Image: Octopi Media.

250MX red plate-holder Jett Lawrence defied the odds to win the overall at Hangtown today, despite battling sickness in round two of the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.

Moto one in 250MX saw Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas) charge to his first-career race win outdoors, taking control from early leader Justin Cooper just prior to the halfway mark and sprinting ahead from there.

Mosiman’s eventual winning margin was 3.444s, with Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Cooper managing to hold onto second ahead of fast-finishing Lawrence brothers, Jett and Hunter. The latter had been as high as P3 earlier, only to go down and drop back to sixth, before clawing his way back to fourth, but unable to make his way by Jett for position.

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Shimoda pushed from outside of the top 10 to earn fifth, followed by Kitchen, Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM), Hammaker, Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) after fighting for the podium early on and going down in the closing laps, while Nick Romano (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) was the top 10.

A notable non-finisher was Mosiman’s teammate Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas), crashing out of contention on lap seven while circulating in 14th position.

Perseverance was key for Jett Lawrence in moto two, taking advantage of an early error from Cooper – who once again took the holeshot – to get into the lead and he was able to hold on.

A charge from Shimoda amounted to little when we went down with five minutes remaining, enabling Lawrence despite being under the weather today to hold on for victory both in the race and overall. Cooper and Hunter Lawrence tried to apply pressure with a few laps to go, but weren’t quite able to get there before time was up and the checkered flag flew.

In the end, it was Jett Lawrence who won the second moto 2.246s ahead of Hunter as he made a clutch move on Cooper, with Shimoda remounting for P4. Fifth marked an improvement by Vohland, as Kitchen was again sixth, trailed by Stilez Robertson (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Hammaker, Romano and Brown.

There was heartbreak for Mosiman after being forced out early, as was Swoll, while Rockstar Energy Husqvarna teammate RJ Hampshire was a non-starter after falling in the opening moto and finishing 16th in that one.

The overall belonged to Jett Lawrence for the second week in a row ahead of Cooper in a significant step forward, with Hunter Lawrence third. Jett now has an 11-point lead in the standings over brother Hunter heading into Thunder Valley next weekend.

Detailed results