Four at Fox for The Jett
Jett Lawrence claimed the 250 Class overall win at the opening round with a big 1-1 day. The Fox Raceway at Pala track might not be the Australian’s favorite track, but he has to like the results he has gotten there: this was his fourth overall win in his four pro events raced at this track! Jettsons’s moto scores at this track are: 1-2-1-2-1-1-1-1.
2020 Fox Raceway National:
1-2 for first overall
2021 Fox Raceway 1 National
1-2 for first overall
2021 Raceway 2 National
1-1 for first overall
2022 Fox Raceway 1 National
1-1 for first overall
How will the defending champion do at the Fox Raceway 2 National finale in early September? Jettson now has six Pro Motocross 250 Class overall wins to his name.
Brothers Podium
After Jett crossed the finish line both motos, he was followed by his older brother Hunter Lawrence. Jett went 1-1 for first overall and Hunter’s 2-2 landed him second overall—the second time the brothers landed on the overall podium together in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Last year at the second-round, Thunder Valley National, Jett finished 4-1 for second overall and Hunter finished 5-3 for third overall. Remember, the duo has landed on the same podium in Monster Energy AMA Supercross before as well, doing so at the 2021 Salt Lake City 2 Supercross Dave Coombs Sr. East/West Showdown (Jett first, Hunter third, and the 2022 Atlanta Supercross East/West Showdown (Hunter first, Jett third). Will the duo pull off more podiums together this summer?
RD5 is Back
Ryan Dungey finished 5-5 for fifth overall in his first Pro Motocross race in nearly six years. Solid ride for someone who retired in May 2017 and has not been on the bike for that long heading into this season!
Ryan Dungey's previous moto finish in his last @ProMotocross moto: fourth in moto two at the 2016 Thunder Valley National.
— Mitch Kendra (@mitch_kendra) May 28, 2022
Dungey in today's first moto, almost six years later: fifth. This is insane! #ProMotocross#Motocross#MX2022#2022FoxRaceway1
#23’s first 1-1
In the premier class, Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton went 1-1 for the first time in his career, as he claimed his third 450 Class overall win. Just like the 250 Class, Honda HRC finished 2-2 in the premier class as Ken Roczen finished behind Sexton both motos. The two battled back and forth both races, but eventually Sexton came out on top. And to make it even better for Honda, they were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1973 CR250M Elsinore—Honda's original motocross machine, and they had some awesome throwback gear. It was Honda’s world on Saturday.
CC’s First Podium
Finishing in third place behind the Honda HRC duo in the 450 Class was Christian Craig. Craig’s consistent 3-3 day gave him his first overall podium in either class in Pro Motocross. The California native has several moto podium finishes and over a handful of 450 Overall top five finishes to his name, but had yet to claim an overall podium.
“I’m pumped. My first 450 podium,” he said after the race. “To do it at my home track, hometown. I’ve gotten so close so many times, but especially coming off the supercross championship it’s all about just keeping the momentum and the confidence I have. Comfortable with the bike. Just happy with the whole setup. It’s something I’ve worked for my whole life. I checked that one off the list.”
Will Craig click off more overall podium finishes this summer?
Other Random Stats
Jett Sits 35th
No, not in the standings: in the all-time 125/250 Class Pro Motocross overall wins list as he has six overalls to his name to date. If the Australian can earn four more overalls this year, he could become the 16th different rider with at least double digit overall Pro Motocross wins in the class and by doing so would pass some riders who went on to become legends of the sport (Bob Hannah, Ryan Dungey, Johnny O’Mara, Marty Smith, Grant Langston). Where will Jettson land on the wins list at the end of this season? Let us know in the comments below!
We’ll just leave this tweet from Grant Harlan here...
Jett lawrence the best 250 rider of all time
— Grant Harlan (@HarlanGrant) May 29, 2022
Honda’s Extra Red
Honda HRC led all laps in the 450 Class (9 from Sexton and 7 from Roczen in moto one and 7 from Sexton and 9 from Roczen in moto two) and led all but five laps in the 250 Class (Yamaha’s Justin Cooper led the first 4 but Jett Lawrence led the last 12 laps in moto one, and Yamaha’s Nick Romano led the first lap of moto two before Jettson led the final 14). The last time the Honda HRC team had both red plates was in 2021 after the second round at Thunder Valley National after Ken Roczen’s 1-1 day where he reclaimed the points lead by a single point over Dylan Ferrandis and Jett Lawrence finished 4-1 for second overall to retain his points lead. How long will the HRC team keep the extra red in both classes?
Yamaha’s #1 Troubles Again
In 2007, Grant Langston claimed the 450 Pro Motocross title, but, as Jason Weigandt wrote in our 2007 recap of our 50-year Pro Motocross history countdown, Langston never made it to the gate in 2008 with his #1 plate, as a mysterious eye injury knocked him out of supercross. After much searching, it turned out he had contracted eye cancer. Sadly, he would never fully recover the vision needed to race again at his old level.
Unfortunately, Yamaha’s #1 450 rider Dylan Ferrandis suffered a thumb injury only days before the opener and needed surgery. He flew to France for surgery earlier this week and a return to racing has yet to be announced publicly. Hopefully we will see Ferrandis racing with the #1 plate soon.
Jarvis Races Again
Female Jordan Jarvis has been building her own story in the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Jarvis did not qualify for the first moto but was selected as an alternate for moto two and after finishing 34th, Jarvis has now competed in at least one moto at four different Pro Motocross events since making a run at qualifying for the first time back in 2019. She was on Kawasaki’s in 2020 and 2021 but she is back on a Yamaha Y250F just as she was in 2019.
Awards
FMF Privateer Power Award:Fredrik Noren
RC Battery Hard Charger Award:Fredrik Noren
Noren finished 14-11 for 12th overall.
Rookie Debuts
The following 250 Class riders made their first Pro Motocross national over the weekend:
Nick Romano—first pro race
16-for for 15th overall
Josiah Natzke—first U.S. race
19-15 for 17th overall
Matthew LeBlanc—first pro race
20-17 for 20th overall
Romain Pape—first U.S. race
25-25 for 25th overall
Noah Viney—first pro race
35-39 for 36th overall
Rider Vlogs
Jason Anderson/Team Fried
Raw Moto
Check out our guy Tim Journet’s Infield Access video below to watch nearly 20 minutes of raw footage from the opener.