Follow the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship with direct updates from round nine of the season at Unadilla through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250MX qualifying:
Hunter Lawrence sent his Team Honda HRC-prepared Honda CRF250R to the top of the timesheet leading into the motos at Unadilla with a best lap of 2:13.018s around the New York venue. Chart-topping speed at various moments from the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki quartet of Seth Hammaker, Austin Forkner, Jo Shimoda, and Carson Mumford in the second 250MX qualifying outing saw those riders land second, third, fifth, and sixth on the combined results, with Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) splitting the group in fourth. Maximus Vohland (Red Bull KTM) turned in the seventh-fastest time ahead of Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) in the top 10. Forkner in third and Swoll in eighth were the only two riders in the top 10 to set faster times in the first session than the second. Returning to action aboard his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing machine, Stilez Robertson was 11th, with RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Ryder DiFrancesco (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM), and Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) notably placing 12th, 13th, 14th, and 16th when best times were combined across the two 250MX outings.

450MX qualifying:
Hitting the track for the season’s ninth round yet to lose a moto, Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) paced the premier 450MX division with a best revolution of the Unadilla track of 2:09.109s. His factory Honda stablemate Chase Sexton came only as close as 1.113s on his own best lap, but it was quick enough for second on the combined timesheet. Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) was a further 0.188s back at 2:10.41s as he led the returning Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) and Derek Drake (BarX Suzuki) in comprising the final top-five positions. Privateer Ty Masterpool (HBI Racing Kawasaki) had the sixth-fastest 450MX qualifying lap, going quicker than Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki), Stephen Rubini (TPJ Racing Kawasaki), and Phil Nicoletti (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) in the top 10. With best laps of 2:14.855s in the first session and 2:15.487s in the second, Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger was mired in the 18th position on the qualifying timesheet, earning himself an unideal gate pick for the opening moto around the notoriously rocky track.

450MX moto one:
Challenges from Sexton and Ferrandis ensured the first moto of the day at Unadilla was a tense one, however it was still Lawrence out front at the conclusion of 30 minutes and two laps. Though Lawrence ultimately held the lead from the gate drop through to the checkered flag, Sexton kept his teammate within sight all moto long and even nearly completed a pass on Jett’s inside in the early going. After the two made light contact navigating the heavily rutted track and challenging lapped riders, Sexton stalled his bike and was forced to catch Lawrence again. He steadily made up ground but took a new line to avoid lappers into a corner and found himself suddenly on the ground, with his spinning rear wheel landing on his right arm. Sexton’s Alpinestars jersey was torn and Ferrandis snuck by into second, but the reigning Monster Energy Supercross 450SX champion remounted and held on to finish third in the moto. Ferrandis charged dangerously close to Lawrence’s rear wheel in the closing moments but settled for second, 1.69s in arrears of the still-undefeated No. 18 Honda CRF450R as his time ran out. Cianciarulo was the frontmost Kawasaki rider, especially after his Monster Energy Kawasaki stablemate Anderson hit the ground in the second turn. Cianciarulo finished fourth ahead of Plessinger in fifth. Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) held second in the early going and finished sixth, ahead of Harri Kullas (BBL Racing Yamaha), Nicoletti, Masterpool, and Bryce Shelly (Yamaha). Barcia’s return to competition began with a 40th-place result following two crashes, including one in the first-turn that caused a lengthy mechanics area visit while his GasGas team removed his damaged clutch lever. Also of note, Anderson charged into the top 10 after his high-speed crash at the start, but fell again en route to finishing 14th.

250MX moto one:
The opening 250MX moto of the day at the 2023 edition of the Pro Motocross Championship’s Unadilla National was dominated by Kitchen, but a thrilling multi-rider battle behind him ensured start-to-finish action. In one of the many bouts of battling, a four-rider duel between Vohland, Hammaker, Lawrence, and Deegan featured multiple passes, partially enabled by slower lapped riders and also due to rapid pace from all four riders. Kitchen was comfortably up the track by about 4s as this battle took a turn when Hammaker crashed heavily entering the closing minutes. Kitchen was soon being closely pursued by Lawrence after these two dropped Shimoda, Vohland, and Deegan in the top five by more than 7s. Running near the front early before fading outside of the top five, Cooper passed his Star Racing Yamaha teammate Deegan for fifth moments before Deegan suffered a race-ending mechanical failure mere seconds before the white flag. Kitchen closed out the victory by a margin of 3.211s over Lawrence. Shimoda was a further 16.163s back. Vohland, Cooper, Swoll, Hampshire, Vialle, DiFrancesco, and Dilan Schwartz (BarX Suzuki) comprised the remainder of the top 10.

450MX moto two:
Matching his number with an 18th consecutive moto win out of 18 opportunities thus far in the Pro Motocross Championship season, Lawrence captured the 2023 450MX title two rounds early by ending the day at Unadilla 103 points clear of Ferrandis in the standings. Sexton seemed poised to challenge Lawrence at the front in the first laps following the gate drop, as the Honda duo lapped the extremely rutted Unadilla track with care at first. Perhaps nursing a sore arm following his crash in moto one, Sexton lost touch of the 20-year-old rookie leading, ultimately taking the checkered flag second, 9.209s back from Lawrence who had already begun an emotional championship celebration with members of his team. Ferrandis ended the moto third, 24.61s in arrears of Lawrence at the checkers. Anderson improved from his frustrating first moto to finish fourth in moto two ahead of Plessinger in fifth. Cianciarulo turned a top-three start into a sixth-place result in the race, ahead of standout starter Kullas plus Masterpool, Freddie Noren (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki), and Marchbanks in the top 10.

250MX moto two:
Following a weather-induced delay, a red flag for a violent crash suffered by Hampshire, and a full restart, the day’s final moto at Unadilla finally got going for good with DiFrancesco out front. Cooper and Shimoda pursued from second and third while Deegan looked to advance from an early position of 18th following his gate pick of 38 due to his moto one DNF. Cooper moved past DiFrancesco into the lead and quickly built up a gap of more than 6s. Lawrence soon swiped second from DiFrancesco’s teammate Shimoda who had moved forward while Kitchen circulated behind in fourth following his first-moto triumph. Cooper closed out a dominant race win just 2s up the track from Lawrence who was nearly caught by Shimoda as the checkered flag neared. Kitchen came home fourth, 33.16s behind Cooper. Had Shimoda passed Lawrence, Kitchen’s 1-4 moto scores would’ve delivered him the overall, but Lawrence’s 2-2 on the day ultimately put the Honda rider atop the class, with Kitchen and Cooper joining the Australian on the overall podium. Forkner finished fifth, leading Vohland, Vialle, Hammaker, Daxton Bennick (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), and Deegan in filling out the rest of the top 10.