Jett Lawrence and Eli Tomac won one moto and finished second in the other in Round 1 of the 2024 SuperMotocross World Championship. Lawrence scored the overall win and three additional points via the tiebreaker.
Returning from a thumb injury, it didn’t take long for Lawrence to reestablish his dirt bike dominance with the third win of his SuperMotocross career in four starts. Lawrence won Rounds 2 and 3 of the inaugural SMX Championship last year at Chicagoland Speedway and the Los Angeles Coliseum.
With this victory, Lawrence has now won eight of the last 10 races he’s entered, finishing off the top step of the podium only in the Monster Energy Supercross season finale in Salt Lake City, Utah, and in Round 2 of the Pro Motocross Series after crashing in Moto 1 of the Hangtown Motocross Championship.
Lawrence is now second in SMX points with a close, four-point deficit to Chase Sexton.
Tomac showed speed throughout the round. He earned the holeshot in Moto 1 and did not relinquish the lead through 13 laps. It took a while for Jett to get around his brother Hunter Lawrence in that race, and he could not make up for the deficit, finishing five seconds behind. In Moto 2, Tomac led the majority of the race, but when he got squirrelly in the finish line straightaway, he became overly conservative in the next several turns and lost the lead heading into a tricky sand section. He claimed second overall.
Click here for in-race updates and a recap from zMax Dragway
Sexton finished third overall with consistency but was unhappy with his speed following the race. He was fourth in Moto 1 and third in Moto 2, but was more than nine seconds off the leaders’ pace in both races. He vowed to go back to the testing track this week and look for improvement. Sexton’s Round 1 victory last year in the SMX World Championship makes him the only rider other than Jett to win a playoff overall.
Hunter finished third in Moto 1 but lost the pace in Moto 2 to finish sixth. He was two behind Sexton in the Olympic-style points and credited with third overall. With double points on the line at Texas Motor Speedway in Round 2 and triple points in the finale in Las Vegas, he is well within striking distance of the lead with a five-point deficit.
Ken Roczen rounded out the top five overall with fifth-place results in both motos. He returned to the Unadilla National after suffering a knee and leg injury in a crash in Nashville, Tennessee, but rode only one of the final outdoor rounds and is eighth in the overall standings.
Justin Barcia and Jason Anderson crashed in preliminary races and opened to door for two additional riders to advance from the LCQ.
Dean Wilson finished 19-19 for 20th overall.
Colt Nichols fell early in the LCQ and would not have advanced without those withdrawals. He finished the Feature 10-10 and finished ninth overall.
Here are the 450 Motocross results and points standings after Round 1 in Concord, North Carolina:
Results
Click here for the official 450 results from zMax Dragway
Qualification Results
Moto 1
Moto 2
Combined
Last Chance Qualifier
Moto 1
Results
Moto 2
Results
Here is the finishing order of Round 1 at zMax Dragway:
1. Jett Lawrence, 2-1
2. Eli Tomac, 1-2
3. Chase Sexton, 4-3
4. Hunter Lawrence, 3-6
5. Ken Roczen, 5-5
6. Justin Cooper, 7-4
7. Malcolm Stewart, 8-7
8. Aaron Plessinger, 6-11
9. Colt Nichols, 10-10 *
10. Cooper Webb, 14-8
11. Dylan Ferrandis, 11-12
12. Marshal Weltin, 13-14
13. Shane McElrath, 15-13
14. Christian Craig, 20-9
15. Freddie Noren, 12-18
16. Grant Harlan, 16-15
17. Phillip Nicoletti, 9-22
18. Jerry Robin, 18-16 *
19. Harri Kullas, 17-17
20. Dean Wilson, 19-19 *
21. Kyle Chisholm, 21-20
22. Justin Hill, 22-21 *
* Advanced from LCQ
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Justin Barcia returns to SMX to ‘show what he has’
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Chase Sexton, Aaron Plessinger named to MXoN Team USA
