early lead, while points leader
Lawrence ran in sixth.
As a light rain was falling,
Lawrence slowly made his way
forward, eventually getting his
HRC Honda past Max Anstie for
second place on lap 11 lap. From
there, he crept closer and closer
to Thrasher while both riders
had to negotiate lapped traffic,
setting the stage for a thrilling
last-lap battle for the win.
Several turns from the finish,
Lawrence had closed the gap and
made his move. Thrasher an
-
swered back in the following turn
in a
desperate attempt to slam
the door on Lawrence. But in the
final turn, Lawrence got to the
inside and made his move by run
-
ning Thrasher high in the berm,
putting his
Honda into the lead.
"This was a big confidence-
booster for sure," said Pless
-
inger. "I've been working on
my starts
and that's definitely
showing. It felt good to get out
front and run with the front
guys. It's a shame that I made a
couple of mistakes that kept me
from latching on to [Webb and
Sexton]. Third place is the best
result I've had in a while, so I'm
pumped."
250SX EAST
The 250SX East main was a
thriller. Nate Thrasher led 18
laps of the 19-lap race, losing
control of the race only when
it mattered. Thrasher, on the
Monster Energy Star Racing
Yamaha who had earlier won
his heat race, jumped out to an
I've had, aside from Anaheim 2.
Cooper and I were going who
could go faster each lap. The
lappers were definitely getting
both of us in the sand section."
Aaron Plessinger joined his
KTM teammate for the party on
the podium with a third-place
finish. Plessinger looked great
last weekend and carried that
momentum into Florida. His
speed was evident early on in
the heat race where he passed
Tomac in the whoop section.
Later in the main, the KTM rider
got a great start and managed
to keep it upright for a solid
and lonely third-place ride. He
finished seven seconds behind
Sexton and 10 seconds clear
of Roczen in fourth. AP's last
podium came at Oakland 2022.
ROUND 5 / FEBRUARY 11, 2023
RAYMOND JAMES STADIUM / TAMPA, FLORIDA
P56
SUPERCROSS I MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS / SUPERMOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Just 0.134
seconds separated
Hunter Lawrence
(96) and Nate
Thrasher (29) in
the exciting 250SX
East main.
