Image: Octopi Media.

Australian teenager Jett Lawrence has clinched a second-consecutive 250MX national championship after winning the opening moto and overall at Fox Raceway’s final round of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.

Lawrence, 19, fended off title rivals Hunter Lawrence – elder brother and Team Honda HRC teammate – and Jo Shimoda for position in brutally hot conditions to seal the crown with a race to spare this afternoon.

Wearing the number one after claiming a first-career professional title last season, Lawrence has won 11 motos this year, including nine overalls from 12 rounds in total.

Pala’s final round this weekend marks Lawrence’s final start in 250MX, set to step up to the premier class outdoors in 2023 with Team Honda HRC. It’s still expected he will remain on the CRF250R for Monster Energy Supercross.

The opening moto saw Jett Lawrence holeshot and go on to win both the moto and clinch the crown with a race to spare. Lawrence came under attack from Shimoda in the mid-stages, while in turn Hunter Lawrence began to make a charge from as far back as P5 on the opening lap.

Shimoda attempted a move on Jett, which was to no avail, which in turn enabled Hunter to close in and set up a move of his own. After trying his hand at getting by Shimoda for a number of laps, with two to go Lawrence committed and made contact, which put Shimoda on the ground – able to remount in third position as Hunter charged on.

In the end, Jett edged Hunter to the line despite the latter needing all points possible to overcome Shimoda in the points, while Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) also took advantage of Shimoda’s misfortune to steal the final place on the podium.

Fifth was solid from Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) in his return to the class, as Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), Cameron McAdoo (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and Carson Mumford (Bar X Suzuki) were the top 10.

The final 250 class moto of the season saw Cooper jump out front initially, until Shimoda quickly made his way by and powered away to the moto win by 24.350s, securing runner-up in the series as a result. Behind him, after clinching the title earlier, Jett Lawrence rode to P2 and the overall, followed directly by Cooper.

Fourth was Hampshire ahead of Hunter Lawrence, who had to claw his way back through the field from outside the top 10, while Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM), Hammaker, Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Musquin and newcomer Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) were in sixth through 10th places.

In the end, there was no denying Lawrence the round and championship victories, joined on the podium today by Shimoda and Cooper. The final point-standings saw Lawrence successfully defend from Shimoda by 45 points, with Hunter Lawrence third and a further 12 behind in the series.

Detailed results