the lead with Roczen still hot on
his heels. The two rivals stayed
close for the final few laps before
lapped riders blocked Roczen's
line and ultimately gave the
advantage to Lawrence. He made
the math easy this time around,
going 1-1 to secure the win and
the first-ever SuperMotocross
World Championship.
"I saw the yellow flags last
minute," Lawrence said about
Sexton's crash. "It was kind of
an awkward moment because I
was second-guessing the flags,
and the last thing I wanted was
to win and get a [penalty]. It was
a shame he [Sexton] went down;
he was riding very well. I was just
trying to stay clear of his bike and
make sure I didn't land on him."
VOLUME ISSUE SEPTEMBER , P71
HUNTER SITS
OUT FINAL
The big news going into the
evening's race program was
the announcement that Honda
HRC's Hunter Lawrence, who
stood a good chance of winning
the 250cc SMX crown, wasn't
going to suit up. Lawrence fell
during Friday's practice, injuring
his back. He then re-aggravated
the injury during Saturday's
afternoon practice/qualifying
session. He said he was in a lot
of pain and didn't want to risk
further damage and also took
into account next week's Mo-
tocross of Nations, where he is
representing Team Australia.
250 ALL STARS
The 250 Amateur All Stars took
to the track for the final round
of SMX just prior to opening
ceremonies. Pro Circuit Team
Green's Drew Adams came
out with the win over GasGas's
Mark Fineis, and Kawasaki's
Slade Varola.
RED FLAG
The first 450 main event was
red-flagged due to a big crash
by Justin Barcia. The TLD
GasGas rider got bucked in the
rhythm section just moments
after taking the lead and nosed
into a jump face before going
over the bars. Barcia was slow
to his feet, which required the
race to be stopped followed
by a single-file restart, led by
Jason Anderson who was lead-
ing the race when the red flag
came out. No update has been
released on Barcia's condition.
Briefly...
Chase Sexton (23) chases his
teammate, Lawrence, in moto
one but could hold the pace.
