spot he wanted. A third overall
for the points leader didn't come
easy, especially after his state-
ment ride one week ago. So-so
starts allowed his competitors
to get ahead early and left the
Honda rider fighting through
the pack in both motos. A fall
in moto two washed away his
efforts in the first half and a
fourth was all he could muster.
With his main title rival, Deegan,
taking a clean sweep, Lawrence
sees his points lead shrink to
three.
"The second moto I was in a
pretty good spot to do the job,
but I just pushed the front," Law
-
logged another fastest qualifier
and led 12 laps in the mains. A
third in race one and a second in
race two put him second overall
behind his teammate, Deegan.
Cooper is now third in points, 19
back from the lead.
"In both motos I felt good, up
until 25 minutes into the second
moto," said Cooper. "I was push
-
ing until the halfway point, trying
to build up a little gap. But then
25 minutes in I was falling back
into the clutches of Haiden, and
I knew it. I tried to hang on, but
he was ripping."
Lawrence finished out the day
on the podium but not in the
just go out there and have fun
every weekend. That's definitely
paying off. When I was catch
-
ing those guys I knew I had the
pace. I was like 'Shoot, I might
as well try to break these guys
right now.' I just sent it hard, got
to the lead and laid down those
fast times."
It was another second place
for Justin Cooper. The Monster
Energy Star Racing Yamaha
Team rider had another strong
showing. Cooper ran up front all
day, nearly winning moto two,
but dropped off the pace late
in both races. Good starts and
fast laps were his specialty. He
ROUND 8 / JULY 22, 2023
WASHOUGAL MX PARK, WASHOUGAL, WASHINGTON
MOTOCROSS I PRO MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP / SUPERMOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P72
Haiden Deegan celebrates
his 1-1 in the 250MX class.