Southwick was a tough one this year. It’s always pretty gnarly, but it was hot and rough, and you could see how tough it was on the riders. I didn’t make it to The ‘Wick this year but it’s always a great race to watch. I have some great memories from this race over the years, including racing the week before one time and immediately regretting it.
Well, Based on High Point and Redbud, “some” of us thought “some” of the other riders in the 450MX class were getting close to Jett Lawrence and maybe, just maybe, his undefeated streak was going to end.
And then we got to Southwick.
Jett led every lap of both motos with ten-second leads in each (he slowed a lot on last lap in moto 1) and yeah, the ass whipping continued on in the sand. He was also two seconds better in qualifying than Chase Sexton. So yeah, it was another dominant day for the #18 and his streak piles on. I was saying on Saturday (I was not at the race, shoutout to my wife for her birthday), if you put Carmichael in one of his perfect seasons up alongside Jett in a shadow video, they would look like totally different riders, yet both would be winning by huge margins. Jett is so smooth and fluid on the bike jumping in and out of the turns. On a track like this one, saving energy and missing bumps is huge. He was great at it, and it showed in two dominant rides.
If he gets past Washougal, the perfect season may indeed happen. It’s pretty cool watching Jett race motocross on a 450. I feel like on a 250 he looked like some of the other riders—the lines you take on a 250 are more universal so maybe that was it—but he didn’t stand out as much, in my opinion, as he does on a 450, which allows a rider to move around more.
Chase Sexton did start with the Jett in moto one so there’s that, but in the end, his 2-2 scores were probably not what he wanted. I thought, understandably so, he looked a little tired late in the motos. Southwick was a tough one for a lot of guys. Sexton’s got to be thinking it’s going to be his turn to get a win, and I think he does it as well. He was better this week but he’s still not, in my opinion, at his “Pala MX opener” level yet.
Dylan Ferrandis was sending it hard in moto one to get by Ty Masterpool and I would think that was pretty frustrating for him. He finally got by the pesky privateer but couldn’t get close enough to Sexton and Lawrence. Second moto he did, and again he looked loose out there trying to match the kid. And he sort of did for a few laps before settling for a third. Dylan is not all the way back to his title-winning ways, he told us it takes a lot of energy to ride that fast and he’s not 100 percent there yet, but he’s definitely separated himself from where he was.
In my mind, if you told me Tom Vialle was going to win a round in his rookie year, I probably would’ve said Southwick. French dudes aren’t sand specialists per se, but he’s a two-time MX2 champion and riding sand is something you have to be good at if you’re going to win stuff like two MX2 World titles. Vialle got a bit fortunate in the second moto that RJ Hampshire fell while chasing him (if RJ had got him, Justin Cooper would win the overall) but hey, great work for Tom and KTM.
You can see flashes of stuff that make you believe that in 2024, Vialle will be a consistent race winner and title contender, a bit like Marvin Musquin (who’s working with Tom right now, ironically). There’s nothing really flashy when you watch Vialle but he’s solid in just about every part of his game. SX was just ehhhhh, but with this race win and the podiums, he’s shown that the gamble to come to the USA has paid off.
Well, well, well this 250MX series just turned into a spicy meatball, huh? That’s what happens when you score no points in two straight motos, ala Hunter Lawrence. One crash DNF and one bike break later, and that points lead is gone.
Haiden Deegan is your new points leader after his 4-10 day at The ‘Wick and although the day wasn’t great, he and his team will take it. Here are the points right now:
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hunter Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 419 |
| 2 |  Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY  | 399 |
| 3 |  Jo Shimoda | Suzuka, Japan  | 393 |
| 4 |  Haiden Deegan | Temecula, CA | 371 |
| 5 |  Levi Kitchen | Washougal, WA | 322 |
| 6 |  Tom Vialle | Avignon, France  | 302 |
Let’s break down the strengths and weaknesses of each rider as we have 10 motos to go in this class.
Haiden Deegan
Strengths: Well, he’s got the whole hype train behind him, there’s a certain “you don’t know what you don’t know,” thing with rookies, he also DGAF about other riders a bit which helps, is generally a good starter, he’s got a great bike, and he’s in shape. He’s also got the young girl fan demo on lock.
Weaknesses: He’s DGAF with other riders which could hurt him when said other riders maybe dish some revenge out on him, he’s only won one moto so far, and he’s got the young girl fan demo on lock, which is maybe a distraction also, IDK.
Hunter Lawrence
Strengths: Ummm, he’s won four races out of six and four motos, so yeah, he’s been the fastest rider in the class. I know his bike just blew up, but he’s got a great bike. He’s been to all the tracks left on the series many times before. He’s had bad luck at Southwick before so maybe that’s out of the way and it’s smooth sailing from here? I had a factory rider text me that this is no issue for Hunter, he’s the best guy and will pick right back up and be winning, so there’s that.
Weaknesses: He’s got some bad ribs it seems—the first moto before his bike blew, it definitely seemed like he was laboring. Other than that, I think he’s good bro.
RJ Hampshire
Strengths: Well, he gives you his all every time on the track. He’s in great shape, as well. I think experience (IE: being old AF) helps you in a long title fight so he’s got that going for him, and he’s got the most laps on all these tracks out of anyone. He badly wants on the USA MXoN team so he may just lose his mind and send it at the upcoming races and hope for the best.
Weaknesses: He makes too many mistakes. Yeah, I know. Groundbreaking, right? You combine his many mistakes with his 13.7 average first lap position and he’s fighting an uphill battle most motos. Please, if there is a god out there, he’ll get a GoPro on Hampshire’s helmet or front number plate and let us watch a moto from his point of view.
Jo Shimoda
Strengths: He’s consistent, he’s not consistently the fastest but he’s also not one to make huge mistakes (looking at you Hampshire). He just won a moto and he’s had second-half surges before, so maybe he’s heating up? I think Jo’s in good shape.
Weaknesses: He just hasn’t been as good this year as last, and he’s probably the “slowest” raw speed guy out of all of the riders listed here. Going to be an uphill battle for him.
Justin Cooper
Strengths: He’s fast, he’s consistent, and he’s got lots of experience. He’s got a great bike. He would be in the points lead if he didn’t crash out at High Point. He’s a good starter, that’s huge for sure. Also, mentally, maybe Justin, who basically skipped SX this past year to focus on this title, has to be energized by being back in this thing.
Weaknesses: He’s missed two motos, for as many pole positions and podiums as he has, he doesn’t have a lot of wins, only four (Lawrence has four THIS YEAR), and wins are what get it done.
Levi Kitchen
Strengths: He can win a moto or podium if he gets the start. Got a great bike. And, the nickname, “Kitch,” is sweeping the country.
Weaknesses: He seems like he can only win or podium if he gets the start. Speaking of, he’s not “RJ-level” bad off the start, but he’s not far off. Maybe with his ride at PC Kawi secured for 2024 he’s a little too comfy with not completely sending it to win this thing?
A few other news and thoughts about stuff:
Cooper Webb and KTM split ways, as we all saw. I really believe there wasn’t an incident or something that caused the split, I think Webb didn’t like the bike, KTM had bent a bit to help him, and it didn’t help. So KTM thought it was best if both sides went their separate ways. A lot of stuff between the two sides over the years, way too much for someone who delivered two 450SX titles, if you ask me. Next time we’ll see Webb it’ll be at the SMX opener on a Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha.
We had Justin Cooper on the PulpMX Show and he made mention that he does seem to have something for next year (methinks it’s a deal to stay at Star), and that he also indicated that this is for him in the 250MX class, win or lose.
Kyle Chisholm and Grant Harlan came back to the nationals from the UK WSX round. Wonder if there could be any more different races that were just seven days apart?
Jason Anderson is back, and he looks to be struggling, but the only way to get back to where he needs to be is to struggle through this. It doesn’t look fun, but this is the way.
I think Caden Braswell has done enough filling in for Michael Mosiman for TLD to keep him in the series the rest of the year. He’s been pretty solid for those guys, methinks.
Seth Hammaker’s been very good through his first four motos back from injury. Good starts, good speed and fitness, and he’s a sneaky pick for an overall podium I think coming up. He told us on the PulpMX Show that he’s not quite sure why he seems to get hurt so much, his crashes aren’t anything crazy and yes, he knows he needs to stop getting hurt to get some building blocks going.
Jose Butron crushed it out there. He moved from WAY back toward the front and had guys like Phil Nicoletti on our PulpMX Show wondering what in the hell he was on (jokingly) to be so fast at the end of the motos. Very impressive charge for the veteran.
Including Butron, there were eight foreign riders inside the top twenty in the 450MX class. We had Butron, we had two guys from Estonia, including one who won the Lommel GP years ago, an Aussie won, a French guy got third, and all in all, the results were quite eclectic.
Maximus Vohland’s average qualifying is seventh, his average start position is 11th, his average finish is 7.5, he’s eighth in the points, and he went 8-6 at Southwick for, well, seventh. He’s the first rider in the points who hasn’t led a lap or won a moto. All of this is good, but it’s also adding up to a motocross season where he’s a bit of the invisible man as well. Vohland’s got to step it up here and be noticed.
Thanks for reading OBS from The ‘Wick. We’re heading to the best track on the circuit this weekend in Millville, and things are getting really good in this 250MX title! Can’t wait to watch it, email me at matthes@racerxonline.com if you want to chat.
