Image: Octopi Media.

In a contrast to a more challenging outing two weeks ago at High Point, Jett Lawrence cruised to the top of the charts in qualifying and collected two more moto wins in the Pro Motocross Championship’s 2023 visit to RedBud while Haiden Deegan made history of his own in 250MX by capturing his first professional victory.

The first moto saw Lawrence and his returning teammate Chase Sexton deliver a 1-2 result for Team Honda HRC.

Challenged by Ty Masterpool through the first few turns in the opening 450MX moto, Lawrence immediately broke away and went on to beat Sexton to the checkers by just shy of 18s.

Masterpool held second for a signifcant portion of the moto’s early going before relinquishing the position to Sexton. The privateer then lost his shot at the podium when a failed pass attempt by Adam Cianciarulo after the ski jump left Masterpool with nowhere to go except into Cianciarulo’s fallen Kawasaki, sending Masterpool flipping off his machine.

A damaged throttle for Cianciarulo sent him back to the Kawasaki truck early, while the loss of track position hindered Masterpool’s ability to place well in both the moto and overall.

Instead, a charging Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) was rewarded with the third position in the moto, followed by Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM) and Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki) in fourth and fifth.

Masterpool recovered for sixth, holding off Fredrik Noren (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki), Lorenzo Locurcio (PulpMX Wildcat Racing), and the Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha duo of Marchbanks and Phil Nicoletti.

In the second moto, Lawrence wrapped up the perfect day with a 4.894s victory over Ferrandis and the rest of the 450MX field.

Ferrandis had the rookie within 2s at one point, but Lawrence took note of the charging Yamaha YZ450F behind him and worked to grow his gap.

Ferrandis settled for second ahead of Sexton who briefly challenged Ferrandis and was moving forward before a mistake set him back.

Plessinger followed this trio to the checkers for a fourth-place result ahead of Marchbanks, who turned a strong start into a fifth-place finish.

Cianciarulo, Anderson, Noren, Nicoletti, and Jose Butron (PulpMX Wildcat Racing) found the top 10 to conclude the day.

Masterpool again had a strong start and slotted in behind Lawrence through the opening corners but retired early with a mechanical failure.

Now perfect through 10 races, Lawrence’s points lead stands at 250. Ferrandis is next closest at 193, followed by Plessinger with 174 and Cianciarulo who’s amassed 149.

Image: Octopi Media.

Making the most of a misfortunate first-turn crash in the second moto for first-moto winner Hunter Lawrence, Haiden Deegan finished second and third in the two 250MX races at the 50th anniversary FMF RedBud National to earn his first professional win.

With Lawrence (Team Honda HRC) out of the race and having his wrist examined by the Alpinestars medical unit after handily winning the day’s first moto, the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing duo of Levi Kitchen and Haiden Deegan engaged in a battle at the front.

Deegan later gave up the second position to Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM), finalizing the running order for the podium positions in the concluding 250MX moto.

Kitchen beat Vialle to the checkers by just under 9s to secure the moto win and solidify his second-place overall result.

Deegan was a further 3.281s back at the end, but knew before the appearance of the checkered flag that his 2-3 moto scores were enough to secure his first professional victory, indoors or out, at one of the most famed stops on the Pro Motocross Championship calendar.

Justin Cooper (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) ended his return to racing after a practice crash at the previous round with his second fourth-place result of the day, enabling him to join his Star Racing Yamaha teammates Deegan and Kitchen on the final podium.

Last year’s RedBud winner Jo Shimoda (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) came home fifth, followed by Max Vohland (Red Bull KTM), RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), Jalek Swoll (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna), professional debutant Daxton Bennick (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing), and Seth Hammaker (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki) in the top 10.

Swoll’s eighth-place result marked a strong recovery after an early bike issue in the day’s opening moto.

The 200 points Lawrence amassed before his early moto two exit is enough to keep the red plate on his Honda CRF250R as the series heads to the Southwick National in a week’s time on Saturday, July 8. Deegan holds second in the 250MX standings, 11 back from Lawrence, with Hampshire third a further 22 back.

Detailed results