Lawrence boys on top at SMX play-off 2 in Illinois

2023 SMX World Championship
Play-Off 2 – Chicagoland Speedway

Images by Jeff Kardas

Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence was back on the top step of the podium with a strong overall win at the SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff 2 inside Chicagoland Speedway.

Lawrence’s victory came via 1-2 moto scores in the event’s two-race format after the Aussie slowed in the second moto to usher Roczen past him, as he knew that would give Roczen second for the round and thus gain him more points on series leader Chase Sexton. However, Roczen would have still finished ahead of Sexton for the round if he had finished second in that final moto.  Jett is now only two-points behind Sexton ahead of the triple-points finale next weekend in Los Angeles.

Ken Roczen’s second place overall finish just days after the birth of his second child; the win moved Roczen into third place on the points table, well within striking distance of potentially winning the championship next weekend if things go his way.

Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton earned third place overall on the high-speed, SuperMotocross track that stretched across the storied auto raceway.

In the 250 Class, Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence was back on top, winning both motos and recapturing the 250 Class points lead.  Hunter heads to the L.A. finale three-points ahead of Jo Shimoda, and seven-points ahead of Haiden Deegan.

450 Moto One

Jett Lawrence grabbed the holeshot in the first 450 Class moto with Justin Barcia, Sexton, Phil Nicoletti, and Dylan Ferrandis right behind. Sexton, the winner of both motos the previous weekend at Playoff 1, was quickly on the attack to take the lead, but Lawrence held his spot.

Just before five minutes had ticked off the race clock Sexton made a tiny mistake exiting one of the sand turns; that was all it took for Lawrence to break free and sprint out of striking distance.

The two Honda team-mates put in similar lap times, each taking a different bike set-up approach to their race bikes. Sexton was running a stiff Supercross-style suspension set-up and Lawrence had on his more compliant motocross-style suspension. The difference demonstrated the challenge of all the teams to find an ideal bike set-up for the custom built SMX track.

Just past five minutes into the 20-minute plus one lap moto, Ken Roczen took over third place from Barcia in a thrilling back-and forth that had the riders trade the lead multiple times through several sections. The lead group looked mostly settled at that point, but Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger was on the move after a bad start that had him outside the top ten at the beginning of the race.

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Plessinger reached sixth place with just over six minutes on the clock and charged after Ferrandis. On the final lap Plessinger made the move into fifth. At the checkered flag it was Lawrence, Sexton, Roczen, Barcia, then Plessinger.

450 Moto One Results

450 Moto Two

Veteran Nicoletti grabbed the holeshot in the second bout and led Barcia, Lawrence, Sexton, and Roczen early on.

Lawrence and Roczen were both on the move on the opening lap. Lawrence took the lead from Nicoletti before a minute-and-a-half was off the race clock. Roczen was past Nicoletti 40-seconds later and then right on Lawrence’s rear fender and pressing for the lead.

Sexton eased into third place but the battle was just out of reach as Lawrence’s and Roczen’s pace pushed the front two into a race of their own. Behind Sexton, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb reached fourth place with Ferrandis right behind.

Throughout the race Roczen would fall back two-seconds, then make a push and get right back up to Lawrence. With just over eight-minutes left on the clock Plessinger moved into fourth and the front group looked settled.

But in the closing laps Roczen closed the gap again and pressured Lawrence. With just over a minute left on the clock Lawrence waved Roczen past, relinquishing the lead but also eliminating the pressure. Onlookers suspected a mechanical issue, but Lawrence explained later it was an attempt to help Roczen finish ahead of Sexton in the overall results; it was a strategy to gain maximum points on series-leader Sexton.

Once past Roczen then pulled out a comfortable gap while Lawrence maintained his lead over Sexton.

Jett Lawrence earning the overall round win ahead of Roczen with Sexton third for the round.

450 Moto Two Results

450 Round

Going into the Final next weekend, which pays triple points, Sexton leads Lawrence by just two-points and Roczen sits in third only 10-points back from the top spot. This creates a ‘winner take all’ finale between Lawrence and Sexton, with Roczen positioned to take the championship if he wins the Final and Sexton fails to finish in second.

450 Round Results

SMX 450 Points

Chicago 450 Highlights

250 Moto One

When the gate dropped for moto one of the 250 Class Haiden Deegan rocketed into the lead ahead of Red Bull KTM’s Tom Vialle, Hunter Lawrence, and Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jo Shimoda.

Shimoda looked aggressive going after third but Lawrence held him off.  On the opening lap of the 20-minute plus one lap moto Lawrence made the move on Vialle to take over second at the same time RJ Hampshire got around Shimoda to push him back to fourth.

For the first half of the race all eyes were on the fluctuating gap between Deegan in the lead and Lawrence in close pursuit; it grew and tightened between 1.3 to 2.2 seconds. Seven-minutes into the race Shimoda dialed up his aggression and took back fourth place.

13-minutes into the race Lawrence pulled up on Deegan’s wheel in a move for the lead. A minute later Deegan made a mistake in one of the track’s deep-rutted corners and wasn’t able to jump the finish line double. Lawrence flew past and soon after pulled a small gap on Deegan.

With a couple of minutes remaining on the clock Shimoda moved past Vialle and set his sights on Deegan. The Japanese rider put in blistering laps and used momentum from an outside line to jump past Deegan.

Shimoda then set his sights on Lawrence, who had a two-second lead at the white flag. Shimoda quickly closed the gap and got right on Lawrence’s rear tyre. However, the Kawasaki riders progress was stunted when he took a hard impact on an outside rut with a sharp bend in it. Shimoda bit his tongue and cut his chin on his handlebar; and dialed back his last-lap attack.

Lawrence took the moto one win, Shimoda cruised home to second and Deegan held on for third.

250 Moto One Results

250 Moto Two

Justin Cooper nabbed the holeshot in the second bout with Shimoda, Lawrence, Ryder DiFrancesco, and Hampshire in tow. In the opening lap Lawrence bumped past Shimoda in a corner, only to get re-passed by the Kawasaki rider in an immediate counterattack.

Shimoda then set his sights on Cooper and four-and-a-half minutes into the race Shimoda took over the lead while Lawrence sat third and Deegan had reached fourth.

A minute later Lawrence overtook Cooper momentarily, but it took another lap of racing to secure the spot proper.

Lawrence was now just one-second behind Shimoda, the winner of the moto would take the event overall and the $50,000 race win bonus.

Vialle put in a strong push and got up to third place with eight-and-a-half minutes left on the clock. But the KTM rider then broke his shift lever and, with his bike stuck in second gear, was out of the hunt for the race win.

With less than five-minutes left on the clock the battle for the lead took a dramatic turn when Shimoda sensed something wrong with his bike. He later said that he slowed to take the stress off his bike and ensure a finish.

Lawrence rode smooth to the chequered flag for the moto win, and with that the overall round victory.

The win gave Lawrence the points lead going into the SuperMotocross World Championship Final next weekend in L.A.

250 Moto Two Results

250 Round Results

SMX 250 Points

Chicago 250 Highlights

2023 AMA SuperMotocross Calendar