Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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RJ Hampshire took fifth in his first SMX round on a 450. The 250 class was also shortened to just one moto. ROUND 1 / SEPTEMBER 6, 2025 ZMAX DRAGWAY | CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA P72 was maybe a little impatient," Tomac said of his fall. "I moved out [to a different line] after that. I should have been using the cushion. Try to live and learn. Overall, I felt good. The back motocross section is something like I've never seen. It's fun, it's technical, but at the same time it is gnarly." Hunter Lawrence finished a close fourth. RJ Hampshire rounded out the top five in his debut SMX ride in the 450 divi - sion. "Charlotte was pretty good; I just felt as though I kept grow- ing every time I hit the track," said Hampshire. "We were just steadily building. The moto was solid, too. I didn't get a great start, but I stuck to my game pretty smart, and we were gaug - ing each other." Tomac rounded out the po- dium in third. The Monster En- ergy Star Racing Yamaha rider looked like his old self; he won the opening moto here one year ago. Tomac stalked Lawrence for the first half of the race and kept the Honda HRC rider in his crosshairs. It looked like Tomac could be a threat for the win, but an untimely washout dropped him back to third. He was over - taken by Sexton but managed to hold off a hard-charging Hunter Lawrence. Tomac's third over- all sees him fourth in the SMX points. "I'm not sure if it was accel - eration or if it was the front end that tucked there; either way I NO PRADO Jorge Prado was a no-show in Charlotte. The Monster Energy Kawasaki team announced earlier in the week that the two parties mutually decided not to participate in the post-season races, meaning the factory team has no presence in the 450SMX class with both Prado and Jason Anderson out of action. A release from the team said, "Following his first Pro Motocross Cham- pionship campaign and placing sixth overall, Jorge Prado and Kawasaki mutually decided that he would not participate in the upcoming SuperMotocross Playoff rounds. Monster Energy Kawasaki will attend Charlotte this weekend in support of Ka- wasaki Team Green riders Enzo Temmerman and Vincent Wey as they compete in the SMX Next World All-Stars class in Charlotte and St. Louis." SMX NEXT The SMX Next class, comprised of up-and-coming amateur ath- letes, completed their qualifying earlier in the day and were ready to compete in their one-moto for- mat. But because of the weather, they didn't get a chance to race and will now line up according to their Concord qualifying results for next weekend's SMX race in St. Louis at The Dome at Ameri- ca's Center. BEAUMER UPDATE Red Bull KTM's Julien Beau- mer suffered a big crash during the second 250 qualifier, which ultimately forced a red flag and ended his weekend early. The Briefly... SUPERMOTOCROSS I MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERMOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP