Hunter Lawrence gave up his
streak of podium finishes with
fourth overall, one spot ahead
of RJ Hampshire, who has been
impressive ever since moving
up to the 450s.
"I feel like we just keep making
progress as the series develops,"
said Hampshire. "I ran up there
with the front guys for a bit in
moto one on my way to finish P4.
Second moto, decent start, then
made a push towards the top
five after the restart but lost the
rear with a few laps to go."
SMX points leader Justin
Cooper finished just outside the
top five in sixth. Justin Barcia,
podium for Tomac isn't surpris
-
ing, Washougal was his most
consistent
round lately, as he
was showing noticeably more
intensity at the front.
"Different setup," he said of
his improvement. "I found some
-
thing that I was just comfortable
in, and we
were within the same
zip code as [Jett and Sexton],"
Tomac said. "Before Millville, I
did some testing, and I thought
the bike was better. Then I took
it to the race, and it was not bet
-
ter. I take responsibility for tell-
ing the team. It looked faster on
the clock,
but it just didn't work
in a race environment."
still happy with a second and to
rebound in the second [moto]
with a race win."
Tomac returned to form,
finishing the day in third overall.
The four-time champion had
struggled in recent weeks with
inconsistent results that have
kept him off the podium since
Southwick. At Washougal, he
looked like the Tomac of old,
fighting off Jett in the first moto
and beating the points leader
to the line for second place. He
then followed that up with a
strong pace and a second-place
finish in the third moto, earning
him third on the day. While a
Vialle sat out after crashing at the
Spring Creek National, which left
him with a sore knee and shoulder.
MILITARY
APPRECIATION
Washougal once again served as
the host of the honorary Military
Appreciation round. Most of the
teams decked out their fleet with
custom military-themed gear and
graphics as a salute to our armed
forces.
Briefly...
VOLUME 62 ISSUE 29 JULY 22, 2025 P69
(Left) Jo Shimoda used 2-1 finishes
to clinch his second overall win of
the year in the 250MX class.
