2023 Unadilla Motocross | Race Report & Results

2023 UNADILLA MOTOCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

The Pro Motocross Championship returned to action at the 2023 Unadilla Motocross, the ninth round and the beginning of the end to the series. Summer storm fronts narrowly avoided the central New York valley and allowed for four excellent motos that saw the continuation of a perfect season and the crowning of a champion in the 450 Class, plus two different race winners and a separate overall victor in the 250 Class.

450 Moto One

The gate was down for the first moto of the day and Jett Lawrence was off to the early lead after bolting to the inside of Harri Kullas. Garrett Marchbanks ran in third place but had Chase Sexton in tail. Justin Barcia went down hard in the first corner; not a great welcome back to racing. 

Jason Anderson and Ty Masterpool went down hard in the second corner after getting tangled together in a rut. Marchbanks and Sexton shuffled by Kullas, who later dropped outside of the top-5. Garrett Marchbanks then upped his pace to keep Sexton behind and Jett in his sights. 

Barcia, Anderson, and Masterpool all regained the race after their early crashes. Back up front, Chase Sexton made the pass on Marchbanks for second place and sat just over 2-seconds behind Jett. A few laps later, Dylan Ferrandis was on the move and made the pass for third after powering out of a corner. 

Justin Barcia went down again and was lapped by both Jett Lawrence and Chase Sexton. Garrett Marchbanks then lost the front-end and went down, which dropped him back to 6th place. Up front, Chase Sexton reeled in Jett and cut his lead down to just over a second. Chase looked inside of Jett in a rutted corner but high-sided on an inside rut and lost his pace momentarily. 

Though, Chase seemed to reel Jett back in almost immediately after making the mistake. Meanwhile, Jason Anderson was up to tenth place after his crash in the second corner. Despite the challenges from Sexton, Jett upped his pace late in the race and began clicking off fast laps to build up his cushion over the rest of the field. 

With three laps to go, Chase Sexton lost the front-end and dropped back to third place before remounting. Dylan Ferrandis continued to charge, as he caught Jett with a lap to go. Jett Lawrence crossed the checkered flag just ahead of Dylan Ferrandis to collect his 17th victory and keep the streak alive. 

450 Moto Two

The second 450MX moto was off, as Jett Lawrence was off to the early lead with Chase Sexton in tail. Adam Cianciarulo trailed in third place, while Harri Kullas was off to another great start in fourth. Jason Anderson then passed into fourth place, shuffling Kullas back to fifth. 

After a bad start, Dylan Ferrandis was already up to fifth place and continuing to charge forward. A few laps later, both Jason Anderson and Dylan Ferrandis made separate passes on Cianciarulo. With that, Adam Cianciarulo was shuffled back to fifth place. Dylan Ferrandis was now pressuring Anderson for third place, when Jason tipped it over at the bottom of the wall turn and handed the position over. 

Jett Lawrence continued to lead Chase Sexton, but had now built up a 7-second cushion over the challenger. A few positions behind, Aaron Plessinger made the pass on Cianciarulo to take over fifth. After a dominant second moto, Jett Lawrence continued his record breaking win streak and collected the second moto victory in Unadilla to ultimately claim the 2023 Pro Motocross 450MX championship as a rookie. 

250 Moto One

The first 250MX moto of the day was off, as Levi Kitchen was off to the early lead after snagging the holeshot ahead of Seth Hammaker. Haiden Deegan trailed in third place, but Justin Cooper made a quick pass to shuffle the rookie back to fourth. Before the end of the first lap, Seth Hammaker and Levi Kitchen swapped positions and exchanged the race lead. Maximus Vohland also made the pass on Deegan for fourth place before the end of the opening lap. 

Jo Shimoda also made the pass on Deegan, which shuffled Haiden back to sixth after running in third place. Hunter Lawrence, his championship rival, also passed Deegan after a not so great start. Hunter then rocketed alongside Shimoda, but Jo fought back before ultimately losing fifth place to Lawrence. 

Levi Kitchen continued to lead, while Justin Cooper and Maximus Vohland battled over third place. Vohland finally made the pass on Cooper after pressuring him for a few laps. Hunter followed Vohland, as he also made a pass on Justin Cooper just a few sections later. 

Justin Cooper continued to fall back, as he was passed by both Shimoda and Deegan. Haiden Deegan then made the pass on Jo Shimoda to take over fifth place. Up front, Seth Hammaker had quietly reeled in Kitchen and was challenging for the race lead. While running in tenth place, Carson Mumford dropped back outside of the top-20. 

Hunter Lawrence pressured Vohland for third place, which ultimately pushed the pair up to the leaders. Maximus Vohland was the first rider to advance, as he made the pass on Hammaker for second place. Haiden Deegan looked to have the pass made on Lawrence but a lapped rider then got in the way. Instead, Hunter made the pass on Hammaker before going after Vohland. Hunter Lawrence then passed Vohland for second place, which was duplicated by Deegan a few sections later when he advanced into third. 

After a great beginning of the first moto, Seth Hammaker went down hard and dropped outside of the top-10 before rejoining the race. With just a few minutes left on the clock, Hunter Lawrence looked inside of Kitchen and attempted a pass for the lead. With just two laps to go, Haiden Deegan was out of the race after a mechanical failure. Levi Kitchen crossed the checkered flag to secure the win in moto one at Unadilla. 

250 Moto Two

A red flag for a downed rider initiated a restart for the final race of the afternoon as Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire needed to be attended to. When the field returned to the starting gate and took off for the second time it was Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Ryder DiFrancesco with the MotoSport.com Holeshot, followed closely by Cooper, Shimoda and Kitchen. Lawrence started just outside the top five while Deegan’s late gate pick left him outside the top 20 initially.

Just after the completion of the opening lap Cooper went on the attack and made the pass on DiFrancesco to take the lead, which left the Kawasaki teammates to battle it out for second as Kitchen rode patiently in fourth. Shimoda was persistent and made the pass happen to drop his rookie teammate down to third. As Kitchen looked to apply pressure on DiFrancesco he bobbled slightly, which allowed an opportunistic Lawrence to make the pass for fourth and then make his way around DiFrancesco for third.

A shot at the overall win was on the line as Shimoda and Lawrence engaged in a battle for second, with the Honda rider able to get the better of his rival to move into second. Behind them, Kitchen kept his winning hopes alive with a pass on DiFrancesco for fourth.

Cooper and Lawrence were separated by 5.4 seconds with just under 20 minutes remaining in the moto, but the distance between them continued to grow through the middle of the race as Cooper pushed his advantage to nearly 10 seconds. Lawrence settled into second, a few seconds ahead of Shimoda in third.

Cooper was consistent through to the finish and secured his third moto win of the season, two seconds ahead of Lawrence, who did what he needed to do in bringing home the runner-up result. Shimoda followed closely in third, with Kitchen a distant fourth.