The first 250 class moto of the season saw young guns surge to the front of the field out the gate, as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Max Vohland stormed to the MotoSport.com Holeshot in his Pro Motocross debut, ahead of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Stilez Robertson and Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker. Just behind them Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Jeremy Martin, the lone past champion in the field, started to make his move forward and made the pass on Hammaker for third.
The field stabilized through the opening 10 minutes of the moto, as Vohland looked comfortable controlling the pace of the race. The second-generation racer maintained the lead through the first half of the moto, while Martin patiently waited for his opportunity to get around Robertson and successfully moved into second. Behind the lead trio, the battle for the rest of the top five raged between a handful of contenders, as Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire and Lawrence got the upper hand and eventually worked their way by Robertson to assume third and fourth, respectively.
With about 10 minutes left in the moto Martin began to close in on the rookie out front and took full advantage of his wealth of championship experience to make the pass for the lead look easy. As this unfolded, smoke began to emit from Vohland’s exhaust. Behind them, Lawrence made the pass on Hampshire to move into podium position and set his sights on Vohland. With less than five minutes to go Vohland pulled off the track, which handed second to Lawrence and moved Hampshire into third.
With Lawrence in second, Martin dropped the hammer and picked up the pace in the closing stages of the moto to prevent an attack from the young Australian. Martin carried on to take the first moto win of the 2021 season over Lawrence, who got to within a 2.8 seconds of the lead at the finish. Hampshire completed the top three, while Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing’s Michael Mosiman and Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Justin Cooper rounded out the top five.
The second moto got underway with Martin edging out his teammate Cooper for the MotoSport.com Holeshot, followed by Vohland in third. Cooper was able to secure the lead over Martin and the pair of Yamahas looked to pull away. Lawrence got a much improved start and slotted in behind Vohland in fourth.
The Star Yamaha duo controlled the first half of the moto with relative ease, as Cooper was able to keep Martin at bay. However, Lawrence was lurking. The Honda rider applied heavy pressure on Martin as the moto surpassed the 15-minute mark and made an impressive move to get by the first moto winner.
Lawrence kept his head down and soon closed onto the rear of Cooper for the lead. He wasted little time and went on the attack with a head of steam down the finish line straight that carried him by Cooper and into control of the moto.
Once into the lead, Lawrence opened up a healthy advantage as Cooper and Martin battled for second. Martin knew time was of the essence if he wanted to keep his hopes of an overall victory alive and he made the pass on Cooper to take control of second. About four seconds separated Lawrence from Martin, which Lawrence was able to maintain through to the finish to capture the second moto win and secure the overall victory. He took the checkered flag 4.9 seconds ahead of Martin, while Cooper finished a distant third.
With identical moto finishes Lawrence (2-1) and Martin (1-2) finished tied atop the overall classification, but the second moto tiebreaker proved to be the difference maker in Lawrence’s favor. It was the second career win for the Aussie, with back-to-back victories dating back to the final round of the 2020 season, also at Fox Raceway. Cooper’s strong second moto allowed him to also earn the tiebreaker to capture the final spot on the overall podium (5-3).
“It’s definitely a good feeling. Winning is good,” said Lawrence. “It’s good because with all the hard work I’ve been putting in I can prove to everyone that I’m not just a kid with talent. I’ve been putting the work in and it’s starting to pay off. It’s awesome to get the red plate, but I need to keep it up for the next 22 motos.”