The second round of the 2022 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship has come and gone. Both classes provided several talking points from passes, crashes, track conditions, and privateers. As such, we fired off some questions to long-time professional racer Jason Thomas to get his take on all things Hangtown Motocross Classic.
Eli Tomac came to life in the second moto. Explain the inside info you discovered about his performance.
With Eli injuring his knee at the Atlanta round of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, I don’t believe that he got as much outdoor testing time as he would have liked. That means that they are likely testing a bit at each round. Remember, Eli had never raced the Yamaha in a motocross race before the opening round. I spoke to his suspension technician, Ricki Gilmour, and he shared that they switched to an air fork for this race, and it felt much better. It should be noted that Eli also ran an air fork at Hangtown in 2015, winning the race by over a minute and a half (with a best lap time of five seconds better than anyone else). As they are still sorting out unfamiliar territory with this motorcycle on different tracks, I would expect some growing pains along the way.
Chase Sexton didn't win this time, but he was right in it. Did a solid round two actually bolster the look of his title aspirations?
I think it did. He has been so good at Fox Raceway in the past, I wasn’t really sure if it was something we could depend on as a real indicator. Backing the performance up at Hangtown went a long way in making this seem more real. The tough part is that his main competition also looked a lot better, too. Ken Roczen was still solid, Jason Anderson got his first overall win, and Tomac was lights out in that second moto. If Sexton is going to win this title, he will have to earn it.
How did the track shape up?
I have a theory that if the track is tacky and nice in practice, it’s going to be hard and dusty during the race. To have a tacky track in the motos, the track needs to be over-watered in the qualifying sessions. It’s not ideal but that seems to be the only way. Given that theory, when qualifying looked ideal, I knew the track would lose pliability by mid-afternoon. The ruts all hardened up and the once tacky sections turned to dust.
The layout was the typical Hangtown with a couple of new wrinkles thrown in. I have always thought Hangtown’s layout worked. The elevation and side-of-the-hill concept gives variety and also provides great viewing for spectators.
Michael Mosiman won his first-ever moto but crashed away a shot at the overall in moto two. Is this a good day or bad day for him?
I don’t think it’s that definitive. There are lots of positives to take from the day. He was arguably the fastest rider in the 250 class. He won the first moto relatively easily. He was going to lock up an overall podium and possible win had he not crashed. These are undeniably positive developments. The tougher news is that he made the same type of critical mistake that plagued him during supercross. He puts himself into good position and then can’t seem to eliminate the mistake that ends up costing him. Until he can figure out that last puzzle piece, it’s going to be tough to beat out the likes of the Lawrence brothers and Justin Cooper.
![Michael Mosiman]()
Michael Mosiman Align Media ![Mosiman taking the checkered flag in P1 in the first moto.]()
Mosiman taking the checkered flag in P1 in the first moto. Align Media ![Mosiman celebrating his first career moto win.]()
Mosiman celebrating his first career moto win. Align Media
How can Justin Cooper get this much better in one week?
I. Don’t. Know. They are chalking it up to bike settings but wow, that was a serious settings improvement. He finished outside the top ten in both motos at Fox Raceway and then was solidly battling for the lead all day at Hangtown. That just doesn’t happen very often! My only thought is that he hadn’t raced for nearly nine months going into the opener and needed to work through the cobwebs. Other than that, I am just giving the shoulder shrug.
Jett Lawrence just defined winning on your bad days. Was this more about his own perseverance or just his competition making mistakes and not taking advantage?
These can both be true. Jett fought through a really difficult day and still won. I talked to his agent, Lucas Mirtl, on Saturday morning, and he said the goal was simply survival. He was hoping Jett would get a top ten and just get out of there in one piece. Jett must not have gotten that message because he put up a 3-1 for the overall win. If you’re any of his rivals, you have to be wondering what it will take to beat this kid.
As for the others making mistakes, that’s definitely a thing. His brother Hunter crashed in the first moto, Jo Shimoda crashed while chasing down Jett in the second moto, and Michael Mosiman DNF’d the second moto after a dominant win in moto one. All three of those guys could have and needed to capitalize on Jett’s illness and were unable to. They likely won’t get many chances to face a weakened Jett and it has to be frustrating to lose on a day they did.
