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Image: Octopi Media.

250MX qualifying:
Going considerably faster in the second session than the first, Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) completed a 1:59.545s revolution of the Budds Creek track to claim top qualifying honors in the 250MX division. The best lap from Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) was the previous mark to beat before Cooper raised the bar, relegating the two-time 2023 overall winner to second on the combined timesheet, a mere 0.063s off Cooper’s pace. Maximus Vohland added his Red Bull KTM-prepared KTM 250 SX-F FE to the top three with a best lap 1.449s slower than that of Cooper. Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Stilez Robertson (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) completed the top five while Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM), Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Austin Forkner (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), and points leader Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) comprised the remainder of qualifying’s top 10.

450MX qualifying:
Newly crowned 450MX champion Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) reduced his lap time 2.167s from the first session to the second when the premier class took to the track Saturday morning in Maryland, enabling the No. 18 Honda CRF450R WE to gap its competition by 1.416s on the combined qualifying timesheet entering the motos. Chase Sexton, also of Team Honda HRC, lost the front over a berm and hit the ground in the second session, hindering his ability to improve upon his Q1 time. Sexton didn’t and settled for second behind his still-undefeated teammate. The Monster Energy Kawasaki duo of Adam Cianciarulo and Jason Anderson showed speed in the pair of qualifying sessions, landing third and fourth on the combined results. Dylan Ferrandis was next in fifth for Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, ahead of Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), Ty Masterpool (HBI Racing Kawasaki), Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), and Grant Harlan (Manluk Rock River Racing Yamaha) in the top 10.

250MX moto one:
The day’s first moto initially saw the launch of a battle between Shimoda and Deegan for the lead. Deegan worked past Shimoda and steadily built a gap but his march toward the moto win was interrupted by a red flag due to a violent crash for Hardy Munoz (HBI Racing Kawasaki). After an unprecedented delay during which the riders were able to cool down and refresh behind the starting gates, the gates were dropped again which just over half of the moto still remaining. This time, Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) assumed the early lead after Deegan brought excessive speed to the first corner, causing heavy contact with Vialle and a dismount from his own motorcycle. Deegan was at the very back of the pack once he finally got going, at which point championship rivals Cooper and Lawrence were dueling at Swoll’s rear tire. With just over five minutes still to go in the abbreviated post-restart moto, Cooper and Lawrence both passed Swoll, finalizing the podium positions for 250MX moto one. Lawrence chased Cooper to the checkered flag, finishing 2.12s in arrears of the Star Racing-prepared factory Yamaha. Swoll fell back 14s but held off rookie Daxton Bennick (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) for third, while Vialle recovered from nearly falling with Deegan in the first turn to finish fifth. Hammaker, Shimoda, Forkner, Vohland, and Robertson filled the rest of the top 10, which was just missed by Red Bull KTM debutant Julien Beaumer who ran fifth for the great majority of the post-restart laps.

450MX moto one:
Perhaps brought on by a switch away from the scoop tire in the moments between the sight lap and the gate drop, Lawrence was tasked with making several passes in order to extend his win streak to a 19th race after starting barely within the top 10. The young Australian was clearly motivated to reach the front as he rapidly picked off the riders in front of him, working closer and closer to Cianciarulo who grabbed the holeshot and led early and Plessinger who chased from second. Lawrence masterfully passed every rider necessary to take control of the race en route to closing out the victory by a margin of 4.377s over Anderson. Ferrandis held third to claim the moto’s final podium position ahead of Plessinger who dropped back from second and Barcia who found the top five in the second weekend of his return to competition. Marchbanks, Cianciarulo, Masterpool, Sexton, and Phil Nicoletti (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) completed the top 10.

250MX moto two:
The start of the closing 250MX moto of the day went the way of Forkner as he drag-raced Lawrence across the Motosport.com-branded holeshot line. Still early in his return to the racetrack following an ACL injury sustained at the season-opening Monster Energy Supercross round in January, Forkner led the early moments of the race before Lawrence stormed past and got to work growing a lead. Pushing hard to beat Lawrence and keep his championship hopes alive, Cooper turned a 1:58.723s best lap — 0.548s quicker than that of Lawrence — on his way to being within 1.518s of the victory at the checkers. Lawrence successfully followed his second-place result in the first moto with a victory in the second and leaves the penultimate round of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship season the overall winner on the strength of 2-1 moto scores. Cooper’s 1-2 delivered second overall to the Yamaha rider while third place in moto two for Shimoda was enough for third overall on the day. Forkner turned his strong start into fourth in moto two, which critically supported his run to fourth overall after finishing eighth in moto one. Deegan rounded out the top five in the second race, followed by Vialle, Ryder DiFrancesco (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), Carson Mumford (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), Beaumer, and Kitchen in the top 10. The standout performance following the moto-one restart for Swoll was followed by a 12th-place result in the second moto, setting up his ultimate finish of sixth overall.

450MX moto two:
A perfectly timed launch from the gate set up a much more ideal opening stanza of the second 450MX moto for Lawrence relative to the first. Lining up to wrap up the day having won all 19 motos of the Pro Motocross season thus far, Lawrence went on to lead all 17 laps, though he faced pressure from Sexton at two distinct points. On the fifth lap, Sexton was within 2s of the lead but tipped over and lost several seconds-worth of track position while adding to his fall total on the day after a few mistakes in morning practice and the first moto. An 8.237s lead for Lawrence was reduced to 7.109s, 4.694s, and 2.296s as the final lap approached, during which Lawrence knew Sexton was fast approaching. Sexton, the reigning 450SX champion in Monster Energy Supercross, turned his fastest lap of the race after passing the white flag and came just 0.771s short of breaking the now-20-race win streak for his rookie teammate. Lawrence will take home a 10th overall victory trophy of the year while Plessinger and Anderson earned the other two overall podium positions with 4-3 and 2-5 moto scores, respectively. Plessinger in third was chased to the checkered flag by Barcia in the second moto, with the GasGas rider placing fifth overall with 5-4 finishes in the motos. Anderson completed the top five in moto two ahead of Cianciarulo, Masterpool, Marchbanks, Ferrandis, and Freddie Noren (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki) in the top 10.