2022 Southwick Motocross | Race Report & Results

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CHECK OUT OUR COMPLETE COVERAGE OF THE 2022 SOUTHWICK MOTOCROSS

The 2022 Southwick Motocross was always going to be important point in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship. Weeks of close racing in both classes had brought the differences in the point standings down to single-digit figures, but riders knew that the challenging conditions of the Massachusetts sand track could change all of that in an instant. 

And that’s exactly what happened at round six, the halfway point to the summer series, as 1-1 finishes by Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Eli Tomac earned him six more points than title rival Chase Sexton and Jett Lawrence reclaimed the red plate from sibling/Team Honda HRC teammate Hunter Lawrence. 

450 Moto One

The first 450MX moto was off and Ken Roczen was off to the early lead with Ryan Dungey just behind. Meanwhile, Jason Anderson was down in the first corner with Martin, Marchbanks, and more. Christian Craig made an early pass on Dungey to take over second place, while local Chris Canning pressured Sexton for fourth place. Ken Roczen started to pull away ever so slightly, but then Craig nearly went down after losing the front end and going off track, which allowed Ken to pull away even more. 

Eli Tomac began making passes, as he passed both Plessinger and Canning in the matter of a few sections to take over sixth place. Eli then made the move on Savatgy to enter the top-5, while Christian Craig challenged Roczen for the lead. Craig squared up Ken and cut under the Honda HRC rider to take over the lead. Ryan Dungey then had Ken in his sights, but washed the front end and tipped over in a corner dropping him back to fifth. 

After a lap, Craig put over a second between himself and Roczen, as Tomac started to reel in Sexton in third place. Chase Sexton attempted to run away from Eli and put pressure on his teammate in second place. Eli Tomac, however, had made up 5-seconds on the lead group in just one lap. A few positions back, Max Anstie passed Joey Savatgy for sixth place. 

A few laps later, Eli Tomac was on Sexton’s rear wheel and pressuring for third place. As Eli gave chase to Sexton, Chase closed in on Roczen. Eli Tomac looked inside of Sexton through a sweeper and beat Chase to the next obstacle to take over third. A lap later, Eli used another inside line and scrubbed past Roczen over a wall jump to take over second place.  

Tomac was now challenging Christian Craig and the battle for the lead was on between the teammates. Eli rocketed out of a corner to leap past Craig and into the race lead. Moments later, Chase Sexton made the pass on Ken Roczen for third place. Sexton then set his sights on Craig and second place. Meanwhile, after just a lap in the lead, Tomac had opened up a three-second lead. 

Just behind, Ryan Dungey jumped to the inside of Ken Roczen and made the pass for fourth place. With four-minutes on the clock, Sexton continued to search for a line past Craig. A few laps later, Sexton finally made the pass after carrying more momentum around an outside line and then beating Craig to the next corner. Some positions behind, Aaron Plessinger was now pressuring Roczen for fifth place, who had Max Anstie in tail. 

Plessinger made a mistake with two laps to go, allowing Max Anstie to make the pass for sixth. Anstie was now pressuring Roczen for fifth and made the pass on the final lap for a top-5. Eli Tomac crossed the finish line and took the win in the first moto after climbing up the field from 8th place. 

450 Moto Two

The second 450MX moto was off, as Ken Roczen led the field out of the first turn, again. Christian Craig was trailing in second and Aaron Plessinger was just behind in third. Eli Tomac made an early pass on Dungey for fifth place, before going after Martin and making the pass with an inside line. Jason Anderson sent it to the inside of Sexton and made the pass for seventh place. 

Eli Tomac was now knocking on Plessinger’s door, who responded to the pressure by making the pass on Craig for second place. Eli and Christian connected mid-air while battling over third place, causing Eli to nearly go down. However, Eli saved it and then made the pass on Craig just a few sections later. A few spots behind, Jason Anderson was pressuring Ryan Dungey for fifth place. 

As Anderson searched for a line past Dungey, Aaron Plessinger began to reel in Roczen up ahead. Jason Anderson ultimately made the pass on Dungey, only to have Chase Sexton follow, dropping Dungey back to seventh. Anderson and Sexton then made their attack on Craig and both made the pass, moving them up to fourth and fifth place.

Meanwhile, Eli Tomac had reeled in Plessinger and the battle for second was on. As Eli pressured Aaron, the duo reeled in Ken Roczen and made it a three rider battle for the lead. Eli carried a ton of momentum and jumped past Aaron, into second place. Tomac then immediately went after Roczen and the lead. Eli sent it around the outside of a corner and beat Roczen to the following turn to take over the race lead. 

Aaron Plessinger then pressured Roczen for second place and used an inside line to scrub into the position. While the top-3 exchanged positions, Chase Sexton managed to get back past Anderson for fourth place. Max Anstie climbed up to sixth place after making the pass on Ryan Dungey. 

With three minutes left on the clock, Chase Sexton was on Roczen’s rear wheel. The teammates dueled over third place, swapping lines, while battling through lappers. Sexton ultimately made the pass after carrying more momentum around the outside of Ken Roczen. Chase then set his sights on Plessinger, as he had Aaron within a second with three laps to go.

Sexton used an outside line to his advantage again and sent it past Plessinger to pick up second place and hang on to the red plate. Eli Tomac crossed the finish line 13-seconds ahead of Sexton and dominated at The Wick 338 with a 1-1 performance. 

250 Moto One

The first 250MX moto was off at The Wick 338, as Jett Lawrence led the field out of the first turn. Justin Cooper was back to his old ways and sat just behind in second place, just ahead on Nick Romano and Rj Hampshire. Current championship points-leader sat in 12th place at the beginning of the first lap, but made a handful of passes within the first lap to enter ninth place by the end of the lap. 

Meanwhile, Jett Lawrence had already opened up a three-second lead on Justin Cooper after the first lap. After passing Robertson, Jo Shimoda was pressuring Jalek Swoll for fifth place. Up front, Jett Lawrence went down with a seven-second lead, allowing Justin Cooper to take over the race lead. Jett got right back on Cooper’s rear wheel after remounting and ultimately made the pass for the lead after Cooper made a slight mistake and nearly went off track, after drifting left. 

Rj Hampshire made the pass on Romano for third place, just before Jo Shimoda began pressuring Romano for position. Hunter Lawrence went down hard while in eighth place, after connecting with Robertson mid-air. Hunter remounted in 16th place after the crash and had a lot of work ahead of him. Back towards the front, Shimoda made the pass on Romano and secured fourth place. 

Jo Shimoda closed in on Rj Hampshire quickly to challenge for a podium position, and both riders caught Justin Cooper. Shimoda looked inside of Rj and used a lapper to his advantage to make the pass for third place. Shimoda then set his sights on Justin Cooper and second place. Jo drifted inside on Cooper, nearly making contact, but made the pass for second place.

Shimoda was now the fastest rider on track, as he took a second off of Jett’s lead and was closing ever so slightly. Jett Lawrence then got held up behind lappers, dropping the gap between himself and Shimoda even more. Meanwhile, Maximus Vohland was up to fifth place after making some key passes within the top-10. 

Jett Lawrence got word of Shimoda closing the gap and upped the pace to add to his lead. Further back in the pack, Michael Mosiman made a few passes and took over fifth place. Hunter Lawrence was now making moves again, as he passed Vohland for seventh place with two laps to go and then dove inside of Robertson for sixth place on the final lap. Jett Lawrence crossed the checkered flag to grab the first moto win at Southwick. 

250 Moto Two

Justin Cooper looked to have the early lead, but Jett Lawrence cut under and took the race lead as they exited the first turn. Levi Kitchen then made a pass on Justin Cooper in the following section after going inside. Stilez Robertson was in fourth place early in lap one, with Matthew LeBlanc trailing. Hunter Lawrence was making passes on lap one, again, as he passed a few riders and ultimately ended lap one in eighth place. 

Levi Kitchen was pressuring Jett and challenging for the lead on the second lap. Levi looked inside of Jett a few times, but got shut down each time. As the two continued to battled for the lead, they had already broke away to a 5-second lead on Justin Cooper and the rest of the class. A lap or so later, Jett upped his pace and worked up to a second and-a-half lead over Kitchen after some early pressure. 

However, a few laps later, Levi Kitchen was back within a second of Jett and challenging for the lead again. Further back in the pack, Matthew LeBlanc went down while running in the top-5 early and dropped out of the race. Jo Shimoda was pressuring Stilez Robertson for fourth and made it happen after finding a smoother, faster line to the next corner. 

Jo Shimoda now switched his focus to reeling in Justin Cooper, which only took him a few laps. Shimoda looked inside of Cooper, but Justin held the preferred line in the next corner. A lap later, Jo cut down and then dived inside of Justin to take over third place. Further back, Rj Hampshire was pressuring Hunter Lawrence and made the pass for sixth place. 

A few laps later, Rj Hampshire then went after his teammate Stilez Robertson. Hampshire dove inside of the same rut as Robertson, but neither of the two went down, surprisingly. Hampshire then secured fifth place, just as Nate Thrasher made the pass on Hunter Lawrence. 

Nate Thrasher was now pressuring Stilez Robertson with two laps to go, and he made the pass for sixth place after carrying momentum through the long way around a sweeper. Jett Lawrence took the checkered flag ahead of Levi Kitchen and took the moto win, as well as the overall win at Southwick.