First Qualifying Sessions

Qualifying kicked off the day under clear blue skies and the track looked to be ripped fairly deep for the first sessions. A little side note was British MX2 racer Joel Rizzi is here this weekend on a stock GasGas and he topped the first B group qualifying session of the day. Keep an eye out on his progress as we move into Q2.

Once the A group started their session, it was actually Honda HRC's Chance Hymas who was setting the early pace. Before long though, the ever quick in qualifying Justin Cooper found his way to the top of the sheets. Cooper became the first rider all day to dip down into the 2:18's, but the track being wet and deep early on likely means that's not going to be the top time. For now though, Justin Cooper's 2:18.219 sits P1 in 250's

Next up was the 450A group and things got a little dicey right from the beginning as Jett Lawrence reportedly pulled off the track at the top of the hill on the second lap and was holding his wrist. He would continue on though so hopefully it was just a stinger for the championship leader.

Derek Drake impressed early in the session on his BarX Suzuki as he first put a lap time in the 2:20's down to go P1 and then even improved it down to a 2:19.982. Jett Lawrence got rolling later in the session and just pipped Drake's time with a 2:19.917 to go to the top of the board. They would remain there with Adam Cianciarulo putting down a 2:20.734 to snag third in the session as the first qualifying sessions wrap up here.

Second Qualifying Sessions

The second round of qualifying definitely saw the track speed up as it dried out a little more under the sun. Clouds are beginning to roll in and there's still a lingering chance of some thunderstorms but so far, so good.

Jo Shimoda was fastest early on in the second 250A session but Hunter Lawrence put his name atop the board around the halfway mark. Lawrence has been slowly getting the ball rolling a little bit earlier at each round and he's said that he's consciously trying to have a better first moto this week. 

Even so, the inevitable Justin Cooper hail mary last lap was bound to happen and the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider laid it down as time expired. Cooper became the first rider all day to jump down to the 2:16's as he finished the sessions on top to qualify fastest in 250's. 

Next up was the 450A group who saw even more surprises from the lesser known faces who have been crushing it. Ty Masterpool and Derek Drake both looked incredible in 450Q2 and the times showed as they ended up in third and fourth, respectively. 

Despite smashing his hand on a light in the first qualifying session, which is why he had pulled off the track, Jett Lawrence cruised to the top time again. Unlike Fox Raceway and Hangtown though, Adam Cianciarulo was much closer this time only seven tenths off Lawrence's 2:16.487. Will Jett have more of a challenge in the races today? We'll soon find out.

250 Moto 1

The gates dropped on the opening moto of the day and immediately things went boom as a huge pileup in the middle of the pack brought down several riders. Haiden Deegan grabbed the holeshot but attention was on what was going on behind him as RJ Hampshire, Jo Shimoda, Tom Vialle, Jett Reynolds, Guillem Farres, and more were all down in the first turn. Reynolds would be carted off while Farres had his left arm braced before he too was carried off. No updates on their condition at this time.

Deegan led the first eight or so corners before tipping over from the lead and handing it over to his teammate Justin Cooper. Cooper was able to quickly establish a couple second lead as he led the field around for the opening few laps.

Hunter Lawrence started in sixth place and was working forward quickly as he got around Ryder DiFrancesco and then Jordon Smith rather quickly. Before long, he was onto Levi Kitchen and Deegan for third and second and made some slick moves around both of them as well to get into second. By the time he got there, Cooper had already opened it up over six seconds but Lawrence started putting his head down.

Shimoda and Hampshire were both making great progress through the field with Shimoda getting into the top five a little past the halfway mark. As the laps continued on, he was also able to catch and pass Kitchen and Deegan to get into third. Hampshire was much further back but he was able to charge all the way back to eighth just behind Max Vohland when the flag waved.

Cooper cruised to the win out front ahead of Hunter Lawrence and Jo Shimoda. Cooper led every lap of the race and eventually won by about six seconds.

450 Moto 1

Off the start of the first 450 class moto of the day, it was Jett Lawrence launching out to the holeshot once again just ahead of Cooper Webb. Ty Masterpool, who qualified third on the day, was down in the first turn with several riders including Jose Butron, Kyle Chisholm, and more.

Just before the end of the first lap, Aaron Plessinger and Dylan Ferrandis went down together as they were both hung up for a while. Aaron Plessinger was able to get up still in the middle of the pack while Ferrandis got up at the tail end of the pack.

Masterpool was the rider to watch for much of the moto as he made it all the way back into the top 10 after just three laps and was charging forward to catch the lead group. Aaron Plessinger behind him though was going just a little bit faster and found his way into the top 10 after six laps.

Masterpool and Plessinger both found each other around the same time and they caught Grant Harlan and Fredrik Noren for fifth and sixth. Harlan got around Noren trying to get away from the charge behind but Plessinger and Masterpool both eventually found their ways through into fifth and sixth.

Derek Drake was riding tremendously well early in the race, even applying some pressure to Adam Cianciarulo for third at one point. But Drake began to drift backwards late and Plessinger and Masterpool both were able to make it around him as well.

Cooper Webb fell while in second with three laps to go but got right up. He had Cianciarulo right on him suddenly but he was able to keep AC behind him and hang on for second. Masterpool actually passed Plessinger for fourth on the last lap but Plessinger wasn't having it and got him right back. Dylan Ferrandis was able to charge all the way back to seventh in the end finishing just behind Garrett Marchbanks.

Jett Lawrence won his fifth straight moto to start the year ahead of Webb, Cianciarulo, Plessinger, and Masterpool.

250 Moto 2

Justin Cooper grabbed the holeshot as the final 250 class moto launched off the gate. Tom Vialle made it back out for the sighting lap after crashing late in the first moto but would withdraw before the second moto began.

Cooper led nearly the entire first lap of the race until he swapped and went down off the big single jump just before the finish line jump. Fortunately he was able to spring right back up to his feet but not before he was shuffled back to about 10th place. Hunter Lawrence assumed the race lead from there and immediately started to open up a gap over Levi Kitchen and Chance Hymas.

Haiden Deegan was in about eighth spot early on when he fell at the top of the hill and picked it up right in a battle with RJ Hampshire at the tail end of the top 10. Hampshire passed Deegan but then crashed himself moments later to slip behind Deegan, Caden Braswell, and Justin Cooper.

Jo Shimoda spent much of the first half of the race tucked up right behind Jordon Smith for fourth but the Kawasaki man was able to sneak by with about 11 minutes left in the race.

Justin Cooper found his form in the late stages of the moto as he worked around Ryder DiFrancesco and his teammate Deegan with about five minutes left. Then he quickly caught and passed Jalek Swoll, Max Vohland, and even Jordon Smith to get back into the top five.

Shimoda was still holding on for fourth on the final lap until he fell and slipped back to eighth, moving Justin Cooper to fourth. Hymas put a lot of pressure on Kitchen in the second half of the moto but Kitchen just did enough to keep the rookie behind him. Still very impressive for Hymas in his fourth career Pro Motocross race.

Hunter Lawrence cruised to the win and the overall victory with his 2-1 performance. It was his third straight overall of the year as he now starts to tighten his grip on this title fight moving into the middle stanza of the season.

450 Moto 2

Jett Lawrence holeshot again in the final 450 class moto of the day in what looked like a carbon copy of his holeshot from the first moto. Grant Harlan was right behind him in second out of the first corner but Cianciarulo, Ferrandis, Plessinger, and Webb quickly shuffled him back.

Webb made an early pass on Ferrandis to get into third place behind AC but then Plessinger found his way around both of them in the span of two laps. The #7 then immediately caught and passed Cianciarulo for second, but AC was struggling in the middle stages of the race as he was shuffled back through all of the factory group.

Ty Masterpool then came alive and became the story of the second moto as he worked around Cianciarulo and then suddenly pounced around Ferrandis into fourth as well. Ferrandis stayed with him but Masterpool was all eyes forward as he ran down and passed Webb for third. Keen to not let Masterpool get away, Ferrandis also passed Webb and settled in behind Masterpool.

Harlan had stayed with Cianciarulo despite dropping behind that group early and was putting heat on the #9 for sixth place late in the race. The pressure pushed AC up to Webb who was also reeling in Ferrandis ahead of him. None of the positions ended up changing but it was certainly a close fight.

Ferrandis stayed with Masterpool the whole way and took advantage of a last lap bad line from Masterpool that hung him up on the outside allowing Ferrandis to swoop in and take third.

Jett Lawrence once again cruised to the victory ahead of Aaron Plessinger who ended up running a pretty lonely race in second place. Jett has led every single lap through six motos and certainly looks like he won't be slowing down anytime soon.