Follow the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship with direct updates from round 11 of the season at Ironman through Racefeed.

Image: Octopi Media.

250MX qualifying:
Led by Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Levi Kitchen, the seven quickest laps from the first 250MX qualifying session of the day at the season-ending Ironman National stood strong atop the combined timesheet after another 15 minutes of opportunity on the fading, rutted Indiana track. Kitchen landed third in Q2 while Seth Hammaker gave Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki the fastest lap in that session, but Kitchen’s 1:49.119s from earlier remained quick enough for top qualifying honors leading into the final motos of 2023. A second Star Racing-prepared factory Yamaha YZ250F was second, thanks to Haiden Deegan’s best lap from the first session, while Hammaker’s first-session lap put him third in both that session and the combined standings. Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki), and Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM) didn’t improve upon their Q1 lap times in the second outing and filled the remaining top seven spots on the combined timesheet. Vialle’s factory KTM stablemate Maximus Vohland went 0.035s in the second session to earn eighth, narrowly edging out Ryder DiFrancesco (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) and Stilez Robertson (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) in the top 10.

450MX qualifying:
Only two riders dipped under the 1:48s lap-time range as the premier 450MX division hit the track for their final pair of 2023 Pro Motocross qualifying sessions: Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton and Jett Lawrence. In the first session, Sexton earned the top spot with a 1:47.774s revolution of the Ironman track, with the newly crowned champion just 0.047s slower at 1:47.821s. Demonstrating the speed of the Honda duo, Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) came closest to Sexton and Lawrence but was only within 1.621s of Sexton on their respective best laps. In the second session, Lawrence improved to a 1:46.131 while Sexton went as fast as 1:47.163, making the final gap in speed 1.032s between the two on the morning’s combined results. This time, Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) was third, 3.08s in arrears of Lawrence. Anderson was fourth, 0.166s quicker than his Q1 time. The second Monster Energy Kawasaki entry was fifth with Adam Cianciarulo on board, followed by Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Canadian Dylan Wright, Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas), Stephen Rubini (TPJ Racing Kawasaki), and Garrett Marchbanks (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha) in the top 10. Racing the Ironman season finale in order to up their SuperMotocross World Championship point totals, Colt Nichols (Madd Parts Kawasaki), Shane McElrath (Rick Ware Racing Mobil 1 Yamaha), and Josh Hill (Monster Energy Mountain Motorsports) were 17th, 29th, and 32nd.

250MX moto one:
The day’s first moto had an immediate championship impact as a second-turn pile-up affected both Lawrence and Cooper — the top two in the points standings. Cooper fell in one of a few small crashes in the corner that led to a large stack-up that held up Lawrence. Both riders recovered and began charging through the field while Vialle ran in the top three early surrounded by the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki trio of DiFrancesco, Hammaker, and Shimoda. DiFrancesco broke away to an early lead, but Vialle soon cut into it and made the pass for the lead with just over 21 minutes plus two laps still to go. Shimoda began to pounce on his teammate DiFrancesco as well and swiped second on the same lap while Deegan caught this trio from fourth. Shimoda was soon on the rear wheel of Vialle and challenging for the lead, which he successfully passed into with 15 minutes to go. Deegan soon made a pass of his own, relegating Vialle to third and finalizing this moto’s podium positions. Shimoda beat Deegan to the checkered flag by 7.696s, with Vialle ending up a further 10.322s back. A mistake for Hammaker just a few turns from the checkers dropped the Pro Circuit rider from fourth to sixth behind Forkner and Lawrence, whose run from the back of the pack culminated in a fifth-place result — more than enough to clinch his first 250MX title one moto early. Kitchen, Vohland, DiFrancesco, and Talon Hawkins (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) rounded out the top 10, with Cooper climbing to 13th but falling short of delaying Lawrence’s finalization of the title to the second moto.

450MX moto one:
The penultimate 450MX moto of the 2023 season kicked off with a stellar launch from Lawrence, with the rookie and recently crowned champion assuming control of the race with Plessinger, Cianciarulo, Anderson, and Ferrandis in tow. Sexton started directly beside Lawrence but didn’t time the gate nearly as well, but almost immediately moved into second position in pursuit of his undefeated teammate. Sexton limited Lawrence’s lead to about a single second but eventually lost touch with the leader, who went on to lead all 19 laps without trouble and closed out a 5.883s victory over Sexton for his 21st consecutive moto win. Ferrandis took the checkers third, about 40s in arrears of the Honda duo out front. Anderson finished fourth with Plessinger, who challenged Lawrence for the lead early on, ending up fifth. Cianciarulo, Marchbanks, Wright, Harri Kullas (BBL Racing Yamaha), and Canadian rider Jess Pettis rounded out the top 10. Seeking SuperMotocross World Championship points, McElrath, Hill, and Nichols finished 25th, 31st, and 37th.

250MX moto two:
The one-two punch of DiFrancesco and Shimoda ran up front from the get-go in the second moto for the 250MX division, with Kitchen, Julien Beaumer (Red Bull KTM), and Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) pursuing from just behind. Shimoda applied heavy pressure to DiFrancesco and passed for the lead 10 minutes into the moto. The Star Yamaha duo of Kitchen and Cooper soon worked passed DiFrancesco to take over the two other podium positions, which may have set the top three spots in stone if not for a crash for Kitchen that marked the end of his day. Instead, Deegan moved into the third position, ultimately finishing the race about half a minute behind Cooper who took the final checkered flag of the Pro Motocross season 2.177s after Shimoda. With his 1-1 result on the day, Shimoda took the overall victory in Indiana in commanding fashion. A heavy crash for Forkner, like with Kitchen, didn’t seem to injure the rider who was battling near the front but left him in serious pain and receiving attention from the Alpinestars medical team, and also had the effect of altering the running order near the front of the field. Vialle finished fourth, ahead of DiFrancesco, Daxton Bennick (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), Vohland, newly crowned champion Lawrence, and Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas). Deegan’s 2-3 moto scores were strong enough for second overall, with Vialle joining Shimoda and Deegan on the overall on the strength of his 3-4 results. Title rivals entering the day Cooper and Lawrence ended up fourth and fifth overall.

450MX moto two:
With 21 motos won and just one to go for Lawrence to close out a perfect season in his rookie 450MX campaign, the feat was almost in jeopardy right from the start as a few riders near Lawrence on the starting line flinched before the gate drop. Lawrence stopped his Honda CRF450R before it was too late and still timed the gate well enough to exit the first turn near the front. With Sexton and Ferrandis joining Lawrence at the head of the field, Ferrandis crashed heavily just a few corners in, ending his race early. The chase was on for Sexton in his final chance to best Lawrence in a moto in 2023. Lawrence never broke away to an insurmountable lead, but Sexton never seriously challenged Lawrence. By a margin of 1.736s over Sexton, Lawrence secured the perfect 22-0 season with a commanding victory in the last Pro Motocross race of the year. Plessinger joined Lawrence and Sexton on both the moto two and overall podium with 5-3 moto scores on the day. Anderson secured fourth overall with 4-4 results, while Cianciarulo turned 6-6 finishes into fifth overall. Barcia was fifth in moto two but ends up mired in the seventh overall position due to his 11th-place finish in the first moto. After Cianciarulo in sixth, Phil Nicoletti (Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha), Marchbanks, Wright, and Fredrik Noren (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki) completed the top 10.