ROUND 2 / SEPTEMBER 16, 2023
CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY, JOLIET, ILLINOIS
MOTOCROSS I SUPERMOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P78
two. The last race will be the
only one that really counts."
Round-one winner, Jo Shi-
moda, was arguably the fastest
250
rider of the night but settled
for second overall with 2-2
finishes. He came in tied for the
points lead with Deegan and set
the quickest lap times in both
motos. A late-race charge saw
Shimoda catch Lawrence in race
one before a handlebar-upper
-
cut from his own bike left him
stunned on the final
lap. Then
while leading the second moto,
a bike malfunction saw him
slow down as he subsequently
handed the lead over to Law
-
rence. Shimoda still held on for
second
in the race, and second
sult at round one. Lawrence, the
veteran of the small-bore class,
showed his composure in both
races as he ran second until the
leaders fumbled with mistakes.
In race one, Haiden Deegan
handed the lead over with a
mistake just before the finish
line. Then bike problems for Jo
Shimoda in race two allowed
Lawrence to sneak through with
another win. The 1-1 sweep is
a huge rebound for Lawrence,
as he now takes control of the
250SMX points by three.
"It's a higher risk and a higher
reward since it's such a short
season," said Lawrence. "It
doesn't really matter as long as
you're in the top five for the first
be better, which was kind of a little
bit difficult to manage mentally.
There was a lot of frustration, but
coming into the race, I just did
my best and got two good starts.
I was lacking pace for sure, but
yeah, 6-5 for fifth overall. That's
the best I could do today."
Justin Barcia, Cooper Webb,
Phil Nicoletti, Jason Anderson
and Colt Nichols rounded out the
top 10.
250MX
Hunter Lawrence made it easy
on the mathematicians with a
clean 1-1 sweep of the 250SMX
division. Double points on the
line allowed him to make up
ground after his eighth-place re
-
Jo Shimoda nearly won
both 250 races but finished
second both times.
