MT. MORRIS, Pa. — An evening of scattered thunderstorms gave way to picture-perfect weather conditions and an ever-changing race track on Saturday as the Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, kicked off its East Coast swing with the annual Father’s Day weekend tradition from legendary High Point Raceway.
A massive crowd that saw reigning 450 class champion Jett Lawrence pilot his Team Honda HRC machine to a 1-1 effort for his third win of the season.
The Honda-mounted Lawrence brothers led the field through the first turn to open Moto 1, with point leader Hunter Lawrence inching ahead of Jett to earn the MotoSport.com Holeshot and hold onto the early lead.
Behind them, Phoenix Racing Honda’s Dylan Ferrandis battled his way into third. The Frenchman held the position for just over a lap until Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper made the pass.
A little more than seven minutes into the moto, Hunter Lawrence lost traction coming out of a turn and stopped briefly, which allowed Jett Lawrence to assume the lead. Moments later, Cooper endured a similar hiccup, which allowed Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton to move into third.
As the moto wore on, the Lawrences increased their advantage over the field as some miscues by Sexton allowed the lead to grow to nearly 20 seconds entering the final 10 minutes of the moto.
The distance between Jett and Hunter hovered around two seconds, with some ebb and flow as the pair navigated lapped riders.
With three laps to go the intensity picked up, with less than a second between the siblings. They mirrored lap times and took the white flag with eight tenths separating the teammates. Hunter Lawrence went on the attack and looked for alternate lines to attempt a pass, but it was too little too late.
Jett Lawrence captured his fourth moto win of the season a mere seventh tenths ahead of Hunter, while Sexton followed in a distant third, 36 seconds back. Cooper finished fourth, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger fifth.
The final moto of the afternoon started with the Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha of Phil Nicoletti leading the field to the MotoSport.com Holeshot before he gave way to Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson. Jett Lawrence then slotted into third, with Hunter Lawrence following into fourth.
The Lawrences were quick to pass Nicoletti and take over the remaining podium positions. Sexton followed through into fourth and pressured Hunter Lawrence for third. Sexton made quick work of the points leader to slot into the top three five minutes into the moto.
Sexton continued his push and pressured Jett Lawrence for second, which saw the champ close in on Anderson for the lead. A battle for the top spot ensued and as Anderson looked to fend off Lawrence, it allowed Sexton to make the move past both riders and jump from third to first.
Lawrence completed the pass on Anderson and quickly worked his way around Sexton to seize control of the lead 10 minutes into the moto. From there, Lawrence and Sexton settled into their respective positions through the heart of the moto.
With a little more than 10 minutes to go Sexton mounted an attack on Lawrence and made an easy pass to move into the lead. Lawrence gave chase and passed Sexton back, only for Sexton to do the same and put his KTM back out front.
Sexton kept a patient Lawrence at bay and as the moto dipped into its final five minutes Sexton lost traction with his front tire and tipped over, which handed the lead back to Lawrence. Sexton remounted in second, but found himself under fire from Hunter Lawrence in third.
Sexton dug deep to get Jett Lawrence back within his sights but the Honda rider managed the lead through to the finish to wrap up his second sweep of the motos this season. He crossed the finish line 3.7 seconds ahead of Sexton, with Hunter Lawrence in third.
Jett Lawrence’s second 1-1 effort of the summer resulted in his third overall win in four rounds and the 14th victory of his 450 Class career and provided back-to-back wins to follow up his worst outing in the premier class in which he crashed and suffered minor injuries.
Sexton (3-2) earned the tiebreaker over Hunter Lawrence (2-3) for the runner-up spot, while the elder Lawrence, who is the championship leader, remains the only rider to finish on the overall podium at each round thus far.
With his four straight podium results to start the season, Hunter Lawrence remains atop the championship standings. He holds a six-point lead over Sexton, with Jett Lawrence in third, eight points out of the lead.
In the 250 class, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Ty Masterpool prevailed with a breakthrough maiden victory that also signified an unprecedented 300th victory for the most successful team in the history of the sport.