed in on Hampshire from third. The top three then settled in briefly, but Jett Lawrence pushed to make the move on Hampshire for second and gave chase to his older brother out front. Behind them, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger made the pass for third and was able to close in on the lead duo.

Just before the completion of the opening 10 minutes Jett Lawrence made his move on Hunter, briefly making the pass before Hunter responded to retake the position. Jett persisted and after a brief side-by-side battle eventually took hold of the lead. The increased pace allowed the Lawrences to pull away from Plessinger and the rest of the field, as the KTM rider was then forced to deal with a hard-charging Eli Tomac and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing machine. Once he got to Plessinger’s rear fender, Tomac made quick work to move into third.

The top three settled in through the middle of the moto, with Jett Lawrence moving out to a lead of about five seconds. However, as the moto entered its final 10 minutes considerable smoke started to come out of Tomac’s Yamaha. He eventually came to a stop, which ultimately brought his moto to a premature end. That misfortune left the battle for third to be settled between Plessinger and Hampshire, with the Husqvarna rider able to make the move in the closing stages of the moto.

Out front, Jett Lawrence’s lead eventually surpassed 10 seconds as he surged to his ninth moto win of the season by 16.1 seconds over Hunter Lawrence. Hampshire captured his first career moto podium in third, followed by Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper in fourth. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton finished fifth, as the reigning series champion and defending RedBud winner made his anticipated return to action following a crash at the opening race of the season.

Moto 2

The deciding moto got underway with Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha’s Coty Schock out front with the Pro Motocross Holeshot, just ahead of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jorge Prado, the back-to-back FIM Motocross World Champion. The Spaniard pressured Schock and eventually made his move into the lead halfway through the opening lap. Behind him, both Lawrences started from deep in the top 10. As he looked to make passes, Jett Lawrence went down and remounted in 18th place. Hunter Lawrence, meanwhile, looked to move forward from seventh.

After a wild opening five minutes the field settled in with Prado leading Cooper and Hunter Lawrence, while Hampshire, Sexton, and Jett Lawrence ran in sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively. Jett Lawrence was on the move and passed both Sexton and Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson to break into the top five. He then passed Hampshire for fourth just over 10 minutes into the moto. The march continued past his brother, as Jett broke into the top three before the halfway point.

Out front, a patient Cooper waited for an opening to attempt a pass on Prado and successfully made his way into the lead with just over half the moto to go. That left Prado to fend with Jett Lawrence, who made quick work of the Spaniard to move into second. Prado then lost hold of third to Sexton, who was following Lawrence’s path to the front. As the fastest rider on the track Jett gained chunks of time on Cooper and easily took over the lead with less than five minutes remaining. Sexton was then able to make his way around Cooper for second but went down. He remounted in fourth as Cooper and Hunter Lawrence made their way past.

In arguably the most impressive single-moto performance of his young career, Jett Lawrence passed 17 riders to complete the sweep of the motos by 8.3 seconds over Cooper, who equaled his career-best moto result in second. Hunter Lawrence followed in third.

Overall

Jett Lawrence’s 16th career 1-1 performance netted him the 21st victory in the 450 Class, which equaled two-time champion Ken Roczen for sixth all-time. With 21 victories in 22 career starts, his career winning percentage stands at an incredible 95%. Hunter Lawrence completed the third straight 1-2 finish for the siblings in second (2-3), while Cooper earned his second overall podium result of the season in third (4-2).

Jett Lawrence’s lead in the championship standings now sits at just over an entire race, 51 points over Hunter Lawrence, who moved into second. Cooper’s podium result allowed him to move from fifth to third, 69 points out of the lead.

The podium result also helped Cooper close to within 14 points of the top seed in the SMX World Championship standings, as he continued to gain ground on his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Cooper Webb, who finished ninth (15-8).

Jett Rolls

Sexton Ready to Rumble

Red Bull KTM's Chase Sexton disappeared, suddenly, at round one of the Pro Motocross Championship. The 2024 450 National Motocross Champion had a goggle malfunction immediately in moto one, then crashed, then left the race track. He's finally back now, for round six at RedBud. Was Sexton hurt, burned out or both?

We spoke to him at press day today.

Racer X: How much of this was a physical break or a mental break? Both? What's the percentage?
Chase Sexton: I would say it's both. I was dealing with some lingering stuff, not like an injury, but more like with my body, probably even before supercross. Then going through 17 rounds you kind of like you get worn down and nothing seems to get fixed and it gets a little bit worse and then going outdoors it was worse. I had that crash and then I'm like, well, I'm 50 points out now at this point, I might as well just take the time off and. People don't really realize they only get a month off really after the season's over, so it's not that much time to really digest and like fix some problems. So I was able to use that to my advantage and take that time off and now we're back. Trying to get some SMX points.

Okay. So you weren’t like “Bro, I just want a break”?
No! I want to race dirt bike. I didn't miss one race, watching. I watched every one of them, all day.

Nobody does that! Nobody watches when they’re out!
I mean I'm still super motivated. I'm not over racing by any means. I love riding my dirt bike and when I got back on the bike, I feel like…not that I was not missing it, but I kind of forgot how much fun I had riding. When I got back on the bike, I'm like, yeah, this is where I like to be.

And I've heard there's been some testing. This bike is not what it was at round one.
Yeah totally different from round one. So now we're kind of back to where we were last year.

Well, okay then, everyone on earth is gonna say, ‘Why didn't you just do that in the first place?”
[Laughs] I was asking myself the same question. Me and Tom [Vialle]. Tom and I both changed complete setups from last year. I was watching his bike on TV, and I'm like "Dude, we gotta go back to our old stuff. It ain't working.”  And he went back last weekend and it was way better.

Yeah that first moto last week, he was hauling, his best ride of the year probably. Okay, so you're back to more the title year set up. Also, you mentioned SMX points. So you do think about this?
Yeah, I mean, I don't want to go back too far. I’d like to be top five, and if I would have taken more time off, I would have been back farther. I mean, it's kind of a little sneaky move by MX Sports and them. I think they thought about this when they did this whole SMX thing, like, let's get the guys [riders to come] back. Because a lot of the times people in my position probably wouldn't have came back. So it's kind of a smart move by them to get people back. The outdoor series has been strong since they brought in SMX.

Compare yourself now to when you came back here in 2023. Are you in a better spot? Back then, you were rebuilding more, physically, from a concussion and stuff.
Yeah, and I kind of underestimated the last time I came back. For tomorrow, I don't really have any high expectations. I mean, yeah, I think my riding's been good and I know I'm what I'm capable of, but it's gonna take some time to kind of build back. I think in ‘23 I kind of expected to be like right back to normal, automatically. I’ve got to get off to good starts. That’s what I’ve been really focusing on. Just from watching the races, it's crazy the difference when you watch a race and you can really see the difference between being out front. When you're in it, you don't really know. So, I was trying to work on some small stuff and the bike, obviously, but I've been riding a lot, too. I rode a lot last week, a lot of motos, so I think I'm ready to go.

But you're aware that coming back five races in, it might not be perfect.
It's not easy. I haven’t been racing. But that being said, I think if I can get a good start and put myself out front, I'll pick it up pretty quick, I think. I think I'll be back to normal. But we'll see.

Happy 4th...Go Ride

Enjoy the day, salute the warriors that give us this day.

Herlings Hurt...Again!

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings, winner of the German and Latvian Grands Prix this season with his works KTM 450 SX-F, will miss round 13 of 20 of 2025 MXGP at the KymiRing and for the Finnish Grand Prix on 12-13 July.

The 30-year-old suffered a broken right collarbone while completing a team training session at Arnhem earlier this week - the sandy circuit that will host the Dutch GP on 24 August.

After careful checks and diagnosis in the Netherlands, Herlings was advised to initially try a natural healing process, as opposed to surgery, which will be analyzed further next week.

Herlings has won three motos, scored two Pole Positions and walked the MXGP podium twice for his respective overall victories this season. The Dutchman entered the campaign late after recovering from a right knee reconstruction during the winter but has already gathered enough points to sit 6th in the championship standings.

Jeffrey’s convalescence means he will not travel to Finland. He and the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team will then assess the state of his recovery on a daily basis to plan a return to action

Lawrence Brothers Return Home

Tom Vialle to make a return to the GP paddock in 2026 – MXGP?

After conquering the American Supercross scene, Tom Vialle could be on the verge of a sensational return to the MXGP World Championship in 2026.

The Frenchman made the bold decision to leave the Grand Prix paddock at the end of the 2022 season, swapping familiar European circuits for the stadiums of America. It turned out to be a masterstroke, with Vialle going on to win back-to-back 250SX East titles in 2024 and 2025 – a huge achievement considering his lack of experience before making the switch to America.

With that second Supercross title, Vialle is now no longer eligible to race the 250SX class in 2026. The expectation was that he would step up to the 450cc class in America with the KTM team, forming a three-rider line-up alongside Aaron Plessinger and the soon-to-be-confirmed Eli Tomac. Tomac, previously linked with Ducati, is expected to make the move to KTM after reportedly receiving a better financial package.

However, there could be a dramatic twist in Vialle’s career path. Credit to Italian source, MxNews.net, who first broke the story, and backed up by Lewis Phillips, Vialle has received an offer to return to the MXGP series for the 2026 season. We also heard whispers of the deal last week, and it’s understood that talks with HRC Honda have significantly progressed over the weekend – though a contract has not yet been signed.

Before leaving for his American adventure, Vialle had a clause in his contract that would have seen him move to the MXGP class for the 2023 season but instead chose to pursue his Supercross dream. If the deal with HRC Honda goes through, it would mark a major shift – not only geographically but also in terms of machinery. Having spent the entirety of his professional career with the KTM Group, a move to Honda would see Vialle line up on Japanese equipment for the first time.

Such a move would also raise significant questions about the current HRC line-up. If Vialle joins the team, it means that at least one of the current riders – Tim Gajser or Ruben Fernandez – will be on the move. It’s not out of the question that HRC Honda could head into 2026 with an entirely new line-up to chase MXGP glory but it still remains to be seen what direction they’ll go in.

There had been previous links between the Coenen brothers and HRC Honda, but the latest indications suggest both Lucas and Sacha are more likely to remain with the KTM structure – though in the ever-changing world of motocross, nothing can be ruled out.

This potential move for Vialle is yet another indication that the 2026 MXGP season could see a major shake-up. With top riders switching teams and manufacturers reshuffling their priorities, expect more big news in the coming weeks.

'I expect to be closer to winning' – Tomac

Four-time 450MX champion yet to win an overall in 2025.

Image: Octopi Media.

Decorated four-time 450MX champion Eli Tomac has admitted that he’d ‘expect to be closer to winning’ after the opening five rounds of Pro Motocross 2025, with the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider yet to claim an overall victory this year.

While the 32-year-old has been the only rider other than Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive) to have won individual motos this year with an opening moto win at Hangtown and a second race victory at High Point, he’s yet to take home the round winner’s trophy.

Having entered the series expressing ample preparation time due to an injury sustained early in Monster Energy Supercross, Tomac has largely fallen short of red plate-holder Lawrence, who holds a sizeable 38-point margin over the number three with six rounds remaining.

“I mean, this season is okay – I’m still getting podiums, but I expect to be closer to winning,” commented Tomac post-race. “In my mind, I still want to be going for and getting wins, so I’m not going home super-stoked, so we’re just trying to get better.

“I’ve lasted this long because I still want to win and try to get better, [but] I just didn’t quite have the pace today, that’s all I can really say. I got beat, and we’ll try to get better next time.”

Currently holding P2 in the 2025 450MX standings, Tomac will target this weekend’s Redbud National to chase down a season-first overall round win and close the points gap at the head of the field.