CONCORD, N.C. — At the end of the SuperMotocross World Championship opener at zMAX Dragway, to no one’s surprise, it was a Honda HRC bike atop the podium.
But the rider it belonged to was not Jett Lawrence, who was coming off a record-breaking AMA Pro Motocross season where he won his rookie 450cc class motocross campaign and logged a perfect 22-0 moto score.
It was the No. 23 of Chase Sexton, who won his first AMA Supercross championship earlier in the year.
After a winless motocross season, the 23-year-old kicked off the three-race SMX playoff stretch with a bang, sweeping both 20-minute motos. He is the first rider in 11 rounds to beat Lawrence.
“It’s nice to be back on the top step of the podium. It feels like it’s been a long time,” Sexton said. “I definitely had a lot to prove. I had a rough outdoor season — I didn’t win a moto. So I had a lot to prove to myself more than anything. That’s something I can hang my hat on.”
Ken Roczen finished second overall with a 3-3 performance.
The No. 94 H.E.P. Motorsports Suzuki was the one to watch in moto one, as Roczen put in a late charge to pass Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger and Red Bull/Troy Lee/GASGAS rider Justin Barcia to finish third. He also controlled most of the second moto, leading several laps on the hybrid track until Sexton took the lead with roughly six minutes to go.
Star Racing Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis was third overall at zMAX Dragway after finishing runner-up in moto one and fourth in the second moto of the day. The Frenchman admitted he wasn’t very optimistic about his chances upon arrival at the track, but on Saturday night, he had a smile on his face.
“I just proved that I can do it. For me, for my personal health, it’s a good surprise,” Ferrandis said.
Lawrence was fourth overall with a 7-2 record. The No. 18 rider uncharacteristically struggled in the opening moto and buried himself outside the top 10 on the start. The 20-year-old looked more like himself during moto two, digging deep after a poor start to push past Ferrandis, Anderson and Roczen late in the game to finish second.
Jason Anderson was fifth overall (4-5) on his No. 21 Monster Energy Kawasaki.
“Obviously you want more, so being on the podium would be nice, but today, for me — I crashed a couple times in practice — it was nice to come out with a top five,” Anderson said.
Plessinger (5-6), Barcia (6-8), Cooper Webb (8-7), Garrett Marchbanks (10-9) and Colt Nichols (12-10) completed the top 10 overall.
250 SMX Results — Shimoda Goes Back-To-Back
Levi Kitchen and Haiden Deegan were the stars of the show in the first 250cc class moto, as Kitchen pulled the holeshot on his No. 43 Star Racing Yamaha machine. After starting third, Deegan slowly worked his way up to his teammate and eventually got by him with nine minutes to go.
Deegan collected the moto win, with Kitchen, Tom Vialle, Jo Shimoda and Seth Hammaker completing the top five. Hunter Lawrence, who crashed on lap one, finished ninth.
Vialle was the man of the hour during the second moto, as the No. 128 KTM launched out front on the start and kept the lead until six minutes to go. Third-starting Shimoda made a swift pass around the outside of Vialle on the right-hand sweeper, securing first position on his No. 30 Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki machine.
Shimoda held on to the checkered flag and picked up his second consecutive overall victory — he swept the final motocross round two weekends ago. Vialle, Ryder DiFrancesco, Jordan Smith and Deegan completed the top five in moto two.
Lawrence endured another challenging race to finish seventh.
Shimoda, Vialle and Deegan were the top three overall in the 250 class at the SMX opening round.