Image: Octopi Media.

A pair of podiums including the opening moto win saw Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton rise for his first 450MX victory of the 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season at Washougal this afternoon.

Sexton won the opening encounter, before it was runaway series leader Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) who won the second outing in another convincing result.

In moto one, the first win of the year was earned by Sexton, carrying forward his form from last weekend and delivering the win by 3.461s over Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Kawasaki). Sexton managed to get out front early with a decisive holeshot and then controlled the moto from there.

Sexton was first chased by teammate Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC), then Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM) and, finally, Tomac. It was Musquin who appeared to be on the charge mid-moto as he worked his way into P2, but a late mistake dropped him behind Tomac to third position.

Directly behind him came Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), who in turn edged Ferrandis, with Roczen taking a distant sixth. The top 10 was filled by the fast-starting Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM), Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), Max Anstie (Twisted Tea Suzuki) and Joey Savatgy (Rocky Mountain ATV/MC WPS KTM).

The final moto of the day was a case of saving the best for last, as Ferrandis and Tomac went head-to-head in the fight for victory – a move that would have secured Tomac the round.

It was Ferrandis who jumped out of the gates and controlled the moto from lap one, before a familiar late charge from Tomac saw him close to within striking distance with two laps to go.

The stage was then set for a final lap battle for the win, Ferrandis putting in his quickest time of the moto to hold on and finish 4.512s clear by the end, as Tomac relented after losing ground in the closing moments.

What that meant was that third position was enough for Sexton to hang onto the overall in his first of the year, with Plessinger and Musquin the top five. Holeshot winner Webb improved for sixth-place in the second outing, followed by Barcia, Savatgy and Roczen, who lost further ground in the title race.

For the round it was Sexton who took victory ahead of Tomac and Ferrandis, who continued his perfect overall podium streak, while in the points, Ferrandis now leads Roczen by 47 points, with Tomac climbing to third and now within seven markers of Roczen.

Next on the 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship schedule will be Unadilla on Saturday, 14 August, following two weekends off in the mid-season break.

Detailed results