Direct updates from round five of the season in Michigan.
Follow the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship with direct updates from round five of the season at RedBud through Racefeed.
Image: Octopi Media.
250MX qualifying:
Capitalizing on his placement in the B group of qualifying for the 250MX division, Daxton Bennick (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) set the fastest qualifying time in the class during preparations for his Pro Motocross Championship debut. With a 2:06.88s lap in the first round of qualifying, Bennick put 0.604s between his Yamaha YZ250F and that of his teammate Justin Cooper. Cooper set the mark to beat in the A group at 2:07.484s in the second session. Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) was third, ahead of Maximus Vohland (Red Bull KTM) and RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) in the top five. Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM), and the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki trio of Seth Hammaker, Jo Shimoda, and Ryder DiFrancesco filled the bottom half of the top 10 as riding began on the damp, rutty track.
450MX qualifying:
Points leader Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) was more than 2s clear of his competitors in the first 450MX qualifying session with a 2:04.806s and improved to a 2:04.713s in Q2 to solidify his position atop the class entering the motos. Lawrence’s teammate Chase Sexton came closest with a 2:06.145s revolution of “America’s Motocross Track” in the second session, but could only come within 1.432s of Lawrence’s top time. Returning to competition following a crash at the end of the Monster Energy Supercross season, Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) landed third on the combined timesheet, just 0.031s faster than his Kawasaki stablemate Adam Cianciarulo. Privateer Ty Masterpool completed the top five, lapping quicker than Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Derek Drake (BarX Suzuki), Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), and Brandon Scharer in the top 10.
250MX moto one:
Hunter Lawrence conquered his lone apparent 2023 Pro Motocross imperfection to kick off the racing at RedBud: success in the first moto. Having not led a single lap in a first moto entering this fifth round, the older Lawrence brother led all 16 following the day’s first gate drop at RedBud. Undefeated in overall scores to this point in the outdoors season, Lawrence quickly built a gap over the usual suspects in the quarter-liter class, with Deegan and Hampshire chasing him all the way to the podium after nearly 35 minutes of racing. Deegan fell 13.363s short of the moto win, while his teammate Cooper couldn’t catch Hampshire for the final podium position. After Cooper in fourth, Hammaker rounded out the top 5 in his first race since the Fox Raceway finale at the beginning of last September. Vohland, Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Shimoda, Vialle, and Bennick filled the rest of the top 10.
450MX moto one:
The extension of Jett Lawrence’s undefeated streak and the return of Sexton saw the duo deliver a 1-2 result in the first 450MX moto for Team Honda HRC. Challenged by Masterpool through the first few turns, Lawrence immediately broke away and went on to beat Sexton to the checkers by just shy of 18s. Masterpool held second for a second portion of the moto’s early portion before relinquishing second to Sexton. The privateer then lost his shot at the podium when a failed pass attempt by Cianciarulo after the ski jump led to a damaged throttle for Cianciarulo and a significant loss of track position for Masterpool. Instead, a charging Ferrandis was rewarded with the third position in the moto, followed by Plessinger and Anderson in fourth and fifth. Masterpool recovered for sixth, holding off Fredrik Noren (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki), Lorenzo Locurcio (PulpMX Wildcat Racing), and the ClubMX duo of Marchbanks and Phil Nicoletti. Cianciarulo notably left the track and returned to the Kawasaki truck following his crash that collected Masterpool and is officially scored 31st.
250MX moto two:
Scheduled for 3:23pm local time.
450MX moto two:
Scheduled for 4:24pm local time.
