Image: Octopi Media.

Australia’s Jett Lawrence has clinched the 450SX title at Salt Lake City’s 2024 Monster Energy Supercross Championship finals, as RJ Hampshire and Tom Vialle won their respective 250SX titles in the 250SX East/West Showdown.

Lawrence rode to a comfortable seventh place finish in the 450SX main event, and in claiming the title Lawrence became just the third rider in the history of the sport to win as a rookie and he also bookended his rookie year on a 450 with another title.

Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton charged off to win the race leading every lap. It was Sexton’s second win of the season and he seemed relieved to click off one more win to end the season. Behind him was Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammates Justin Cooper and Cooper Webb. Webb passed into third place early in the race and looked keen to make a run at the lead, but settled in behind his teammate. Justin Cooper’s second place finish was his first career 450SX podium and the ride helped him secure P6 in the championship in what has been a solid season for the rookie.

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson ended up in fourth, but much of the talk about his race stems from early contact with Hunter Lawrence that put Hunter on the ground and then Hunter retaliated late in the race as a lapped rider while Anderson was battling Webb for third. Lawrence blocked Anderson in the first corner and the Kawasaki man lost touch with Webb in the process. Both Anderson and Hunter Lawrence had plenty of words with each other after the race as well.

Troy Lee Designs Red Bull GasGas’ Justin Barcia rounded out the top five ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Malcolm Stewart, the aforementioned Jett Lawrence in P7, Phoenix Racing Honda’s Dylan Ferrandis in eighth, MotoConcepts Racing Honda’s Mitchell Oldenburg in ninth, and Firepower Honda’s Dean Wilson rounding out the top 10.

Lawrence’s 450SX crown makes it three championships in three tries on a 450 as he won AMA Pro Motocross in 2023, followed it up by winning the SuperMotocross World Championship, and is now Supercross champion in 2024. Quite a big moment for not only Lawrence, but the sport as a whole.

Image: Octopi Media.

A dramatic night of 250SX racing to conclude the 2024 Monster Energy Supercross season saw RJ Hampshire and Tom Vialle claim championships in the West and East regions, respectively. Though neither rider won the race, Hampshire did what he needed to do defeating title rival Levi Kitchen while Vialle managed an eighth place finish to earn the crown.

The race was won by Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Haiden Deegan who did everything he could on the night to defeat Vialle in the championship, but the win still left Deegan four points short of the title. Hampshire rode his way into second on his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna, while Kitchen on his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki was left to finish up in P5.

It was a close race all the way to the end as Deegan’s teammate Jordon Smith rounded out the podium and was just two seconds behind Deegan as the checkered flag waved. Smith battled Deegan for the lead midway through the race before the two came together and Smith was left picking his bike up. Smith recovered and passed Team Honda HRC’s Jo Shimoda for third late in the race to lock down the podium finish.

Kitchen ultimately loses the championship by five points to Hampshire thanks to his fifth place result. As expected, the title fight in the West came down to who got the start, and this time it was Hampshire who started a few places ahead of Kitchen. They basically never got more than a few places on track away from each other, but ended up four seconds apart that Kitchen really could have won over with a better start.

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Nate Thrasher would end up in sixth ahead of Team Honda HRC’s Chance Hymas in seventh, the aforementioned Vialle in eighth, Triumph Racing’s Jalek Swoll in ninth, and Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha’s Phil Nicoletti finishing up in 10th place for his final Supercross race.

So that’s it for 2024 250SX action as Hampshire and Vialle hold the number one plates at season’s end. With how tight both title fights ended up, it sure sets up an interesting prospect for AMA Pro Motocross in two weeks time when we combine all these guys together and drop the gate 22 more times.