2023 Los Angeles SuperMotocross | Race Report & Results

2023 Los Angeles SuperMotocross | Race Report

Presented by O’Neal

The inaugural SuperMotocross Championship came to a close at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the birthplace of modern Supercross, with two must-win scenarios for riders to clinch the titles in the 250 and 450 Classes.

250 Main One

The first race of the night was off, as Jalek Swoll led the field out of the first corner with Tom Vialle alongside. Tom Vialle then pushed Swoll wide in the second corner to take over the race lead. Haiden Deegan followed in second, as Swoll was shuffled back to third. Ryder DiFrancesco went down on the opening lap and remounted in last place. Jordon Smith trailed Swoll in fourth place, after a solid start. 

Jo Shimoda was back in seventh place after a not so great start, however, he was making moves towards the front early. Haiden Deegan looked inside of Vialle after a few laps and began to pressure for the lead. Meanwhile, Jordon Smith made the pass on Swoll for third, but Jalek fired right back in the next corner. Jordon ultimately made the pass for third stick before the end of that lap. 

RJ Hampshire then passed his teammate, which shuffled Swoll back to fifth place. After receiving pressure from behind, Tom Vialle upped his pace and put a buffer between Deegan and himself. Ryder DiFrancesco went down again while battling with Derek Kelly at the back of the pack. Back up front, RJ Hampshire was pressuring Smith for third place, as the two swapped insides a few times. 

While battling, Jordon Smith and RJ Hampshire began to gain ground on Deegan. Jo Shimoda made the pass on Swoll to pick up fifth place, and he sat only a second behind the battle of third. Jordon Smith then passed Deegan for second place through the sand and immediately began pressuring Vialle.

Jordon Smith pulled alongside Vialle after the finish line and took over the lead before the field dropped back into the stadium. Hampshire then passed Deegan for third place, but Haiden took RJ wide a few sections later. RJ completed the pass a corner later and nearly took Deegan down. 

RJ Hampshire was now on Tom Vialle and pressuring for second place, while Jordon Smith sat alone nearly 2-seconds ahead in the lead. RJ cut under Vialle after the triple and completed the pass for second place in the next rhythm lane. Haiden Deegan then went after Vialle, but Jo Shimoda snuck to the inside and took Haiden off track to pass him for fourth place. 

Jo Shimoda was now the one pressuring Tom Vialle, Jo went to the outside after the sand but Tom took him high to hold onto the position. RJ Hampshire looked inside of Smith on the final lap but Jordon sensed the pressure and held onto the lead to collect the victory in the first main event. 

250 Main Two

The gate was down for the final 250cc race of the year, and Levi Kitchen was off to the early lead with Haiden Deegan trailing. Tom Vialle went over the berm in the third corner, while Jordon Smith went down in the second corner. Justin Cooper ran in third place, but Jo Shimoda was just behind. 

Jordon Smith and Tom Vialle came around in 21st and 22nd place at the end of the first lap. Pierce Brown made the pass on Talon Hawkins for fifth place after a few laps of pressuring him. Haiden Deegan lost the rear tire around a corner and nearly went down, however, he managed to hold onto second place. A few laps later, Maximus Vohland also passed Hawkins.

Meanwhile, Jordon Smith and Tom Vialle were up to 12th and 13th place after their falls on the opening lap. Jo Shimoda put in a few sprint laps at the end of the race in an attempt to make a pass on Justin Cooper but couldn’t get close enough. Levi Kitchen crossed the checkered flag to collect the main event win, while Haiden Deegan finished in second place to win the SMX 250 Championship.

450 Main One

The first 450cc race was underway, as Adam Cianciarulo led the field out of the first corner with Justin Barcia in tail. Shane McElrath and Dylan Ferrandis went down hard in the first corner, Dylan was slow to get up. Jason Anderson trailed Barcia in third place, but Ken Roczen was pressuring. Chase Sexton sat in fifth place, just ahead of Jett. 

Justin Barcia was pressuring Cianciarulo for the lead, as he dove inside after the sand and then went down hard immediately after. Justin was clearly in pain and out of the race after such a promising first two laps. Adam Cianciarulo then went down with the lead and handed it over to Jason Anderson. Adam Cianciarulo remounted in 18th place after his mistake. 

Due to the severity of Justin Barcia’s injury and the area of the track he was stuck at, they made the call to red flag the race. 

Restart

The decision was made to do a staggered restart; placing Anderson in the lead, Roczen in second, Sexton in third, and Jett Lawrence in fourth. Aaron Plessinger went down hard off of the sand wall and remounted in last place before riding back to the pits. The first to advance their position after the restart was Jett Lawrence, as he made the pass on Sexton on the opening lap. Ken Roczen was pressuring Anderson for the lead and nearly took Jason down after the sand to take the position.

Jett Lawrence then blitzed past Anderson and into second place. Jett then looked inside of Ken a lap later and hit the rear wheel of the Suzuki. Jett pulled alongside in the next rhythm and went for the pass, but the two slowed in the corner after and remained in their same order. Jason Anderson and Chase Sexton were now right there, and Chase made the pass for third after the sand to put himself in third. 

Jett then jumped the quad onto the table to blitz past Roczen and into the race lead. However, Ken seemed to be faster everywhere else, as he pulled right back up to Jett. Chase Sexton picked up on Jett’s fast line on the following lap, which allowed him to close-in on Roczen. Anderson also picked up on the line, and a few laps later Roczen uncorked it. 

After Ken Roczen picked up on the quad-on, he reeled Jett back in slightly and kept the gap around a second. Jett Lawrence laid down some more sprint laps toward the end of the race and collected the win in the first main event. 

450 Main Two

The final race of the 2023 season was off and Chase Sexton was off to the early lead with Adam Cianciarulo in tail. Jett Lawrence shuffled himself into third place in the second corner, placing Cooper Webb in fourth and Anderson in fifth. Ken Roczen blitzed Anderson and Webb on the first lap. 

Dean Wilson went down off the sand wall on the first lap, ending his night. Jett Lawrence made the pass on Cianciarulo and moved into second place, but Ken Roczen was just behind, as he also passed Adam. Jason Anderson then went down over the wall turn and remounted in last place. 

Ken Roczen had his sights on Jett, as Chase Sexton did his best to check out with the lead. Cooper Webb and Colt Nichols closed-in on Adam Cianciarulo, who held onto fourth place. Jett Lawrence almost went down while running in second, as he nose-picked the triple out of the corner following the sand. However, he managed to hold the position over Roczen. 

Cooper Webb made the pass on Cianciarulo to take over fourth place. While leading, Chase Sexton went down hard over the sand wall and landed head-first. He was slow to get up, but walked to the Alpinestars medic unit. Jett Lawrence now held onto the race lead, but he still had Ken Roczen just behind. 

While battling through lapped riders, Ken Roczen got stuck behind Josh Hill through the sand and lost nearly 2-seconds to Jett Lawrence. Jett Lawrence crossed the finish line to collect the race win and the 450 SMX Championship.