Follow the 2022 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship with direct updates from round eight of the season at Washougal through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250MX qualifying:
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing rider Justin Cooper put in a searing qualifying time to ensure he was top of the timing sheets in the 250MX class. Cooper’s time of 2m11.386s in the first session was almost two seconds quicker than that of Jett Lawrence’s (Team Honda HRC) 2m13.054s, who posted his fastest lap of the second outing. Jett’s Team Honda HRC team-mate and sibling, Hunter Lawrence, was the third-fastest in both sessions to round out the top three, while Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing) completed the top five. The remaining top 10 positions were filled by Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM) and Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas).

450MX qualifying:
Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing’s new 450MX series leader, Eli Tomac ensured he’d have first pick of the start gate by charging to the fastest qualifying time. Tomac was the only racer to drop below the 2m11s mark by posting a 2m10.926s lap in the first session. Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton did his best to keep Tomac honest in the same outing, finishing second-fastest with a lap-time of 2m11.301s. Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Jason Anderson put in a last-lap charge in the final session to finish third-quickest, as Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) and Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Yamaha Racing) rounded out the top five times. Ryan Dungey (Red Bull KTM), Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), Joey Savatgy (Monster Energy Kawasaki) and Shane McElrath (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) finished P6-P10. Savatgy pulled out shortly after posting his top time with a suspected leg injury.

250MX moto one:
Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence claimed first blood in the opening 250MX race. Monster Energy Pro Circuit’s Jo Shimoda leapt to the front of the first 250MX moto, followed by Team Honda HRC team-mates Hunter and Jett Lawrence, and fastest-qualifier Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha). Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker quickly dispatched of Cooper but would gradually lose touch of the front-runners. At the 10-minute mark, and after a prolonged period of pressure, Hunter forced his way past the Japanese rider and tried to sprint away, leaving Shimoda in Jett’s sights. Their battle whittled down Hunter’s three-second lead and as the race wore on the pressure between the three continued to ramp up. Late in the race Jett stood Shimoda up entering the whoops, but Hunter would control the closing laps to take the win, with Jett second and Shimoda third. Cooper made a late move on Hammaker to reclaim a distant fourth. Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas), Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM), RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and KTM rider Josh Varize would complete the top 10.

450MX moto one:
Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Eli Tomac claimed a thrilling opening 450MX moto victory from his championship rival, Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC). Red Bull KTM’s comeback king, Ryan Dungey stormed to the holeshot from Sexton, Tomac and Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki). Sexton quickly charged into the lead, then three laps later, Dungey experienced a bike issue while running comfortably in second. The mechanical DNF promoted Tomac into second and Roczen third. Tomac began turning the screws on Sexton, and as they distanced the rest of the field Tomac took the lead on the fifth lap. Soon after Anderson passed Roczen for third, Tomac fell and collected Sexton at the same time. The pair desperately tried to restart, with them commencing battle at the same time, again with Tomac just in front. The series leader would withstand a late desperate charge from Sexton to take the win, with Anderson and Roczen a distant third and fourth. TLD Red Bull GasGas’s Justin Barcia would complete the top five. Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) recovered from a first-lap crash to finish sixth, ahead of Joey Savatgy (Monster Energy Kawasaki), Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Benny Bloss (BBMX KTM), and Alex Martin (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha).

250MX moto two:
Justin Cooper put in a controlled wire-to-wire moto two victory to take his first race win of the 2022 Pro Motocross Championship. Cooper claimed the holeshot from Shimoda and Hunter, with Jett in fourth. Cooper progressively stretched out a comfortable lead as Shimoda and the Lawrence brothers again went deep into the trenches. After several laps of pressuring Shimoda, Hunter laid his bike over in a corner, dropping him to fourth. With 11 minutes to go, and after a prolonged period of pressure, Jett found a way past Shimoda into second and the round overall position and was content to stay there and bank the points. Hunter Lawrence put in some furious final laps to close back on Shimoda but ultimately ran out of time, finishing a hard-fought fourth. Cooper took a five-second race win, while Jett’s 2-2 result was enough to take a one-point round win over Cooper and Hunter. Vohland would complete the moto top five, ahead of Hampshire, Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha), Hammaker, Brown and Varize.

450MX moto two:
Chase Sexton scored a huge holeshot to start the second moto, followed by Tomac and Anderson. The two championship front-runners quickly put daylight between themselves and Anderson, with the margin stretching and compressing as they went toe-to-toe in a classic race-long battle. With three laps remaining, Sexton finally managed to pull a gap on Tomac and the points’ leader surrendered defeat as Sexton would take the win by 8.4 seconds. Anderson crossed the line a distant third, while Dungey, who was outside the top 20 on the opening lap due to his poor gate pick, put in an impressive performance to finish fourth. Craig, Roczen and Savatgy would finish fifth through to seventh, as Barcia, Bloss and Shayne McElrath (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) filled the remaining top 10 positions.