Second Overall for Hunter Lawrence at Spring Creek MX

July 15, 2024

• CRF450RWE rider tallies 2-2 moto finishes in Millville, Minnesota
• Moto 2 first-turn incident proves costly for Chance Hymas and Jo Shimoda in 250 class

During the sweltering seventh round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Millville, Minnesota's Spring Creek Raceway, Team Honda HRC's Hunter Lawrence extended his perfect podium 450 overall-finish record, posting a pair of second-place moto finishes for the same position on the day. Meanwhile, some strong moto 1 riding by the team's 250 riders-Chance Hymas and Jo Shimoda-was negated by a first-turn incident in moto 2, resulting in damage to bikes, bodies and points.

Lawrence took his CRF450RWE to his fifth holeshot of the season in the first 450 moto, and he led the first half of the race before succumbing to Chase Sexton. From there, the Australian rode to a safe second-place result, with Phoenix Racing Honda's Dylan Ferrandis crossing the line in sixth. Lawrence completed the first lap of moto 2 in second place before moving by Justin Cooper to lead three laps in the middle part of the race. Sexton eventually took over the point, and Lawrence finished second, with Ferrandis once again sixth.

The first 250 moto saw Shimoda and Hymas sitting in sixth and seventh, respectively, after lap 1. The duo quickly advanced two positions before Shimoda went on a midrace surge, climbing as high as second place. Unfortunately, the Japanese rider slipped two spots in the final two laps to finish fourth-one ahead of his teammate. Following a delay for lightning and some heavy rain, the muddy and slick second moto kicked off with a pileup in turn 1. Hymas managed to avoid crashing but had his leg run over by another rider, causing too much pain to continue. Meanwhile, Shimoda went down and bent his front brake rotor, requiring a wheel change from his crew. After he circulated for several laps, the crew decided by that points weren't possible, and Shimoda withdrew from the moto.

NOTES

• During the week between the RedBud and Spring Creek rounds, Team Honda HRC riders Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence and Chance Hymas joined team manager Lars Lindstrom and several crew members at Indiana's Ironman Raceway for the press launch of the 2025 CRF450R. Hunter and Chance both had an opportunity to ride the new bike with journalists.
• After a couple of days at the press launch, Jett Lawrence relocated to Southern California, where he will spend a couple of weeks rehabilitating his injured thumb.
• On Wednesday, Hunter Lawrence, Chance Hymas and Lars Lindstrom had an exclusive chance to try HRC USA's driving simulator in Indianapolis. Honda-backed IndyCar drivers regularly use the high-tech facility to prepare for their races.
• All three active Team Honda HRC riders took part in Spring Creek's Media Day on Friday, capitalizing on the opportunity to try out the track and be interviewed by journalists.
• Moon Motorsports, a dealership in Monticello, Minnesota, staffed a popup activation booth in the Team Honda HRC pits at Millville.
• For the second weekend in a row, Christien Ducharme spun wrenches for Hunter Lawerence, whose normal mechanic Cameron Camera was recuperating from an injured back. Ducharme normally works as Jett Lawrence's mechanic.
• Japanese rider Takumu Yokosawa once again pitted out of the Team Honda HRC footprint at Millville.
• Hunter Lawrence set the second-fastest lap time during morning qualifying for the 450 class, with Phoenix Racing Honda's Dylan Ferrandis seventh-best. In the quarter-liter division, Chance Hymas and Jo Shimoda were fourth and sixth, respectively.
• Hunter Lawrence turned the fastest lap time in the first 450 moto.
• Hunter remains the only rider this season to have finished on the overall 450 podium at every round.
• Hunter retains second place in the 450 title chase, 13 points behind Chase Sexton. The dramatic second 250 moto proved costly for Team Honda HRC, which now has Chance Hymas and Jo Shimoda fourth and fifth in points, respectively.
• From Millville, Team Honda HRC heads back west for round 8 of the AMA Pro Motocross series in Washougal, Washington, on Saturday.

Hunter Lawrence
"It was a tough day in the office. I really felt the fatigue and had to push through a lot of pain. We'll keep our heads down, bums up, and work away."

Chance Hymas
"It was not an ideal end to my weekend here in Millville. I ended up fifth in the first moto, just a little off the pace of the leaders. In the second moto, I got my leg run over off the start, and that was the end of my race. Thankfully, nothing's broken, but my leg is a balloon right now. We'll get it looked at this week and try to get healed up for Washougal."

Jo Shimoda
"The first moto was pretty good. I made some good passes, but I made some wrong decisions around lappers. Unfortunately, moto 2 wasn't as positive, but that's racing-anything can happen. We'll move past this and on to next weekend."

Lars Lindstrom - Team Manager
"Like Jason Weigandt said after the race, 'Sometimes you're the hammer and sometimes you're the nail.' We were the nail this weekend. After last weekend's crash, I was impressed that Hunter still had the confidence and speed that he's had all summer. It was a highly physical track, and that, combined with him trying to recover from last weekend, seemed to affect his overall strength for the race. Chase is really confident and strong right now, so second is still a great result. In the end, the 250 boys' day didn't show how good they were, from Jo's awesome first-moto charge where he was close to winning, to Chance's second-moto holeshot, which unfortunately injured his ankle. Hopefully next weekend they can get some redemption, and we'll do everything to make sure Chance is able to get his ankle as healed up as possible."

Media contact:
Danny Gonzalez // Jonnum Media // [email protected] // +1 (805) 915-7889

450 Overall Results

1. Chase Sexton (KTM)
2. Hunter Lawrence (Hon)
3. Justin Cooper (Yam)
4. Aaron Plessinger (KTM)
5. Jason Anderson (Kaw)
6. Dylan Ferrandis (Hon)
7. Christian Craig (Hus)
8. Phil Nicoletti (Yam)
9. Harri Kulas (KTM)
10. Malcolm Stewart (Hus)

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18. Cullin Park (Hon)
20. Henry Miller (Hon)
22. Ryder Floyd (Hon)
26. Izaih Clark (Hon)
33. Gert Krestinov (Hon)
34. Zack Williams (Hon)
35. Kile Epperson (Hon)

450 Championship Points (after 7 of 11 rounds)

1. Chase Sexton: 310
2. Hunter Lawrence: 297
3. Justin Cooper: 249
4. Aaron Plessinger: 239
5. Jason Anderson: 221
6. Jett Lawrence: 210
7. Dylan Ferrandis: 204
8. Malcolm Stewart: 185
9. Justin Barcia: 148
10. Christian Craig: 136

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18. Cullin Park: 54

250 Overall Results

1. Levi Kitchen (Kaw)
2. Haiden Deegan (Yam)
3. Casey Cochran (Hus)
4. Max Anstie (Yam)
5. Dilan Schwartz (Suz)
6. Ryder DiFrancesco (Gas)
7. Tom Vialle (KTM)
8. Ty Masterpool (Kaw)
9. Jordan Smith (Yam)
10. Juliem Beaumer (KTM)

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13. Jo Shimoda (Hon)
15. Chance Hymas (Hon)
30. Gavin Brough (Hon)

250 Championship Points (after 7 of 11 rounds)

1. Haiden Deegan: 314
2. Levi Kitchen: 263
3. Tom Vialle: 260
4. Chance Hymas: 251
5. Jo Shimoda: 231
6. Ty Masterpool: 214
7. Pierce Brown: 162
8. Jalek Swoll: 159
9. Jordon Smith: 149
10. Ryder DiFrancesco: 147

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