Millville – Hunter Lawrence takes command

 Ralph Marzahn

Millville has shaken up the 450cc title fight once again. Hunter Lawrence left Spring Creek MX Park with two race wins, the overall victory, and the Red Plate. His brother Jet was on track to win the second race before a crash dashed all his plans. And Haiden Deegan showed once again that he's a force to be reckoned with, even after a disastrous start.

Hunter Lawrence was the one to beat in the first moto. In the second moto, the tables initially seemed to turn. Jet Lawrence took the lead and found his rhythm more and more easily. Hunter tried to follow in his footsteps, but had to acknowledge that his brother was simply faster in some sections.

When Jet suddenly disappeared from sight, Hunter initially thought the younger rider was leaving him behind. "I hadn't even noticed that Jet had crashed. I just thought: Damn, he's setting an incredible pace today. It wasn't until I got back to the paddock that I found out what had happened," Hunter later recounted.

The crash ultimately played into his hands. With two race wins, the overall victory was secured, and the lead in the standings also changed hands.

Hunter doesn't see any major differences between him and his brother at the moment. "Right now, it's decided anew each weekend which of us is ahead. We're both playing at an incredibly high level, so often it's just the little things that make the difference."

Jet is slowed down again

For Jet Lawrence, Sunday felt completely different. After a crash in qualifying, he worked his way into the race better and better throughout the day. Changes to his motorcycle paid off; in the second race, he took the lead and controlled the action.

Then came the decisive moment.

In a rutted section of the track, the Honda rider lost the front wheel and crashed. As he got up, his own motorcycle hit his leg. Any chance of catching up was out of the question after that.

Jet has been battling far bigger problems than a single crash for months. His foot injury means he can barely test during the week. Instead of training laps, his schedule is mostly filled with treatments and rehabilitation.

How much this is affecting him became clear after the race. "Since December 19th, I haven't had a single day without pain. Even simple things like getting up or going to the bathroom hurt."

Nevertheless, the Australian doesn't want to give up on the season. "Either I win the championship – or I don't. I will continue to give my all and try to win races."

Deegan drives from the very back to the front.

Haiden Deegan also had a difficult start to the day. The Yamaha rider was down in the very first corner of the first race and had to fight his way back through the field. "After the crash, I knew immediately: This is going to be a tough fight today."

What followed was one of the strongest performances of the weekend. Deegan carved his way through the field, overtaking one rider after another, and ultimately finished fourth. "That was probably one of my best races on the 450 so far."

The enormous effort required took its toll in the second race. Although Deegan again finished on the podium, he lacked the final bit of pace against the two Lawrence brothers. Furthermore, the team is continuing to work on the setup of his Yamaha; the American rider sees room for improvement, especially in the second half of a moto.

Excitement until the end of the season

With four races remaining, Hunter Lawrence holds the best cards in the title fight. The Honda rider is consistently performing at the highest level and punishing every mistake made by his competitors.

Despite his injury, Jet Lawrence is battling his way through the season and makes no secret of the fact that every race day is currently a balancing act. Haiden Deegan, on the other hand, proved in Millville that he can now regularly compete at the front in the 450 class.

The championship is far from decided. However, Millville has shown how quickly the balance of power can shift.

Beaumer on his win, Prado riding after illness!

MILLVILLE, Minn. – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Julien Beaumer claimed a first-career 250MX overall victory in Round 7 of the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Spring Creek on Saturday afternoon, racing to 1-4 moto scores in a breakout result that saw him move to second in the standings.

Equipped with the KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION, Beaumer qualified sixth in the 250MX division at Millville after recording a 2:00.184 lap around the high-speed circuit, before avoiding a multi-rider incident on the opening lap of Moto 1 to emerge inside the top-10.

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider then methodically charged through the field, erasing a six-second deficit to the leader after moving into second position, and ultimately making a last-lap pass to secure an emphatic maiden Pro Motocross moto win.

Fourth place in Moto 2 was enough for the 20-year-old to also achieve his first-ever overall outdoors, with his 1-4 results elevating him to P2 in the championship entering next weekend’s Washougal National. It’s been a remarkable turnaround after returning from a serious back injury ahead of the 250MX season.

Julien Beaumer: “Laying in that hospital bed [in Charlotte last year], I thought that maybe [my career] was over. But I’m here, I got my first 250MX win and didn’t make it easy on myself – that wasn’t the prettiest second moto, but my riding is awesome and the team is amazing. We’ve been working really hard together and we finally got the win – let’s keep it rolling!”

In the 450MX Class, Jorge Prado qualified fifth fastest aboard his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION after posting a 1:57.571 lap time, however, a strong start in Moto 1 was impacted by an unfortunate off-track excursion through the first turn.

The four-time world champion responded with an impressive charge through the field, climbing to 13th by the checkered flag. A top-five start in Moto 2 allowed him to quickly move into third position, which he maintained for the remainder of the race. Prado’s 13-3 moto scores resulted in sixth overall, keeping him fourth in the 450MX standings.

Jorge Prado: “Today was a hard day. First moto, I got pushed out in the first corner, and we had to work our way towards the front with so many riders to pass. Then in Moto 2, the start was a little bit better, and we were fighting hard – I’ve been sick all week, so I was pushing myself a lot as I wasn’t able to do anything during the week. RJ [Hampshire] was close in the last few corners, but I held on for P3 in that moto, which was not a bad improvement. Thank you to Red Bull KTM Factory Racing for the effort. We’ll get there.”

Four-time 450MX champion Eli Tomac made a welcome return to racing for the first time since being injured at Fox Raceway’s season-opener. Also on board the KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION, Tomac qualified seventh before recording 9-12 finishes for 11th overall, gaining important race mileage in the mid-stages of the series.

Eli Tomac: “It’s good to get my first full Pro Motocross race weekend of the season under my belt. Pala didn’t go according to plan, so being able to get two solid motos done today, I’m happy. Obviously, there’s plenty of room for improvement, but I will do some testing with the team this week and be better at Washougal.”

Deegan on his first turn crash at Millville – blames Jett!

Haiden Deegan didn’t hold back when it came to the first turn crash in motoone at Millville that left him on the deck and Prado off track! Deegan came from last to fourth in a great ride but wasn’t shy in pointing out who he thought caused the crash – Jett Lawrence!

Deegan said: “Obviously went down in the first turn. It was a little bit of a drag race coming up first turn and a ‘little bro’ decided he didn’t want to turn right! ut it’s cool. I’m pretty sure he would have just let his brother by doing that. So that wasn’t the smartest but O got up and I was like, it’s gonna be a dogfight.

“I had to do it a Red Bud. But I made a whole lot more positions and I feel like it was one of my best rides I’d say on my 450 so far coming through the pack and just being charging for the whole 35.”

250 Millville

450 Millville

Tomac Back!!

KTM: Eli Tomac Set for Return to Racing This Weekend at Spring Creek National

Finally, some good injury news! After a neck injury suffered in the 2026 AMA Pro Motocross Championship opener, Eli Tomac will return to racing at this weekend's Spring Creek National round.

The championship races in Minnesota this weekend and then in Washington next weekend (July 25 Washougal National) before two weekends off ahead of the August 15 Unadilla National. After Tomac's injury at the Pro Motocross opener in May, there was no timeline on his return to racing. This is a good sign for him to be back in action now with hopes of finishing this summer strong heading into the playoffs.

KTM announced Tomac's return to racing in a short and sweet Instagram post that read:

"Eli Tomac will be back in action this weekend! 🔥

The four-time 450MX Champion is returning for the Spring Creek National aboard his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION.

See you on track, ET3!

Sasha Coenen Dominates!

MX2 series leader and Red Bull KTM factory rider, Sasha Coenen has won the Southwick National, with an easy 1-1 performance and if anyone wondered who the fastest 250 rider in the world is, then it’s got to be between Coenen, Guillem Farres or Simon Langenfelder.

Today wasn’t even competition for the Belgian kid and despite some wild moments, he looked brilliant, although a late crash seemed to have injured the Belgian teenager.

In the second moto, Coenen started in around fourth place, quickly moved into second, and then tries passing early leader Cole Davies, with a few close moments between the two, before Coenen took the lead and just disappeared again. While well in the front, Coenen went down hard again, but got up quickly enough to win the moto.

Second in the second moto was New Zealander Cole Davies (18 years old) and third was Australian Kade Minear. who is also 19 years of age. The International youth really showing the young American riders, that life might be tough in the future.

Unfortunately brother Lucas went DNF-DNS after a big crash in the opening 450 moto. Hopefully Lucas is okay and just a little bruised. Sasha was holding his shoulder across the finish line, so lets hope he isn't hurt. He was quickly taken away to get checked out.

Southwick 250

Southwick 450

Jett Lawrence admits foot pain frustration at RedBud

Jett Lawrence admitted his RedBud struggles were not helped by the long ruts that aggravated his foot and left him in pain at the end of the day.

The Aussie had an out of character day with a crash is qualifying, getting caught and passed by Hunter Lawrence in race one then two more crashes in moto two, but despite everything, Jett still made the podium.

Jett said in the press conference: “Normally I really like these conditions and I can ride them well and it’s not like how I don’t lose at this out of nowhere and I just struggle with my foot today and trying to like be balanced, especially with these ruts that this muddy sand just pulls you in and obviously I have all my weight on my left foot so then coming in it just really makes it more drastic instead of being even so I just struggle all my balance stuff like that and I gave my foot a good few flex and stuff like that so this rough day in the office but we’ll go back and get better and try and be a little bit better for Southwick. Asked if his foot hurt Jett confirmed, “After the race it was pretty stiff and sore, so yeah.”

“Normally I weight the rear quite a lot and I just like I’m struggling to do that with one leg right now and coming into braking is where I really need it to like hold that rear in and I can’t get my knees back and brake as well. It’s just a bit of a struggle on this my behalf. It’s difficult because I’m trying to work it out myself but also like the team’s obviously helping in trying to make the bike that will make it a little easy on me as well.

“I don’t need to prove anything. I mean it owes my record of wins so it’s not like I need to go out there and prove something to everyone. It’s just more so racing for myself and it’s just sucks right now because riding right now, I normally love riding and right now it’s been a pain in the butt with my foot you know? So it’s taken one of the things I love doing and it’s just a struggle”.

“Hunter that first one, he deserved that one, he caught me past me I was just kind of not having a really good flow and he had a bit of bad luck with getting la rock stuck in the chain which stalled the bike and then it’s just like, you’ll take it, but you obviously know deep down you can’t say like, yeah I won that first one and I just got gifted”.

On dealing with pain in the foot Jett said: “It’s hard with the mental because I’m doing stuff on the track and and I may have a good flow, but I always have in the back of my head, ‘imagine if I had another good ankle, I could be going so much faster and making it could be a lot easier,’  I’m just having to work twice as hard almost um but yeah like it’s uh every now and then yeah flex it gives it a good give it a good tweak and and a little quick yell out of pain but then we kind of try and get back into it.”