Three-time 450 class champion Ryan Dungey has come out of retirement after five years away from the sport and looks to contest all 12 rounds of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross this summer with Red Bull KTM. Alongside him for at least the first two rounds will be nine-time World Motocross champion Antonio Cairoli who also pulled himself out of retirement for the opportunity to race some US Nationals.

Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen is back to fighting form after health-related issues sidelined him midway through Monster Energy AMA Supercross. Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger is also back behind the gate having now fully recovered from a broken arm sustained in January. Adam Cianciarulo nor Malcolm Stewart are racing today with Cianciarulo out for the whole summer with a knee injury while Stewart hopes to be back as soon as possible as he also deals with a knee injury. Cianciarulo’s fill-in Joey Savatgy will also miss the opener as the team announced he is still coming back to full health off of a knee injury of his own.

In the 250 class, reigning champion Jett Lawrence is ready to go after he missed the final round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross with a twisted ankle. The man whom he fought for the 2021 title, Justin Cooper, is also back in action this weekend after sustaining a broken foot in December.

Those two will face a talented roster with the likes of Hunter Lawrence, Austin Forkner, RJ Hampshire, Michael Mosiman, Jo Shimoda, Jalek Swoll, and many others who are all hungry to fight for championship success in 2022.

The first set of qualifying sessions is right around the corner, and we will be providing coverage all day long right here. The second qualifying sessions will be streamed on MAVTV Plus starting at 10 a.m. Pacific while the racing will air on both MAVTV and MAVTV Plus starting at 1 p.m. Pacific. Here we go!

FIRST QUALIFYING SESSIONS

As the bikes fired to life for the day and riders took to the track, it was pretty clear that the track wasn’t tilled as deep in prior years. Due to the cooler temperatures today, it’s likely the track will hold water better as well and didn’t need to be dug out as deep. As such, the track was wearing in really well by the time the A groups hit the track.

In the 250 class, a freight train of factory guys got out to the lead of the pack and started to put laps down. Defending champion Jett Lawrence waited for just about everyone to go and found himself in some free air to start turning laps in. He was the first to lay down a true fast lap as he went into the 2:14s.

Moments later, Seth Hammaker shot to the top of the board and was nearly into the 2:12s as he went to a 2:13.063. Despite the best efforts of Hunter Lawrence, RJ Hampshire, Jett Lawrence again, and several others, Hammaker’s time would hold up as the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider landed atop the sheets at the end of Q1.

The 450 class was up next as Chase Sexton and Eli Tomac led the field around in the early running. Tomac looked fired up early on but started to settle down into a bit of a pace after a few laps. Sexton looked lightning fast and quickly lit up the leaderboard as he dipped into the 2:12s with a 2:12.812.

Sexton was even able to back up the time with a low 2:13 which would not be matched by anyone as the next closest in the session was that of teammate Ken Roczen’s 2:13.587. Ryan Dungey and Antonio Cairoli both were near the top of the leaderboard early on and Cairoli would eventually end up in P5 with Dungey sliding down to P7.

Justin Barcia had a fall coming down the tricky double-roller downhill which was the same exact place that he crashed on Tuesday. This time, Barcia bounced right back up and continued on as he would eventually put his GasGas in P8. But it was Sexton who topped the first set of qualifying ahead of Roczen, Jason Anderson, Tomac, and Cairoli.

SECOND QUALIFYING SESSIONS

The second round of qualifying got underway, and the weather was actually a bit cooler as the cloud cover stayed but the wind picked up. As such, the little bit of watering they did between sessions kept the track is great conditions and we’d have a very similar racetrack to see who could back up their top time from the first session.

Similar to the first set of qualifying for the 250 class, a big group of factory riders got out front of the rest of the pack while Jett Lawrence stayed back. This time though, he was joined by his brother Hunter as well as riders like Max Vohland, Justin Cooper, Nate Thrasher, and Austin Forkner.

Eyes were on Seth Hammaker who was lightning quick in Q1, and the Kawasaki man went right to work again in Q2 as he quickly shot to the top of the leaderboard. Justin Cooper looked much more comfortable in the second session this time as he was up on P2 for a while and only a tenth down of Hammaker’s time.

Jett Lawrence would put in a flying lap right as the checkered flag waved and shot to the top of the board with a 2:14.737. However, Lawrence’s time was not enough to eclipse the time of Hammaker from the first session as Hammaker qualified first overall today in the 250 class.

There was a lengthy break between the 250A and 450A sessions as the track crew worked on cleaning up a couple corners with more water being laid down. Once the 450 class riders were sent on their way, it was Jason Anderson who would lead the field around this time and set the early pace.

Antonio Cairoli and Ken Roczen both spent the first couple of laps rolling around and scoping things out on the track before Cairoli then fired off a quick lap to jump up to second place. Roczen followed suit but jumping up to P1 and his time was good enough for second overall on the day behind Sexton’s top time in the first session.

Attention then shifted to Sexton to see if he could back up his blistering pace in the first session and he laid a fast lap down right at the end of qualifying. This time though, he was even faster than his first session time with a 2:12.333 which firmly placed him P1 for qualifying. So Sexton goes to the line first with his teammate Ken Roczen right behind him in both sessions as Honda HRC is sitting pretty in the 450 class so far today.

250 MOTO 1

As the gates dropped on the first moto of 2022, it was Justin Cooper who grabbed the holeshot ahead of Jett Lawrence and Seth Hammaker. Rookie Matthew LeBlanc went down in the second corner which caused a bit of a stack up of the field. Leblanc would remount at the back of the pack. Before the first lap was over, Jalek Swoll went down on a hill and would not remount as he held his arm. He would eventually be checked by the Alpinestars Medical crew for a shoulder injury and will not return today as he left in a sling.

Back to the action out front, Cooper led for the first four laps with Jett right on his tail before the defending champion found a way to slide through and take over the race lead. Immediately, Lawrence began to open up the gap as Cooper slid back into the clutches of Hammaker behind him.

Before Hammaker even had an opportunity to make a pass attempt on Justin Cooper, Hunter Lawrence snuck up and took away third place from the Kawasaki man. The elder Lawrence brother was far from done as he went right after Cooper ahead of him for second place. It wasn’t but a couple more laps before the Lawrence brothers were 1-2 and pulling away from the rest of the pack at about the halfway point of the moto.

The more time ticked away, the tougher things got for Justin Cooper as he slowly slipped out of the top five and down the order a way trying to get back into the flow of racing. Next up moving forward was RJ Hampshire who came from just inside of the top 10 to third with about 10 minutes left in the race. By the time Hampshire made it into third, the Lawrence brothers were gone at the front.

Jo Shimoda found his way into fourth place late in the moto with Levi Kitchen also putting in a stellar ride to make it up into the top five. Despite the early challenge though, nobody had anything for Jett Lawrence who went on to dominate the opening moto of the year and lead home a 1-2 performance for Honda HRC with his brother.

450 MOTO 1

The metal pounded the dirt for the opening 450 class moto of the season, and it was Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen launching out to the holeshot. Shane McElrath was right in tow with him, but Eli Tomac quickly found his way into second place as the two former champions looked to open up a bit of a gap out front.

Chase Sexton was in fourth place early on, but he too found his way around McElrath quickly and set sail after the two leaders ahead of him. Behind Sexton, Christian Craig was able to work his way forward as well and put himself into fourth place. It was all Honda HRC and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing out front at this point when suddenly Craig tipped over and slipped back to eighth.

Then Sexton made a quick pass on Eli Tomac and moved into second place making it a Honda HRC 1-2. Slowly but surely over the next few laps, Sexton ripped apart Ken Roczen’s lead and found his way around his teammate to take over P1 by the halfway point. As Sexton looked to hold Roczen behind him, attention turned to the battle for third.

Ryan Dungey had slowly reeled in Eli Tomac and the former rivals had a spirited fight for the final podium spot. Dungey made the pass on Tomac, but it didn’t last long as Christian Craig was flying forward and made his way up to the duo as they battled. Within a lap, Craig was around both Tomac and Dungey and back into third place.

Tomac continued to slip back a bit as Jason Anderson and Aaron Plessinger both came up and passed the #3 machine. Anderson came from way back after a bad start and put in a heck of a ride to not only get Tomac but also fly up to and pass Dungey late in the moto for fourth. If Anderson figures to be a factor for this 2022 title, this moto will be looked at as a huge salvage for Anderson.

Sexton would remain unheeded at the front of the front of the pack the rest of the way home as the Honda HRC man took the opening moto of the season. Honda HRC is perfect in the opening two motos of the season after Jett and Hunter Lawrence went 1-2 in the 250 class and they followed it up in the 450 class with a 1-2 out of Chase Sexton and Ken Roczen.

250 MOTO 2

In the second 250 class moto, it was Nick Romano who came through to rip the holeshot. Jett Lawrence was quickly into second place as the defending champ looked to move around the rookie quickly and set sail out front. That’s exactly what he ended up doing as he got around Romano on the third lap of the race and immediately opened the lead.

Michael Mosiman found his way through into second place right away as well and he also opened a gap on the field behind him. With Romano slipping back a bit, he also started to create a bit of a freight train with Jo Shimoda, Hunter Lawrence, and Seth Hammaker right behind him.

Before long, all three riders had made their way around Romano, but Hammaker took a while to get it done as Romano was keen to not lose the top five position. By the time Hammaker got around Romano, he was already seven seconds behind Lawrence.

Hunter Lawrence and Jo Shimoda then both made it around Michael Mosiman as their battle for third then became the battle for second. It was a much rougher second moto for Justin Cooper as he was pinched off the start and ended up outside of the top 20 early on. As the time continued to wind down in the moto, it seemed like Cooper might not make it into the top 10 when all was said and done.

The battle for second continued on the entire rest of the moto as Hunter Lawrence would keep closing up just a bit on Shimoda only for Shimoda to keep a narrow advantage. It all came to a head on the final lap of the race when the duo caught some lapped traffic amidst their own battle. Lawrence went to the outside at the top of the hill after the step up and Shimoda made a small bobble on the inside trying to get around the lapped riders. Hunter Lawrence completed the pass to get back into second place and wrap up his 2-2 performance on the day.

Out front though, Jett Lawrence was in control seemingly the whole way as he started his title defense in perfect fashion with a 1-1 to win the Fox Raceway 1 National. Honda HRC made it a 1-2 sweep in both motos and on the podium as well with Hunter Lawrence in second place as Jo Shimoda rounded out the podium with a third overall.

450 MOTO 2

As the gates fell for the final moto of the day, it was Chase Sexton sliding through to grab the holeshot again ahead of his teammate Ken Roczen. Jason Anderson was in a solid position going into the second corner but got stood up a bit and then Justin Barcia fell into him from behind which caused a pretty big stack up but left both Anderson and Barcia way back early on again.

Sexton led the first lap of the race, but Roczen looked to have a bit more in the tank for the second moto this time as the German rider passed his teammate on the second lap of the race and then started to open up a bit of a gap.

Behind them, Ryan Dungey held onto third for the first half of the race, but Christian Craig and Eli Tomac were slowly pulling up to the KTM rider. Craig made the pass stick just beyond the halfway mark and then Tomac passed Dungey half a lap later as Dungey swung wide in the back of the track and seemingly realized Tomac was destined to pass him. From there though, Dungey settled into a nice pace and held onto the top five position.

The action started to heat back up out front as Sexton slowly caught back up to his teammate with a pair of blistering laps and the battle for the win and the overall was on. Roczen actually responded well to the pressure for a while, but Sexton made an inside move before the finish line section and had enough momentum to secure the race lead.

Roczen was not done and fought back trying to get the lead away on a number of occasions, but Sexton remained steadfast. When the checkered flag waved, Chase Sexton put together a 1-1 performance to win the opening round of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross. Roczen brought it home in second for 2-2 scores as Honda HRC completed the total sweep of the day with 1-2 finishes in every single moto. Christian Craig’s 3-3 rounded out the podium.