The 450 Main in Detroit had it all… Hunter dominates 250

2023 AMA Supercross Championship

Round Ten – Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan

250 Heat One

Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team-mate Jordon Smith broke away to an early lead in the opening 250 Heat.  The track at this stage of the night smooth and well groomed.

Deegan looked to have the wood on Smith in the opening laps but the 27-year-old closed in on his young team-mate before blowing past him in the whoops. Deegan was having none of it though and ran his team-mate wide and then blocked and punted him. Smith then came back at him but then tripped himself up in the process and went down.

Benefitting from their friendly fire was Jeremy Martin who simply swept through to the lead and from thereon in was never headed.

Deegan claiming second place before heading back to what would be no doubt some interesting conversations at the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing Team truck…

250 Heat One Results

250 Heat Two

Nate Thrasher scored the holeshot ahead of Luke Neese, Tom Vialle and Hunter Lawrence. The Australian made short work of Vialle and then made a smooth and safe pass on Neese to move up to second place 90-seconds into the Heat.

Thrasher though already had a three-second lead and clear air. Lawrence reduced the gap to less than a second with two laps to go but Thrasher took the chequered flag first.

250 Heat Two Results

250 LCQ Results

250 Main

Hunter Lawrence scored the holeshot to lead a Yamaha triumvirate that consisted of Jeremy Martin, Nate Thrasher and Haiden Deegan.

Max Anstie went down heavily on the opening lap and damage to his machine prevented the Brit from being able to complete the race. A huge blow to his championship chances as the Firepower Honda rider had been second on points heading into this contest.

It took Thrasher five-minutes to get the better of Martin, moving through to second place with ten-minutes left on the shot clock.  It took young Deegan another five minutes to make his way past Martin to secure the final step on the rostrum.

Hunter Lawrence was never headed on his way to a clear 7.7-second victory over Thrasher.

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Hunter’s fifth victory out of the six rounds held so far this season sees Hunter now level with his brother Jett on 11 x 250 Main victories each, but now has one more podium than his younger brother.

With four rounds remaining Hunter Lawrence now enjoys a 35-point lead over Nate Thrasher, who scored his fourth podium of the season.  Haiden Deegan is only five-points further behind. Jeremy Martin moves up to fourth and demotes Max Anstie to fifth.

250 Main Results

250 East Championship Points

450 Heat One

Jason Anderson scored the holeshot ahead of Grant Harlan and Kevin Moranz. Justin Barcia made short work of that pair to move up to second place and set about chasing down Anderson.

Jason Anderson had the speed to keep Barcia at bay though, taking the win by 2.5-seconds.  Adam Cianciarulo a further ten-seconds back in third place. Cooper Webb fourth.

450 Heat One Results

450 Heat Two

Aaron Plessinger got out of the hole well but got a little too sideways into turn one which saw him shuffled back to third place by Ken Roczen and Chase Sexton. Eli Tomac was fourth at the end of the opening lap.

Roczen looked set for the win but Sexton put in a great burst of speed to chase the Suzuki man down and once through then streaked away to a clear victory.

Plessinger also managed to get the better of Roczen before the flag to push the German back to third. Tomac fourth.

450 Heat Two Results

450 LCQ Results

450 Main

Adam Cianciarulo scored the holeshot ahead of Aaron Plessinger, Cooper Webb, Eli Tomac, Justin Barcia and Ken Roczen. Chase Sexton was seventh at the end of the opening lap.

Aaron Plessinger took the lead early on lap two and immediately streaked away from Cianciarulo.

Webb got the better of Cianciarulo a couple of laps in, Tomac then pushed the Kawasaki man further back to fourth, then only a few turns later Tomac demoted Cianciarulo further back to fifth, then almost as quickly Sexton pushed the Kawasaki man further back to sixth.

Eli Tomac took second place from Webb just under five-minutes in. Barcia was right in that contest too as Sexton was chasing them down from behind. Meanwhile Aaron Plessinger had built a five-second lead…

Webb got back past Tomac. Barcia then pushed the defending champ back to fourth then a lap later took second place from Webb.

Jason Anderson went down seven-minutes in while running seventh and trying to pass his team-mate Adam Cianciarulo.

Chase Sexton was continuing to work his way forward. The Honda man got the better of Tomac, a lap later he demoted Webb, then took second place from Barcia on the following lap to move up to second place.

At this halfway point of the race Plessinger had nine-seconds on the now second placed Sexton. The Honda rider managed to reduce that gap to just over three-seconds by the penultimate lap.  Then Plessinger went down!

Plessinger looked safely home but a mistake late on that penultimate lap saw the Red Bull KTM man in tears as he threw away a certain victory.  Despite going down hard, Plessinger salvaged some points for his 13th place finish.

Chase Sexton inherited the lead and took the CRF450R home for a victory by over six-seconds ahead of Cooper Webb while Eli Tomac rounded out the podium ahead of Justin Barcia. Ken Roczen fifth.

Sexton may have won the Main but was awarded only 19-points for it as officials docked the Honda man seven-points for jumping on a red cross flag.

Webb’s 23 points for second place enabled him to increase his series lead over Eli Tomac to three-points, maintaining the red plate for a second-consecutive week and continuing his podium consistency.

Cooper Webb – P2

“It was disappointing for Aaron, he deserved to win tonight, and it was a crazy race. There was a lot of battling, I was just being smart, riding my race and I’m excited. It was a great race to maximise some points and I want to give it up for the Red Bull KTM team. There were fast laps at the beginning, I went down the middle of the whoops during the race and dialled that in, so that helped. I ended up in a good groove, so finishing on the podium was a strong result. I was just clicking my laps and, at the end of the day, it was a great race. We did what we needed to do, for sure, moving forward. Thank you to the fans tonight, too, they were awesome!”

Justin Barcia – P4

“It was a pretty good day. In the heat race I worked through the pack and got up to second. I was chasing first but ran out of time. In the main event I got off to about a fourth or fifth place start. I was charging hard and made a couple mistakes, then rode a little bit tight after that. I was in fourth getting close to third but ran out of time and the race was over. I’m looking forward to Seattle, as it’ll be my birthday weekend. I’m getting old and having a good time.”

Christian Craig – P6

“It started off pretty good. I was gelling with the track and feeling good in practice but rode tight in the heat and made some mistakes. I found my groove a little bit in the main after a mid-pack start. I came through the pack, clicked off my laps, and took advantage of mistakes. I didn’t ride my best but was consistent and able to work my way up to sixth. I need to work on attacking and being better.”

Aaron Plessinger – P13

“That one hurts, that one hurts a lot. I was riding so good and, man, I didn’t stand up in that rut the whole moto – I sat down and put my foot out… The one time I think it’s alright to stand up, it catches my foot and rips me right off the bike. I couldn’t believe it, flying through the air like that and I just tried to tuck, because it was a hard hit. I tried to get back up – I probably could have finished – but man, that hurts. You know, get back up on the saddle and I’ll get back up there in Seattle. I love it there, so don’t count me out, I’m not done yet. I was riding so good, I’m so proud of my riding and I love these fans. I could hear them the whole way! You know, it happens, we’ll be back with a vengeance. My starts are good, I’m good, my fitness is good… I’ve just gotta stay on the bike next time. Thank you to the fans, I wish I could have won it, but we’ll get them next year!”

450 Main Results

450 Championship Points