Cycle News Staff | July 10, 2021
2021 Southwick Pro Motocross Rnd 5 Results. The sands of Southwick proved to be the toughest competitor during round five of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Hunter Lawrence put on a spectacular day with 1-1 finishes in the 250MX class, while Dylan Ferrandis took home yet another 450MX overall win at the Twisted Tea Southwick National at The Wick MX track in Southwick, Massachusetts.
Dylan Ferrandis won again but he could’ve been happier. Photos: BrownDog Wilson
450MX National
Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis and Aaron Plessinger started up front in the first 450MX moto, with Justin Barcia (TLD/Red Bull/GasGas), Marvin Musquin (Red Bull KTM), and Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki) rounding out the top five.
Ferrandis finally got a good start used it the maximum advantage. He got away from Barcia early and opened up the lead to nearly three seconds by the 10-minute mark.
Cianciarulo, the morning’s fastest qualifier, gained momentum and began pressuring Plessinger for third.
Ken Roczen (Honda HRC) started in sixth place and rode there for the majority of the race. He moved past Musquin and sat just behind the Plessinger/Cianciarulo battle. With only a minute left on the race clock, Roczen made a pass stick on the Kawasaki rider, Cianciarulo, for fourth.
Ferrandis continued to extend his lead, opening it up to more than seven seconds over the field.
Ken Roczen rode well but lost ground to Ferrandis in the championship.
Chase Sexton (Honda HRC) and Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) were deadlocked in a battle just outside the top five the final few laps.
Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac caught this tow and looked to reel in the lead pack but was still back in eighth.
In the end, it was Ferrandis with the moto win, Barcia second, and Plessinger third.
Roczen landed in fourth, handing over more points to Ferrandis.
Cianciarulo, Sexton, Webb, and Tomac went 5-6-7-8, respectively.
Webb and Roczen started up front in the second moto, hungry for more after their but moments later, an issue with his motorcycle caused him to pit and he would not make it back out onto the track.
A late-race second-moto charge put Justin Barcia on the 450MX podium.
Roczen, meanwhile, sprinted in these early laps and checked out from the rest of the field.
First-moto front runners, Ferrandis and Tomac, battled for the sixth spot, but the Frenchman moved ahead.
Tomac, however, matched the Yamaha rider’s pace, making quick work of Craig and Musquin.
Cianciarulo easily got around Webb and as did Ferrandis and Tomac, who were battling. They caught the number-nine rider, Cianciarulo, soon after.
Trouble for Ferrandis started just after the 10-minute mark when his bike began to pour smoke, which appeared to be a sign that his bike’s engine/clutch was overheating. He was advised by his mechanic to avoid using the clutch to save the engine to prevent a possible DNF. As a result, Ferrandis couldn’t charge like he wanted to with his championship rival, Roczen, just up ahead of him. However, a bobble by Ferrandis allowed Tomac to get by him
Tomac also got his Kawasaki teammate and moved into second place and was now eight seconds down from the leader, Roczen.
Cianciarulo started to fade and Ferrandis pounced, passing the Kawasaki rider despite nursing his struggling machine.
With 11 minutes remaining, Tomac had taken a huge chunk out of Roczen’s lead and made a pass for the lead stick. Tomac’s speed, matched with a mistake from Roczen, allowed the number-three to squirt away with the moto win. It was the third straight second-moto win for Tomac.
Barcia soldiered on from the back, making late-race passes on both Cianciarulo and Webb. The pass on Webb was big, as it put him and his GasGas on the podium, knocking Tomac off of it, Barcia’s 2-4 bettering Tomac’s 8-1 for third overall.
Ferrandis managed to keep his bike alive and bring it home in third behind Tomac and Roczen. Despite taking the overall victory, he was disappointed not to have been able to make a full-on charge on Roczen.
Still, Ferrandis managed to increase his points lead to 19 over Roczen.
Hunter Lawrence celebrates his first 250MX win.
250MX National
RJ Hampshire and his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna teammate Jalek Swoll fought for the holeshot in the first 250MX moto. Swoll emerged with the lead just ahead of Hampshire, Jo Shimoda (Pro Circuit Kawasaki), Michael Mosiman (TLD Red Bull GasGas), and Jeremy Martin (Star Racing Yamaha).
Series leaders Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC) and Justin Cooper (Star Racing Yamaha) both had poor starts and were buried mid-pack.
Martin was looking good inside the top five but pushed the front wheel over one of the deep sand berms and fell. This crash dropped him from fifth to nearly dead last on the first lap.
With Martin going down, it allowed Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC) to move into fifth place.
Mosiman looked to be the fastest man on the track early on and quickly moved his way past Shimoda into third place.
On lap three, Hampshire made a great charge and put himself into the lead position. He began to check out from the field, leaving Mosiman, Swoll, Shimoda, and Lawrence all locked in a tight battle. He eventually tucked the front end in the deep sand, went down, and handed the lead to Mosiman. Hampshire remounted quickly and jumped back into a battle with Swoll and Shimoda.
With Mosiman leading, the GasGas rider looked to get away from the rest of the field. With 12 minutes left on the clock, a three-way battle for the lead took shape involving Mosiman, Lawrence, and Hampshire.
Lawrence won both 250MX motos.
Mosiman then had a spectacular crash over one of the big rollers, giving Lawrence the race lead. Mosiman was okay and finished the race in seventh.
Points leader Jett Lawrence, meanwhile, moved his way through the field and began to close on Swoll. The two came together when Swoll swapped a huge scrub and Lawrence landed on the back of Swoll’s Husqvarna. The Honda rider hit the deck hard but jumped up and continued on. He fell again later on the same lap and would eventually cross the line ninth.
With chaos going on behind him, and Hampshire crashing again, Hunter Lawrence opened up his lead to over six seconds. He went on to take the moto win followed by Hampshire, Shimoda, Nichols, Swoll, and Cooper in sixth.
The start of moto two was nearly a carbon copy of the first. Hampshire, once again, got a fantastic start and found himself up front.
Cooper got a much better start and ran second with Martin third, Swoll fourth, and Shimoda fifth.
Moto-one winner Hunter Lawrence was sixth on the opening lap.
Just before the finish line on lap one, Martin and Swoll tangled and both went down. This allowed Shimoda and Lawrence to move up to third and fourth, with Jett Lawrence closing in fifth.
Jo Shimoda, second overall, got on the outdoor podium for the first time in his young career.
Hampshire continued to lead, looking to right his first moto mistakes. His lead was up to 3.7 seconds over Cooper just nine minutes into the race. Unfortunately for Hampshire, he went down again. He stalled the bike in the fall got going again in fourth, stuck between the two Lawrence brothers.
Hunter Lawrence became the man on the move as he moved past Shimoda around the halfway mark. He set his sights on the race leader Cooper and began to close the gap.
Hampshire went down yet again, this time getting stuck on the side of the track. He got up and tried again to re-enter the track but lost a ton of ground. After another crashed-filled race, Hampshire finished a disappointing sixth.
Eventually, Hunter Lawrence had reeled in Cooper and had the gap down to less than one second. He railed the outside around Cooper and then quickly opened up a 1.5-second lead in just a few turns.
His brother sensed the urgency and tagged onto this group with just three minutes remaining. The pace of the front three riders was nearly the fastest of the day!
Hunter Lawrence put in a charge and broke away from both Cooper and Jett. His dominant ride earned him his first career 250MX overall.
Shimoda’s 3-4 finishes were good enough for second overall for his first career overall podium outdoors, while Cooper’s 6-2 gave netted him third.
Jett Lawrence’s 9-3 was only enough for sixth overall, losing more points to title rival Cooper. Lawrence still leads the 250MX Championship, but it’s been trimmed down to just three points, 204-201.
Hunter Lawrence is third in the championship, 23 points behind Cooper.
Justin Cooper was third overall on the day. He had his chance to win Moto two but was unable to keep Hunter Lawrence behind him.
By Ryan Nitzen
2021 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship
Round 5
Twisted Tea Southwick National
The Wick 338
Southwick, Massachusetts
RESULTS (July 10, 2021)
450MX Overall (Top 10)
| 1. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
1-3 |
| 2. |
Ken Roczen |
(Hon) |
4-2 |
| 3 |
Justin Barcia |
(Gas) |
2-4 |
| 4. |
Eli Tomac |
(Kaw) |
8-1 |
| 5. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
6-5 |
| 6. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
5-6 |
| 7. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
7-8 |
| 8. |
Marvin Musquin |
(KTM) |
10-7 |
| 9. |
Dean Wilson |
(Hus) |
12-9 |
| 10. |
Joey Savatgy |
(KTM) |
11-10 |
250MX Overall (Top 10)
| 1. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
1-1 |
| 2. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Kaw) |
3-4 |
| 3. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
6-2 |
| 4. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
2-6 |
| 5. |
Colt Nichols |
(Yam) |
4-5 |
| 6. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
9-3 |
| 7. |
Michael Mosiman |
(Gas) |
7-7 |
| 8. |
Stilez Robertson |
(Hus) |
8-8 |
| 9. |
Jalek Swoll |
(Hus) |
5-17 |
| 10. |
Pierce Brown |
(Gas) |
13-10 |
450MX POINT STANDINGS (After 5 of 12 rounds)
| 1. |
Dylan Ferrandis |
(Yam) |
224/4 wins |
| 2. |
Ken Roczen |
(Hon) |
205/1 win |
| 3 |
Eli Tomac |
(Kaw) |
167 |
| 4. |
Aaron Plessinger |
(Yam) |
163 |
| 5. |
Justin Barcia |
(Gas) |
161 |
| 6. |
Chase Sexton |
(Hon) |
159 |
| 7. |
Adam Cianciarulo |
(Kaw) |
147 |
| 8. |
Cooper Webb |
(KTM) |
133 |
| 9. |
Christian Craig |
(Yam) |
124 |
| 10. |
Marvin Musquin |
(KTM) |
115 |
250MX POINT STANDINGs (After 5 of 12 rounds)
| 1. |
Jett Lawrence |
(Hon) |
204/1 win |
| 2. |
Justin Cooper |
(Yam) |
201/1 win |
| 3. |
Hunter Lawrence |
(Hon) |
178/1 win |
| 4. |
RJ Hampshire |
(Hus) |
148/1 win |
| 5. |
Jo Shimoda |
(Kaw) |
137 |
| 6. |
Colt Nichols |
(Yam) |
131 |
| 7. |
Jalek Swoll |
(Hus) |
128/1 win |
| 8. |
Jeremy Martin |
(Yam) |
125 |
| 9. |
Garrett Marchbanks |
(Yam) |
115 |
| 10. |
Austin Forkner |
(Kaw) |
94 |
2021 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship Schedule
| Rnd 1 |
May 29, 2021 |
Fox Raceway National |
Pala, CA |
| Rnd 2 |
June 5, 2021 |
Thunder Valley National |
Lakewood, CO |
| Rnd 3 |
June 19, 2021 |
High Point National |
Mt. Morris, PA |
| Rnd 4 |
July 3, 2021 |
RedBud National |
Buchanan, MI |
| Rnd 5 |
July 10, 2021 |
Southwick National |
Southwick, MA |
| Rnd 6 |
July 17, 2021 |
Spring Creek National |
Millville, MN |
| Rnd 7 |
July 24, 2021 |
Washougal National |
Washougal, WA |
| Rnd 8 |
Aug 14, 2021 |
Unadilla National |
New Berlin, NY |
| Rnd 9 |
Aug 21, 2021 |
Budds Creek National |
Mechanicsville, MD |
| Rnd 10 |
August 28, 2021 |
Ironman National |
Crawfordsville, IN |
| Rnd 11 |
Sept 4, 2021 |
Pala National |
Pala, CA |
| Rnd 12 |
Sept 11, 2021 |
Hangtown National |
Sacramento, CA |
