In the 250 class, Jett Lawrence’s championship lead has ballooned out to 27 points over his brother Hunter who has had a rough last couple of weeks. At Spring Creek, Hunter Lawrence was leading late in the first moto when he misread some lappers and Jett was able to snatch the win away in the closing stages. Then Hunter was leading the second moto when the red flag was unfortunately brought out for a downed rider. On the restart, Hunter had a much worse start while Jett was right up at the front from the get-go and took off to take home a 1-1 performance.

It is quickly starting to feel like Jett’s series as we work towards the home stretch, but Jett has also expressed how much he doesn’t seem to like this track at Washougal. Perhaps that’s an opportunity for Hunter to pounce and put a 1-1 up on the board if Jett can’t seem to find the comfort level here. We’ll see what happens.

Qualifying will begin shortly with the 250 class going first today and the motos will begin at 1 p.m. Pacific time later this afternoon. Follow along with us here and check out the broadcast schedule below:

First Qualifying Sessions

As the first group of riders hit the track, the track appeared to not be ripped as deep in certain spots which will affect how slippery the conditions are later in the day. The temperatures remained very cool for the morning and are expected to stay in the 60s and 70s nearly all day with an expected high of the low 80s.

Justin Cooper and Jett Lawrence both took the option of lagging back at the start of 250A qualifying to let the whole field get some distance ahead of them. When the green flag finally waved at the end of the free practice lap, both Cooper and Lawrence began fighting each other for the top time in the session.

Just like last week at Spring Creek, it was Cooper who would end up fastest in Q1 by a noticeable margin as he put in a 2:11.386 to Lawrence’s 2:13.231. That put 1.8 seconds between Cooper on top and the rest of the field as Hunter Lawrence was just a few tenths off in third.

Next up was the 450A group after some minor track maintenance and a group of Jason Anderson, Chase Sexton, Ken Roczen, Aaron Plessinger, and Christian Craig all took the same approach as the 250 guys before them of hanging back as the green flag waved.

Eli Tomac didn’t hang back at all though as he went right with the front group and immediately began laying down quick laps. Unlike the 250 class though, times were much tighter at the top as the two championship rivals of Tomac and Sexton ended up split by just three tenths of a second.

Tomac topped the session with a 2:10.926 but spent much of the late session rolling around and working on a few things. Jason Anderson and Joey Savatgy each had some minor falls during the session but both riders would be okay and continued on.

Second Qualifying Sessions

Jett Lawrence did the same thing in the second session where he let the whole field go in front of him, but Cooper wasted no time this time around as he led the field around and began putting in hot laps right away. However, it was Hunter Lawrence this time that leapt to the top of the board early in the session.

The times were noticeably slower in the second session as the track deteriorated. As such, it seemed like Cooper’s time from the first session would hold up, but he didn’t want to rest on that as he was next to go to the top of the board with a low 2:13. That would barely not hold up though as Jett Lawrence wicked it up right at the end of the session to qualify fastest in Q2. However, Cooper’s time from Q1 was more than enough to hold the top time as Justin Cooper has qualified fastest for the 250 class today at Washougal.

The 450 class hit the track moments later and Eli Tomac led the field around again. He and Jason Anderson were the first two to put quick times down. Tomac held the top time early but then Chase Sexton started to give him a run for his money.

Unfortunate news for Joey Savatgy as he pulled into the mechanics area with an apparent leg injury. Savatgy will be back for the motos today though as he just dabbed his foot in a rut and had a bit of a stinger for his ankle.

Back to the qualifying times and at one point Tomac and Sexton were separated by just seventh hundredths of a second with Tomac on top. But right as the checkered flag waved, Jason Anderson laid down a burner and went to the top of the board with a low 2:11. That was just barely slower than what Tomac had put down in the first session though as Eli Tomac remained on top as the fastest qualifier today at Washougal.

250 Moto 1

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jo Shimoda fired out of the gates into the lead of the first 250 class moto of the day as he led Hunter Lawrence and Jett Lawrence up Horsepower Hill on the first lap. Shimoda explained last week that he’s using starting blocks now and he believes that the change will be huge for more consistent starts.

Shimoda was trying to sprint away from the front, but Hunter Lawrence had different ideas. Both riders were able to put a little bit of a gap on Jett Lawrence in third while Seth Hammaker was actually closing up on the championship leader from fourth.

The front four remained status quo for nearly the entire first half of the race before Hunter Lawrence clicked into another get and went after Shimoda for the lead. Just before the halfway mark, Hunter Lawrence would take the lead as they charged through the whoops before the finish line jump side by side.

Immediately, Hunter laid down the fastest lap of the race and opened up the gap to over two seconds while Shimoda slipped back into the clutches of Jett Lawrence. By this point, the top three had completely dropped Seth Hammaker who was slipping back to Justin Cooper in fifth place, but they were both over 10 seconds behind the front trio.

Just when it seemed like Hunter Lawrence was going to control the race from the front, Shimoda and Jett Lawrence battling each other actually pushed both of them back up to Hunter for the race lead. A two-way fight for second turned into a three-way fight for the lead with about six minutes left on the clock.

Jett Lawrence tried two or three times to make the pass on Shimoda for second, but every time Shimoda was able to shut the door. Those attempts by Jett allowed Hunter to open the gap back up to almost three seconds. Suddenly, Jett dove down the inside before the whoops to make the pass on Shimoda for second and immediately he put the hammer down to try to close in on his brother in the lead.

He tried but it was too little too late as Hunter Lawrence kept pushing all the way to the flag to win the first moto at Washougal by a few seconds. Jett Lawrence would settle for second with Shimoda rounding out the podium ahead of Justin Cooper and Seth Hammaker inside the top five.

450 Moto 1

As the gates dropped for the first 450 class moto of the day, it was Ryan Dungey who grabbed the holeshot, but he quickly lost the lead as Chase Sexton pounced on the #5. Eli Tomac sat in third place with Jason Anderson in fourth as the field started to funnel out a bit through the trees.

Anderson made an early mistake which allowed Ken Roczen through into fourth place with Joey Savatgy also sneaking by for fifth. That opened up about four seconds between the lead three riders and Roczen in fourth before the end of the second lap as Sexton continued to lead.

Just as Dungey was starting to feel the flow and actually catch Sexton for the lead again, his KTM began sputtering on and off as he rolled by the mechanics area. He let Tomac go by, and the bike came back to life, but it quickly started having the same problems as he rolled slowly up Horsepower Hill and eventually off the side of the track. What looked like a possible best result of the year for Dungey quickly turned into a DNF as he walked his bike back to the pits.

Back to the battle out front and Tomac with clearer track now in front of him slowly began to up the pace as he caught Chase Sexton for the lead. The duo was gone at the front of the field as they began to battle for the lead. Tomac pounced immediately to the inside before the finish line jump as the halfway mark of the moto approached and the big #3 shot into the lead.

Behind them, a huge battle for sixth place was unfolding as Joey Savatgy was slipping back to Justin Barcia and Christian Craig as they were working forward. Barcia pounced by first, but Craig was soon to follow as both Barcia and Craig are locked in a mini showdown right now to show which of them would be a better selection for the MX2 spot at the Motocross of Nations.

The lead battle was back on with about eight minutes left on the clock as Sexton started working on some of his lines and inched up to Tomac for the lead as they were weaving through lapped traffic. Sexton got right onto his back tire when suddenly Tomac tipped over from the lead. Sexton then fell onto him as they both laid on the ground with their bikes off. Sexton picked his bike up first as he tried to get it started again and then Tomac picked his bike back up and tried the same. Amazingly, both of their bikes fired to life at nearly the exact same time and the battle resumed.

As the two-lap board was displayed, Sexton turned it back up again to get right onto the back tire of Tomac for the lead in what became an all-out two lap sprint for the win. Despite showing a nose here and there, Tomac was able to just inch back away at the end as Eli Tomac would take the win in 450 Moto 1 ahead of Sexton. Anderson, Roczen, and Justin Barcia rounded out the top five.

250 Moto 2

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper launched out to the holeshot in the second 250 class moto of the day. Unlike his first moto start which left him having to fight forward, getting out front in the second moto gave us a great chance to see what Cooper could do with the race lead after he showed his strong pace earlier today in qualifying.

Jo Shimoda was second early on with Hunter and Jett Lawrence tailing him in third and fourth, respectively. Just like the first moto, the front four started to open up a gap away from Seth Hammaker who was back in fifth place this time.

Cooper was slowly pulling away at the front of the field as the trio behind him started to battle each other. Hunter Lawrence was pushing Jo Shimoda hard and trying to find his way through, but he just couldn’t find the right spot. It culminated in a small slide-out for Hunter Lawrence as he pushed the front end through the tight sections after the finish line and tipped over. He picked it up now in fourth but was over five seconds behind his brother once he got going.

For the time being, it actually promoted Cooper into the overall lead as his 4-1 would match Hunter Lawrence’s 1-4 but the tiebreaker goes to the better second moto. Shimoda and Jett Lawrence were splitting 2-3 scores as well which left them one point back of Cooper. If Jett could move into second place though, it would be enough for him to claim the overall win on the day with a 2-2 to Cooper’s 4-1.

With about 11 minutes left in the moto, Jett Lawrence out-dragged Shimoda up Horsepower Hill to take over second place and the lead in the overall standings for the day. Cooper had opened up the gap to over six seconds by this point as well which meant it would need to take a lot for Lawrence to catch him for the win.

As soon as Jett made the pass on Shimoda though, he reset the fastest lap of the race at about a second faster than anyone and also caught Cooper by about two seconds in a single lap as well. Within three laps, he had cut the gap just about in half as he continued to work a few tenths off here and there.

The focus began to shift though as Hunter Lawrence was also inching up to Jo Shimoda for third place which also would be enough for Hunter to win the overall on the day if he could make the pass on the Kawasaki man. The last few laps of the moto became a tale of two chases to determine the final standings on the day.

Jett Lawrence seemed to settle in for second place as he was content with the positioning, he was in. So, it was down to Hunter Lawrence to catch Shimoda to win the overall or settle for third on the day and another lost point in the championship.

Hunter Lawrence threw everything at Shimoda but just couldn’t find a way through in the end. Justin Cooper won his first moto of the season to cap off a 4-1 day, but it was Jett Lawrence’s 2-2 scores that earned him his seventh overall win of 2022.

450 Moto 2

Chase Sexton rocketed out to the holeshot off the start of the second moto and immediately felt pressure from Eli Tomac. Jason Anderson was momentarily in second place ahead of Tomac, but the Yamaha rider wasted no time to move back into position and set his sights on Sexton for the lead.

Rather quickly, Sexton and Tomac started pulling out a gap on the rest of the pack as Anderson settled into third place behind them. Aaron Plessinger was going with Anderson early on and had Joey Savatgy and Ken Roczen right on him as well as a little bit of a train was developing from third on back.

Ryan Dungey had a much worse start in the second moto due to his terrible gate pick from the DNF in the first moto and found himself in eighth place behind Benny Bloss in the opening third of the moto. Justin Barcia had a small crash from ninth as he was battling Christian Craig, but he was able to remount in 12^th place and continue on.

By the halfway point of the moto, the battle for the lead was fully on as Tomac was putting a ton of pressure on Sexton for the lead. They both had opened up the gap on everyone else out to about 15 seconds as the pace continued to intensify.

Dungey was continuing his ascent through the field as he had worked into fifth place by the final 10 minutes of the moto and was catching Ken Roczen in front of him. Within a few laps, Dungey had found his way through to get into fourth place.

Sexton and Tomac out front were absolutely flying, and the duo remained no more than a second to a second and a half apart for the first 27 minutes of the moto. There was a bit of a tipping point when Tomac caught Sexton and tried to make a pass with about four minutes to go but then Sexton started to pull the gap out to almost three seconds after that.

It wasn’t the breaking point it seemed though as Tomac lofted back a bit only to close right back in on Sexton with time just about to expire. With three laps left in the moto, it was still neck and neck between the two of them.

Finally, a breaking point was reached as Tomac clearly decided to lay back and not push himself into the ground late in the moto. Sexton stretched it out on the final two laps and crossed the line first to finally break up an eight moto win streak from Tomac and claim his second overall win of 2022 as well. It was a huge victory for Sexton to stop the bleeding despite them tying on points for the day.