2021 Southwick Motocross | Race Report & Photo Gallery

INSTAGRAM | @swapmotolive
INSTAGRAM | @swapmotolivedotcom
INSTAGRAM | @fxrmoto

2021 SOUTHWICK MOTOCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship made its return to the Northeast for one of the toughest challenges of the summer’s 12-rounds schedule, the 2021 Southwick Motocross. Rain soaked the Massachusetts track in the days leading up to the race, remnants of hurricane that had hammered the East Coast over the past week, and made the sand even more technical and taxing than usual. Riders that were able to push the pace through the Motos were rewarded with finishes at the front of the pack, but only a few got through the day without issue. 

250 Moto One

As the first race at Southwick left the gate, Jalek Swoll was off to the early lead with teammate RJ Hampshire just behind. Jo Shimoda shuffled into third place and trailed the Husqvarna teammates ahead. Jeremy Martin and a few others went down early in lap one. Michael Mosiman then made the pass on Shimoda for third and Hunter Lawrence looked to follow as he began pressuring the Kawasaki rider. Kaliub Russel was in the pits early-on, as the team swapped a new shifter onto his machine following a crash. Out front, RJ Hampshire looked for a way around his teammate and ended up making the pass on Swoll for the lead after sweeping around the outside. While RJ Hampshire attempted to break away, points leader Jett Lawrence sat in tenth place and Justin Cooper sat all the way back in 19th. Michael Mosiman then made the pass for second on Jalek Swoll, and now Swoll had to fend off Shimoda and Hunter Lawrence. Hunter Lawrence was the first to make moves out of the trio, as he went from fifth to third place in a matter of a few corners. Jo Shimoda now challenged Swoll but Jalek shut the door just as it looked like Jo was going to take over the position. RJ Hampshire went down while leading and dropped back to third place. Michael Mosiman was now the race leader with Hunter trailing. Shimoda made the pass on Swoll for fourth place after a few laps of trailing. Hunter Lawrence closed in on Mosiman and was pressuring the GasGas rider for the lead. As Hunter and Michael duked it out for the lead, RJ Hampshire closed in and trailed the battle. Hampshire went inside of Hunter and took over second place momentarily, but Hunter took the inside in the following corner and pushed RJ outside to retake second. Hunter then went after Mosiman, as the duo drag raced up the hill, Mosiman drifted outside and took the line away from Hunter. A half lap later, Michael Mosiman went down while leading and dropped back to seventh place. Hunter Lawrence was now the race leader, but RJ Hampshire wasn’t far back. Jett Lawrence had now passed his way into fifth place and Justin Cooper sat in eighth after making moves. Jett Lawrence was pressuring Jalek Swoll for fourth place when Swoll got sideways off the face of a wall and collected Jett mid-air. Swoll managed to save it, but Jett went down hard and remounted in sixth place before having another tip-over that landed him in tenth place. Jo Shimoda began to pressure RJ Hampshire after RJ washed the front end out and went down again while challenging Hunter Lawrence. As the checkered flag waved, Hunter Lawrence snagged the first moto win at Southwick. 

250 Moto Two

The second 250 moto was off and RJ Hampshire was off to the early lead with Jeremy Martin just behind. However, Justin Cooper snuck past Jeremy Martin in the second corner and took over second place. Jalek Swoll ran in fourth place and was pressuring Jeremy Martin early-on. Moto one winner Hunter Lawrence began his charge towards the front, as he challenged Shimoda for fifth. Jeremy Martin went down at the end of the first lap and collected Jalek Swoll, dropping them outside of the top-15. Shimoda now held onto third place, but Hunter was still challenging. Jett Lawrence took an inside line to get around Colt Nichols for fifth place. Mosiman and Vohland swapped lines and battled over seventh place before Mosiman completed the pass. RJ Hampshire continued to lead Justin Cooper with just under a three second lead. However, RJ Hampshire then went down while leading again and dropped back to fourth place. Justin Cooper was handed the lead with Shimoda trailing in second. Hunter Lawrence held down third place, but RJ Hampshire and brother Jett Lawrence were just behind. Michael Mosiman went down while in seventh place and moments later,  Austin Forkner went down hard while running outside of the top-10. Back to the battle for second, Hunter Lawrence made the pass on Shimoda while RJ looked to do the same. As RJ Hampshire began to reel in Jo, he tucked the front end and went down again. This time, RJ wasn’t able to remount as quickly, as the bike was high-centered on the berm. Jett Lawrence was now the rider that looked to make the pass on Jo Shimoda, and after a slight mistake from Jo, Jett was right on his rear fender. Meanwhile, Hunter Lawrence reeled in Justin Cooper and took the inside line to take over the lead in moto two. As Hunter made the pass for the lead, Jett made the pass on Jo for third place. After a bad lap from Hunter Lawrence, Justin Cooper was looking to retake the lead late in the moto. However, Hunter picked the pace back up and built himself a little lead. Hunter Lawrence took the checkered flag first and snagged the second moto win, as well as the overall win at Southwick. 

450 Moto One

As the first 450 moto at Southwick left the gate, Justin Barcia was off to a great jump but Dylan Ferrandis cut across to take the holeshot and the early lead. Justin Barcia then challenged Aaron Plessinger for second place, as Aaron managed to get by Barcia in the first turn, but Justin made the pass and took over second place. Marvin Musquin then made an early pass on Adam Cianciarulo for fourth place. However, a few sections later, Cianciarulo got back by Musquin and retook the position. Dylan Ferrandis continued to lead but Justin Barcia was just behind. Ken Roczen made some moves, as he passed into fifth place while Musquin got shuffled back to seventh place. Back up front, Ferrandis had broke away from the rest of the field ever so slightly, as he built a three second lead on Justin Barcia. Coty Schock went down after losing traction entering a left hander, dropping him back to 16th place before suffering a mechanical issue. As Ferrandis enjoyed his 7-second lead, Aaron Plessinger kept Justin Barcia honest as he closed the gap to second. Max Anstie was in the pits with a mechanical issue late in the race. Ken Roczen then challenged Adam Cianciarulo for fourth as he dropped the hammer and closed in on the Kawasaki rider. Roczen scrubbed inside of Adam before squaring him up in the following corner where the two made contact, luckily both of them managed to stay up. Ken Roczen then took over fourth place and sat five-seconds behind Plessinger. Marvin Musquin dropped a few positions late in the moto, as both Tomac and Christian Craig made the pass. As the checkered flag waved, Dylan Ferrandis collected another moto win after a perfect start-to-finish moto. 

450 Moto Two

As the second 450 moto left the gate, Cooper Webb snagged the holeshot but Ken Roczen was off to the early lead after rocketing past Webb. Aaron Plessinger was up front after the start but then went off track with bike issues. At the end of the first lap, Plessinger was cheering on his teammates as his team scrambled to figure out what went wrong on the Yamaha. Adam Cianciarulo sat just ahead of Marvin Musquin in third place early on. Eli Tomac was on the move early, as he was challenging Ferrandis for sixth place. Ferrandis then made the pass on Craig and put a bike between Tomac and himself. Dylan continued to charge ahead, as he made the pass on Musquin for fourth. Eli Tomac then followed Ferrandis past Musquin, as he took over fifth place. The Dylan Ferrandis and Eli Tomac freight train continued, as they reeled in Cianciarulo who held down third place. Adam Cianciarulo then upped his pace and made the pass on Cooper Webb for second. The moto two struggles continued for the Star Racing team, as Dylan Ferrandis’s bike was smoking with 20-minutes on the clock. Ferrandis, though, seemed unfazed, as he rocketed past Webb and into third place. Eli Tomac again followed Dylan and made the pass on Webb. Ferrandis then had a slight bobble, allowing Tomac to make the pass and secure third place. Dylan Ferrandis’s mechanic alerted Dylan of the smoke coming from the bike, telling him to not use the clutch, in the hopes of lengthening the life of the motor and avoiding a DNF. Ferrandis then seemed to back off just a touch, however, he still made the pass for third place on Cianciarulo. Eli Tomac was on the move, as he reeled in Ken Roczen and was immediately going for the lead. Eli jumped inside of Ken over a wall and just like that was your new race leader. The lap before passing into the lead, Eli Tomac logged a lap time nearly four seconds faster than anyone else on the track. A few spots back, Cooper Webb re-passed Adam Cianciarulo for fourth place and Justin Barcia was closing-in on the number-9 Kawasaki. Justin Barcia ran Cianciarulo wide to take over fifth place. With a minute left on the clock, Justin Barcia charged down a hill and ripped around the outside of Cooper Webb to take over fourth place. As the checkered flag waved, Eli Tomac took the win in the second moto at Southwick after a phenomenal ride, while Ferrandis crossed the line in third to take another overall victory after what could have been a disastrous day.