By John Goolsby, Prep Sports Editor
BIRMINGHAM – Jett Lawrence was fastest in qualifying Saturday and backed it up in the 450SX Main Event of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship.
The Australian, who finished second in Heat 2, led from the start to claim his fourth win of the season.
Lawrence’s win, his second in a row, gives him a 13-point lead over second-place finisher Cooper Webb.
Webb got a great start as the gate dropped, but Lawrence beat him to the first turn and never looked back.
Lawrence put on a masterful performance on a less than ideal track surface.
Torrential rain on Friday eliminated any practice time, and even though the track had been covered, the remaining water made the track a little more complicated.
“It was almost harder than last week, especially in those rhythms,” Lawrence said.
“I feel like some of the tracks we’ve had this year, the track kind of had a limit on speed,” Lawrence explained. “I think Cooper could also agree,” Lawrence said.
“You didn’t want to push too hard with this track because I think if you tried pushing too much, the track would bite you back.”
The race was not without drama for Webb. The North Carolina native ran into the “30-second” card girl on the first lap.
“That was crazy, and I’ve never seen that before. We came around, and the 30-second card girl was still in the middle of the track,” he said.
“She was trying to walk off; Jett went right as she was walking right, and I was like, OK, I’ll go left as she was walking off.”
Webb was unhindered, and the unnamed female was unharmed.
Ken Roczen of Germany finished third after getting by Chase Sexton and Justin Cooper.
“I think where I got held up the longest was behind J-Coop,” Roczen said.
“It also takes a lot of energy because I tried super hard a few times to get by. I pushed extra hard but then couldn’t make it happen, then dropped back a little bit and had to regroup and go again.”
Roczen chalked the difficulty of the track up to the deep ruts that developed over the course of the night.
“It’s just kind of hard when the track is that rutty. We can’t really move around the track that much, especially in the rhythms. We kind of just follow and there’s no staying low or anything like that. We’re kind of just all hovering.”
The riders were very complimentary of Birmingham.
“I was actually really pleasantly surprised from the moment we got here because all the security guards and everyone around was really nice,” said Roczen
“It was very noticeable compared to other races.”
“I thought it was very welcoming,” said Cooper Web.
“When you go to a new place, you never know what to expect and everything went smooth and good.”
“The fans were awesome this weekend,” said Lawrence.
“They were polite, and even with the weather being down on Friday with the rain, they came with big smiles.”
“It’s awesome to see. It gets us up and going and puts a smile on our face because they want to see us race,” the points leader said.
“It gives us some motivation to go out and do good.”
In the 250SX East Main Event, Frenchman Tom Vialle took the win.
Vialle has won two races in a row.
“Grabbing another win, I didn’t expect it,” said Vialle.
“I felt great all day and I had a good heat race… I didn’t have the best start, but I caught all the guys and I was P-1. [Then I just tried to] do some good laps and be consistent all moto.”
“I tried to save [energy for] the last four or five laps and [it] was great.”
“I love the track and we were lucky with the weather [and so] the track was pretty good and I’m really happy,” he said.
“Another win, taking the red plate, and I mean, it’s been a long time [that] I didn’t win two races in a row, [not] since I was back in the GPs.”
“So I feel good and it’s nice to win, I can tell you,” said Vaille.
Cameron McAdoo finished second ahead of Seth Hammaker.
450SX Results:
POS. | # | RIDER NAME |
---|---|---|
1 | 18 | Jett Lawrence |
2 | 2 | Cooper Webb |
3 | 94 | Ken Roczen |
4 | 1 | Chase Sexton |
5 | 32 | Justin Cooper |
6 | 21 | Jason Anderson |
7 | 3 | Eli Tomac |
8 | 7 | Aaron Plessinger |
9 | 51 | Justin Barcia |
10 | 27 | Malcolm Stewart |
11 | 12 | Shane McElrath |
12 | 9 | Adam Cianciarulo |
13 | 45 | Colt Nichols |
14 | 67 | Benny Bloss |
15 | 82 | Mitchell Harrison |
16 | 100 | Anthony Bourdon |
17 | 11 | Kyle Chisholm |
18 | 22 | Freddie Noren |
19 | 109 | Aaron Tanti |
20 | 23 | Grant Harlan |
21 | 199 | John Short |
22 | 14 | Dylan Ferrandis |
250SX Results:
POS. | # | RIDER |
---|---|---|
1 | 16 | Tom Vialle |
2 | 63 | Cameron Mcadoo |
3 | 43 | Seth Hammaker |
4 | 39 | Pierce Brown |
5 | 6 | Jeremy Martin |
6 | 33 | Jalek Swoll |
7 | 59 | Daxton Bennick |
8 | 69 | Coty Schock |
9 | 38 | Haiden Deegan |
10 | 48 | Chance Hymas |
11 | 65 | Henry Miller |
12 | 75 | Marshal Weltin |
13 | 90 | Hardy Munoz |
14 | 483 | Bryton Carroll |
15 | 128 | Preston Boespflug |
16 | 602 | Gage Linville |
17 | 93 | Bryce Shelly |
18 | 296 | Ryder Floyd |
19 | 208 | Logan Leitzel |
20 | 435 | Marcus Phelps |
21 | 37 | Max Anstie |
22 | 964 | Dominique Thury |
450SX Points Standings:
1. Jett Lawrence, 185
2. Cooper Webb, 172
3. Chase Sexton, 165
4. Eli Tomac, 159
5. Ken Roczen, 153
6. Jason Anderson, 147
7. Aaron Plessinger, 146
8. Justin Cooper, 108
9. Dylan Ferrandis, 107
10. Justin Barcia, 95