Image: Octopi Media.

The final timed qualifying sessions of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship season, with a perfect season on the line in 450MX and a championship to be decided in 250MX, saw Jett Lawrence and Levi Kitchen set the marks to beat leading into the motos at the season-ending Ironman National.

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.

Image: Octopi Media.

Led by Kitchen of Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing, 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.

Detailed results