Image: Octopi Media.

Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence was the big winner in the first 250SX East/West Showdown of the 2022 Monster Energy Supercross Championship in Atlanta, with Jason Anderson taking the 450SX victory.

Everybody wanted to see a duel between the points-leaders from each region and, in the end, both Christian Craig (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) and Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) were on the podium.

But ahead of them, it was Hunter Lawrence who rose to the occasion and claimed one of the biggest wins of his career – four seconds up on the field as the chequered flag flew.

Up-front early was Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) as he led the opening three laps, then Hunter Lawrence took charge and controlled the remaining laps from there. Craig, meanwhile, was P4 on lap one and made his way into second by lap five, but a mishap on lap nine ended his hopes of truly challenging for victory from that point.

Despite being 15th at the conclusion of the opening lap from a mistake of his own, Jett Lawrence worked his way into podium position with two to go, denying Shimoda a place on the box and that’s how the pair would finish, with top qualifier Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) taking fifth.

Finishing sixth was Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas), followed by Austin Forkner (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) after he too went down, RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Mitchell Oldenburg (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda) and Pierce Brown (TLD Red Bull GasGas).

The 250SX West standings see Craig lead Hunter Lawrence by 23 points, with Jett Lawrence atop 250SX East by 47 points entering Foxborough next weekend.

Image: Octopi Media.

Weather in the area didn’t dampen the return of Monster Energy Supercross to the Atlanta Motor Speedway today, as Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Anderson ended up back on top in another intriguing 450SX main event.

A return to winning form saw Anderson stand on top of the podium for the first time in seven races, marking his fourth win of the season.

It was Justin Barcia (TLD Red Bull GasGas) who took the holeshot and led the opening lap, until top qualifier Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC) made his move, almost directly followed by Anderson into position.

Then, Sexton washed the front and went out of the lead, allowing Anderson to slot into P1, while behind him, Barcia was next to fall while in second, which bumped defending champion Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) up on his return until Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha) eventually made his move into the runner-up spot.

In the end, Anderson held strong to win, with Tomac second from Sexton, who managed to overcome Webb for the final podium position with a few laps left to run and that’s where they remained.

Fifth came Malcolm Stewart (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), with Barcia recovering to salvage sixth, followed by Justin Brayton (Smartop Bullfrog Spas MCR Honda), Kyle Chisholm (Yamaha), Brandon Hartranft (Twisted Tea Suzuki) and Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM), who crashed early and worked his way forward from the rear of the field.

It’s still Tomac who comfortably leads the championship, 53 points ahead of Anderson with three rounds left to run. Next stop in the series is next Saturday in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Detailed results