MXGP of Lombok 2024

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MX Drug Testing Continues

Relentless Drug Tests: Chase Sexton Faces 7th Examination This Season!

 

Chase Sexton dad recently shared an intriguing Instagram post, announcing that Chase’s seventh drug test of the year has come back negative. He humorously suggested it might be time to start testing some other riders, hinting at frustration and calling for fairness in the testing process. This comes in the wake of several athletes, such as James Stewart, who faced a 16-month suspension in 2014 for testing positive for a banned substance, highlighting the ongoing scrutiny in the sport.

Tomac Back at Budds Creek...Maybe

How's Jett's Shoulder?

Lawrence considering an MRI scan on troublesome shoulder

Section: Competition Post: Alex Gobert

Extent of issue yet to be fully determined for 450MX national champion.

Image: Octopi Media.

Defending 450MX champion Jett Lawrence is considering undergoing an MRI scan on his troublesome shoulder that has been affecting him since crashing heavily in the opening moto at Hangtown, still yet to reach 100 percent fitness.

The Team Honda HRC rider has managed to win three-straight overalls at Thunder Valley, High Point, and Southwick, despite any ongoing issues, but is looking to find out the extent of any potential injury.

“We’ve kind of been discussing what it actually is, because at first we just thought it might be bruising or something like that, or maybe pulled the muscle,” Lawrence explained. “For how long and slow it’s taken to heal, we might get a MRI or something, because the muscle could be torn or something like that.

“We’re not really 100 percent on what it is, so we’re gonna use one of these breaks to go and get a MRI, or even after this one… Just because we’re not 100 percent sure what it is, we thought this break might help it, and get it back to 100 percent.

“But each time I’d go train and ride, and use it, it just kind of go back to that same spot that it would heal up and then drop a bit. It’s been a bit annoying in this break because I thought it would go a lot more, but no excuses, we still got an overall win, so definitely make it a lot easier if we’re at 100 percent.”

With elder brother and factory Honda teammate Hunter Lawrence maintaining the Pro Motocross Championship points lead, Jett Lawrence is three points back, currently tied with Chase Sexton

Bike changes Lead Sexton To Win

What Sexton changed that led to second moto victory at Southwick

Post: MotoOnline

The first moto win since Hangtown for Sexton showed more signs of progress.

Chase Sexton’s second moto victory at Southwick was his first moto win since his last to first performance to secure the overall win at Hangtown. The result boosted Sexton to just three points behind championship leader Hunter Lawrence as Sexton continues to look for consistency from moto to moto.

Much like the fourth round at High Point, Sexton didn’t particularly look comfortable in the first moto at Southwick before completely turning it around in moto two. But the win at Southwick came from an impressive surge when Sexton found his groove halfway through the moto to leap from third to first in an instant and take off with the moto victory.

“I mean I was kind of off the pace honestly in both motos,” said Sexton. “I was good at the beginning of the second moto and the first moto, but then I would kind of lose the pace in the middle of the race. I wasn’t riding the track how it was meant to be ridden, and I finally started to get a good flow going towards the end of the second moto. Better late than never. I just kind of started picking different lines and I don’t know, it kind of all came together for me.”

Image: Octopi Media.

The lap times from the second moto show a clear progression that Sexton found another gear. He struggled to a 2:20.079 at the mid-point of the moto before going 2:19, 2:19, 2:18, 2:16 four laps in a row which were all faster than that of race leader Jett Lawrence.

Southwick certainly is a racetrack that can be won or lost based on line selection as the sandy conditions create a massive variance between two lines next to each other. But aside from figuring out better lines, Sexton also made a slight bike change before the moto that could have contributed to his increased comfort late in the race. However, Sexton put the blame solely on himself that he needed to figure it out.

“We made a few bike changes, but I mean honestly I needed a ride the track better and I kind of acknowledged that mid first moto,” said Sexton “I just couldn’t figure it out and this this track has never really like been my absolute favorite for some reason. I kind of had to put that behind me.

“I found some good lines and was able to kind of jump around the track and make it more fun. When you’re having fun, you go faster. So that was kind of the whole thing for me today. I didn’t want to override the track because it is a sand track, but you can have some big get offs out here. I didn’t really want to push it past the limit and was just riding within myself.”

This is becoming a trend for Sexton in that he has been noticeably better in the second motos since Hangtown. He crashed while passing into the lead of the second moto at Thunder Valley, then led a few laps of the second moto at High Point before another crash pushed him back to second.

While the second moto rides are proof that Sexton is on the doorstep of more moto and overall wins, the lack of consistency between the two motos has been hurting him. While Hunter Lawrence has managed to hang onto the championship lead, Jett Lawrence has been surging winning each of the last three overalls and is now tied with Sexton for P2 in the standings.

If Sexton is going to stop the bleeding, he’ll likely have to turn things around in the first motos first.

“It seems that we miss the mark first motos for some reason,” said Sexton. “Whether it’s me or the bike, it’s kind of been both so we have to figure that out. We can’t be giving points away in the first moto, that’s not ideal. Then you kind of come out and you really have your back against the wall second moto, so you have to make it happen. I’m trying to fix that.”

Image: Octopi Media.

With the variance of Sexton, the consistency of Hunter Lawrence, and the consistent winning of Jett Lawrence, the 450MX title fight is as close as can be through five rounds. Three points separate the three riders heading into the true halfway point this weekend at RedBud.

While Jett Lawrence continues to ail from his shoulder injury sustained at Hangtown, Sexton or Hunter Lawrence could take a big step towards the championship by winning in the next few weeks. Though Jett has been winning the overalls, it’s clear there’s room to sneak in there as Sexton just proved at Southwick.

On top of that, RedBud is Sexton’s pseudo-home race for the Illinois native and he’s keen to get back on top in front of his home crowd in five days.

Barcia Will Be Back!

"I'm not done in 2025. No chance."

Paolo Ciabatti talks Ducati in MXGP

Prado Takes Indonesia

Red Bull GasGas factory rider Jorge Prado just gets it done, even when at times it seems unlikely. Despite one of his rivals, Jeffrey Herlings winning the Saturday qualifier and opening race on Sunday, and the Dutchman leading the second race as well, Prado came through, stayed calm and grabbed the Grand Prix victory from the jaws of defeat.

It is something Prado had done a couple of times this year and these wins are even more impressive, because they come with real resistance. Resistance from Herlings and also from another five-time World champion, Tim Gajser.

His win in the opening Lombok GP made sure he not only won his 45th GP of his career and seventh in 2024, but it also saw him gain valuable points in series leader Gajser. With the series half over, and the second half seeing a variety of different circuits, the win in Lombok was the perfect way to start what will be a very exciting and dramatic finale to the 2024 MXGP championship. We caught up with the champion and below is what he told us.

MXLarge: First of all, you seem really happy. How do you feel with this win?
Jorge Prado: You know, after Italy, it is amazing to get another victory, it is already the seventh from the season. Moto two in Maggiora I couldn’t do anything. A rider crashed in front of me, and I just went over the bars. I hit myself pretty hard and it was just a pity. I lost 25 points, but no problem, we came back strong. It was very physical today and the track was very rough. Conditions didn’t make it easier, also the weather, everything was just heavy. Happy with the victory. Second moto I had a good jump and Jeffrey got my from the inside and I thought their was no space, but he found it (room to make a pass). Second corner, before the waves, I tried to change the line and I hit some mud and went off the track and Tim passed me there. The track was, I need to say, quite bad and I think nobody enjoyed riding this kind of track. We have time to prep and make for nicer racing, but it is what it is, and I am happy with the victory. Hopefully the next round we have some nicer dirt.

You look like you could push when you had to, and you were riding really well.
Yes, I was riding really well. I felt better already in the warm-up this morning. First moto I was behind Jeffrey all the time and we were pushing really hard and getting away from everyone, then at one point at the end of the moto, I got a little closer, but just couldn’t get enough. I just said, okay, it’s enough for this one. Second moto I think my riding was even better. The track was super slippery, and I also made some mistakes, but I managed to stay on the bike the whole time and have a consistent rhythm and I was happy with my fitness right until the end. I managed to get out of here with the victory and even closer to the championship points lead.

I can imagine the points are more important than the actual GP win?
Yes, exactly, but everything matters, also the GP win. Gaining another GP victory makes me very happy, and it is needed for the confidence to prove the hard work, so a little bit of both. We made good ground on Tim, especially in that second moto. Super happy about the weekend.

Both those guys in front of you crashed, you stayed calm and got the win, I wouldn’t say you were lucky, because not crashing takes some talent on a track that was as wet as that was, but how did you see it?
Lucky for sure not. I also went off track, when I was charging trying to get Jeffrey in the first lap, because of the mud. He made a mistake in the mud, and I didn’t. Tim, what happened with Tim, I just passed him. ...I was the best today and that is why I won. We are getting close to the championship lead, and I won.

The speed of you three is a lot closer now, whereas in those first four rounds, you were just much quicker than Tim and Jeffrey. Is that more fun when the speed is closer, because all three of you are great riders and to battle riders like that must be nice?
I mean, it’s close when we have mud races. I mean, it’s a mud race because these guys put so much water on the track and then it gets closer. I feel in dry conditions, there is still some gap. Look for example myself in Lugo, with dry conditions, in the qualification race, from P6 or something, I went and won the moto. Passing all these guys in front in the championship and the ones in the back, so, no. For sure there isn’t a big gap, Tim, Jeffrey and I are pretty similar. One guy is riding better in mud conditions another guy is riding better in dry and rutty another guy might be better when it’s more slippery and that makes it fun for the spectators.

We are here for a week now, are you going to enjoy yourself, or is it just work, work, work?
The day has 24 hours; I think we can do a little bit of both. With this nice weather, I think we can enjoy, but we keep putting the work in and get fit for the next one. I am not sure where we are going, but another part of the island, which is good for training and I have some Spanish friends here, so I will spend some time with them.

Reprint from MXlarge