Round 28 of the SuperMotocross World Championship, doubling as the Pro Motocross finale at Ironman Raceway in Crawfordsville, Indiana, settles all three outdoor titles on Saturday. The one that matters most is the 450 fight, where brothers Hunter and Jett Lawrence are separated by a single point.
Hunter carries the red plate into Ironman, and the numbers favor him. He leads the class in wins, podiums, holeshots, and average start position - second to Jett's fourth, per Vital MX. He also owns the tiebreaker if the two finish level on points. Ironman is one of his strongest venues: it's where he took his maiden 450MX win last year, finishing runner-up in both motos, and where he dominated at the Motocross of Nations.
Jett remains the faster rider on his day, but his starts have become a genuine handicap against his teammate. At Budds Creek he started both motos outside the top 10 for only the second time this season, and he pinned some of the blame on a start-map change. "My starts felt really good during the week; I made a change to my start map and liked it," Jett said. "A few things just didn't go my way off the start... I just need to execute two good starts at Ironman." Notably, Jett has never started ahead of Hunter in a premier-class moto at Ironman.
The math gives Hunter room to counter rather than attack. As Racer X's Jason Thomas laid it out, Hunter only needs to match Jett on a neutral day, while Jett must go on the offensive - and the pressure of that "must-win" position sits heavier on the challenger than on the leader. Vital MX's Lewis Phillips added that the finale only becomes a true winner-take-all scenario if either rider sweeps both motos, which softens Hunter's stakes relative to Salt Lake City. There, one point down to Ken Roczen in the Supercross ender, Hunter crashed while chasing the title.
This is the sixth time the 450 red plate has changed hands this season, a record according to WeWentFast.com, and neither brother has held it for more than two consecutive rounds. Regardless of Saturday's outcome, that won't change.
Behind the Lawrences, Jorge Prado and Haiden Deegan have been the class's next-best riders and can complicate the arithmetic with a moto win. Eli Tomac showed flashes at Budds Creek and leads all riders with three wins and seven podiums in 10 Ironman starts, making him a plausible spoiler if he can string together a clean day.
In the 250s, Cole Davies turns 19 on race day and can gift himself a first Pro Motocross title. He holds a 14-point cushion over Levi Kitchen and can clinch by winning Moto 1 with Kitchen eighth or worse, or by taking second with Kitchen 11th or worse. Kitchen, the only 250 rider to finish top-five overall at every round this year, needs a Davies meltdown after his opening-lap penalty and crash at Budds Creek. Jo Shimoda is the only active rider to have won at Ironman, so a first-time winner is likely.
WMX could wrap in the first moto. Lachlan Turner holds a 21-point lead over Charli Cannon and clinches her third title by gaining just four points. Cannon, who has finished worse than second only twice in 10 motos, still has a path to push it to the second race.
Become a Motorcycle.com insider. Get the latest motorcycle news first by subscribing to our newsletter here.
Leave a Comment