Follow the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship with direct updates from round seven of the season at Spring Creek through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250MX qualifying:
Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence hit the top of the 250MX qualifying charts, with both of his quickest laps clear of the rest of the field. The Australian’s fastest lap of 2m2.392s saw him finish well clear of Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Justin Cooper, who registered a 2m4.076s in the first qualifying session. Cooper also had a big crash in the second session, but was able to remount and continue riding. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker put down a lap that will see him take third gate pick for the two moto, ahead of Red Bull KTM-mounted duo Tom Vialle and Maximus Vohland. Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), red-plate holder Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull KTM), and Ryder DiFrancesco (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) finished in the top 10 positions.

450MX qualifying:
Team Honda HRC championship leader Jett Lawrence set the quickest pace in both premier class qualifying sessions to take pole position at Millville. The dominant 450MX rookie set the fastest time of both qualifying outings, with his quickest lap of 1m59.716s being the only one to drop beneath the two-minute mark. Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton slashed four seconds off his lap-time between the two sessions to clock the second-quickest time of 2m0.938s, with Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo and Jason Anderson claiming third and fourth respectively. 2021 champion Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) finished third, ahead of Kawasaki privateer Ty Masterpool, Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Jerry Robin (Yamaha), Derek Drake (Toyota of Redlands BarX Suzuki) and Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha).

250MX moto one:
A statement ride from Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence saw him pass all of the championship contenders to take the opening 250MX moto win. Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jo 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 11^th-place starting position. The Honda racer 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).

450MX moto one:
Jett Lawrence survived a serious challenge from Team Honda HRC team-mate Chase Sexton to win the opening 450MX moto. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo scored the holeshot, closely followed by Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) and Lawrence, but the series leader wasted no time moving into the lead. Sexton fell on the opening lap and dropped from third to seventh, but remounted and angrily worked his way back up and closed down the five-second lead that Lawrence had stretched out. Sexton mounted a challenge for the lead, but got held up by a lapped rider with five minutes remaining and lost valuable time. A last lap slide-out by Sexton saw Lawrence cruise to an 11.9-second lead and keep his perfect season intact. Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson put in a great moto to finish third ahead of a Plessinger, while Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) – who also spun out on the last lap – finished fifth. Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Cianciarulo, Ty Masterpool (Kawasaki), Grant Harlan (Manluk Rock River Racing Yamaha) and Fredrik Noren (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki) completed the top 10.

250MX moto two:
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 10^th.

450MX moto two:
Lawrence coasted to a easy win in the second moto and kept his perfect season win streak intact for at least another week. Sexton led a Team Honda HRC 1-2 off the start and scored the holeshot from Lawrence, but a mistake in the third corner handed the lead to Lawrence. Sexton managed to claw his way back onto Lawrence’s rear wheel, but then lost the front end and went down again, allowing Lawrence to coast to another easy 17-second win and remain undefeated in 2023. Ferrandis finished the moto in third after a lengthy battle with Plessinger, while Cianciarulo completed the top five positions. Masterpool, Harlan, Marchbanks, Noren and Jose Butron (Wildcat Race Team) filled positions fifth through 10^th.