Jett Lawrence started counting the points on the final lap of Moto 2, got a little distracted and let Ken Roczen slip around him for the win but coupled with his Moto 1 win Lawrence took the overall victory at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois to snap his one race-losing streak. Before last week when both Jett and Hunter Lawrence.
After finishing third in the first race, Roczen was out of contention for the overall win unless Lawrence struggled and fell well down the order. He finished second overall.
Sexton rounded out the podium with a second-place finish in Moto 1 and third in the second race.
Ten points separate these three riders and they are the most likely riders to settle the championship next week in the season finale.
Sexton holds a two-point lead, which means he must finish ahead of Lawrence at the LA Coliseum to claim the championship.
The 250 class is even closer with less than nine points from first to third. Notably, the top three riders in the points also finished there at Chicagoland.
Hunter Lawrence, Jo Shimoda and Haiden Deegan finished 1-2-3 in both motos and also finished there in the overall. The points are so tight heading into the season finale at the Los Angeles Coliseum that this is now a winner-take-all scenario for each rider and with fewer than nine points separating them an overall win will equal the title.
The gate malfunctions for the start of Moto 2. Start will be delayed a minute.
Wow: Phil Nicoletti makes the most of the start and gets the holeshot. His leader lights are bright green.
It didn’t take long for Jett Lawrence to get the lead from Nicoletti, and he brings Ken Roczen with him.
Chase Sexton moves up to third with Cooper Webb fourth. Dylan Ferrandis is up to fifth. Nicoletti has slipped to sixth.
As we near the halfway point, Lawrence, Roczen and Sexton are still top three.
Ferrandis is fourth and Jason Anderson moves up to the top five.
The top five had settled into a rhythm but Roczen is closing in.
Roczen gets Lawrence on the short chute on the backstretch with two laps remaining. Lawrence looks down at his bike; something is wrong.
Sexton is 15 seconds back, so Lawrence is not in trouble for the overall win unless the bike gives up.
Roczen was third in Moto 1, so he can’t get the overall.
Roczen wins with Lawrence five seconds behind. Sexton takes the final podium spot.
Aaron Plessinger in fourth and Dylan Ferrandis round out the top five.
Jo Shimoda has the early lead and is looking for the overall. It will be his third in row.
Shimoda finished second in Moto 1, so he will have the tiebreaker over Hunter Lawrence, (running second), if he can hold on.
Justin Cooper is in the final podium position with Tom Vialle and Haiden Deegan rounding out the top five.
After a couple of slow laps to start, Deegan finds his rhythm and climbs to fourth.
Shimoda goes down and hands the lead over to Lawrence. As they run, Lawrence would also have the points’ lead by three but Deegan has him in his sights.
Tom Vialle also loses ground. This moto has been turned on its head.
In the last couple of laps, Shimoda was looking down at his bike to see if anything was bent in the crash. He’s back up to speed.
RJ Hampshire has move up to fourth with Justin Cooper in fifth.
On the white flag lap, Max Vohland moves up to fifth.
It was a problem with his shifter lever; Vialle will finish last and his points position takes a major hit.
Shimoda has stabilized in second but he’s nearly five seconds back. Deegan is another four seconds back.
The top three riders finish moto 2 just like Moto 1.
Hunter Lawrence wins with Shimoda second. Haiden Deegan finishes third.
Hampshire in fourth and Max Vohland round out the top five.
Like his brother, Jett Lawrence bounces back from a disappointing zMax effort. He gets the holeshot and take the early lead of Moto 1.
Lawrence lands a little hard on a jump and gives up a little ground to Chase Sexton. Justin Barcia is in third.
The consensus was this track has more Motocross elements than zMax last week so it’s no surprise that Lawrence is pulling away from the field.
Ken Roczen and Barcia are side by side for third. Roczen takes it.
Dylan Ferrandis rounds out the top five.
Phil Nicoletti, who won the LCQ, got a great start and he’s been able to keep his position. He currently rides sixth.
Nicoletti gets passed by Aaron Plessinger. Plessinger was announced as the 450 rider for the Motocross of Nations this week.
White flag. Lawrence leads Sexton, Roczen, Barcia and Dylan Ferrandis now in fifth.
Well, that didn’t take long: Jett Lawrence gets back his winning form.
Sexton, Roczen and Barcia hold their positions but Plessinger gets around Ferrandis on the last lap on the next to last straight.
Nicoletti has one of his best races of the year in sixth.
The line to get into Chicagoland Speedway is still massive, so the start of Moto 1 is a little later than advertised, but opening ceremonies are underway. (Note: by the time the gates was tallied, more than 40,000 fans filled the stands and frontstretch.)
Several riders, including Hunter Lawrence, Haiden Deegan and Levi Kitchen, change tires after the sighting lap.
Several riders go down in the first turn. Justin Cooper is among them.
Nearing the halfway point and Deegan still leads, but Hunter Lawrence is closing in. Tom Vialle and Jo Shimoda are third and fourth. RJ Hampshire is fifth.
Lawrence is now on Deegan’s back wheel. He has six minutes to find his way around.
Deegan bobbles on the finish line jump. Lawrence takes the lead. Vialle still third.
Vialle and Shimoda are embroiled in a tight battle. Shimoda gets the position and now is pestering Deegan.
Shimoda takes second from Deegan. Entering the race, these guys have a share of the points’ lead.
Shimoda caught Lawrence on the last lap, but he couldn’t complete the pass.
Lawrence wins; Shimoda second. Deegan takes the final spot on the podium.
Vialle and Hampshire round out the top five.
Phil Nicolettt takes the early lead in the 450 LCQ with Jerry Robin and Romain Pape in the other transfer positions.
Pape almost goes down, handing the third and final transfer to Jeremy Hand. but there’s still time to come back.
It’s a quick race; Nicoletti, Robin and Hand advance.
Joshua Varize wins the 250 LCQ and will advance to the main along with Preston Kilroy, Coty Schock and Cullin Park.
Ken Roczen jumps to the top of the board in Qualification 1 with a lap of 1:51.562, besting Jett Lawrence by about four-tenths of a second. Chase Sexton slots into P3.
In 250s, RJ Hampshire leads the field over Seth Hammaker and Levi Kitchen. Hunter Lawrence is fourth fastest after struggling at zMax Dragway last week.
Justin Cooper finds a new gear on a track that is getting heavy with rain and he tops Qualification 2. Hamaker retains second with Levi Kitchen in third. Hunter is fourth for the second session.
Hampshire’s Q1 time is good enough for the overall best lap, so he will have first gate pick. Hammaker and Kitchen are second and third.
In 450 Qualification 2, Jason Anderson topped the board but Lawrence is in second again. A light rain is falling and that is a great equalizer. The rain should let up by race time, however.
Session 1 times hold up for overall, so Roczen, Lawrence and Sexton have the three best gate picks. A rider who started the season on 250s and moved to 450s in time to make the playoffs, Garrett Marchbanks qualified fourth.
450 Combined Qualification Results
250 Combined Qualification Results
