Team Honda HRC racer splits wins with Justin Cooper after eventful day of racing.
Image: Octopi Media.
Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence bounced back to take the round win and championship lead at the seventh round of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship at Millville.
Lawrence split moto wins with Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Justin Cooper, who finished the day second overall, with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Jo Shimoda completing the round podium.
Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha rookie Haiden Deegan’s grasp on the championship lead was short-lived after finishing the day seventh overall.
A statement ride in the opening 250MX moto saw Hunter Lawrence pass all of the championship contenders to take the race win.
Shimoda snatched the holeshot from Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha team-mates Haiden Deegan, Justin Cooper and Levi Kitchen.
Shimoda wasted no time building a buffer between himself and a chasing freight-train of contenders, as Lawrence aggressively worked his way forward from an 11th-place starting position.
The Australian quickly picked off the riders in front of him and set off after Shimoda, closing down the six-second gap and finally making the pass for the lead after an intense multi-lap battle.
Lawrence took a 2.2s victory over Shimoda, while an always-hard-charging RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) came from eighth to finish a comfortable third.
Cooper and Deegan finished fourth and fifth, ahead of last week’s round winner, Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM).
Rounding out the top 10 were Kitchen, Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), the returning Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and Maximus Vohland (Red Bull KTM).
Justin Cooper capitalized on a late mistake by Lawrence to claim the second 250MX moto and his second race of the season.
The elder Lawrence brother scored the holeshot from Levi Kitchen and rapidly went about building a gap between himself and the championship hopefuls.
With a win looking near-certain, Lawrence crashed trying to get around a lapped rider on the second-to-last lap, allowing Cooper to snatch the lead and finish four seconds ahead of the Honda rider.
Shimoda crossed the line right on Hunter’s rear wheel to take third.
Kitchen and Vialle finished fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of Hampshire, who recovered from another poor start to finish sixth.
Vohland crossed the line in seventh, with former points lead Deegan – who worked his way from a mid-pack start – in eighth.
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner marked his return to racing with a P9 result, as Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Daxton Bennick placed 10th.
Lawrence’s bounce-back sees him now lead Deegan by 13 points the 250MX championship, with Hampshire third, 20 points behind.
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