WATCH THE 2023 HIGH POINT NATIONAL IN UNDER 15 MINUTES: NOTHING IF NOT UNIQUE

So much for all the basement pundits talk that electric start has no benefit over a kickstarter on a motocross bike. For every time someone said, “My Suzuki starts on the first kick every time,” they are confessing that they never rode it hard enough to get it hot. Ken Roczen did in the first moto at High Point Raceway in Mt.Morris, Pennsylvania, and he kicked, and kicked, and kicked. When it finally came to life he had dropped from second place to seventh place. Up to that point Ken Roczen was the on his way to being the hero of the day. He gave Jett Lawrence all he could asked for—and the fans got their money’s worth. Jett prevailed to go 1-1 and keep his string of victories alive, but Ken proved that Jett wasn’t invincible.

Meanwhile, in the 250 class Hunter Lawrence won the overall, but after the second moto the AMA punished him 7 points for jumping on a Red Cross flag, a serious safety violation, but the AMA did not factor the point violation into the actual race results. In the past, they punished Red Cross flag violators two positions in the race results, but the AMA rules were amended after the same Red Cross violation had cost Ryan Dungey a 450 Supercross win (and a $100,000 bonus). The new rule read that the AMA will only take positions away in Last Chance races for jumping on the Red Cross flag, but not main events. Odd to say the least!

Given that the Red Cross flag is waved to protect fallen riders from serious injury, by not applying the maximum penalty of  a two position loss to deter riders from endangering others, the AMA is saying that human life is not as worthy of protecting in the main events. Lawrence’s post-race penalty for jumping under a Red Cross flag was to subtract 7 championship points from his season total, but he still won the 250 class with a 3-1 moto score and has a 28-point lead over second place Haiden Deegan. In truth,  if the AMA rule book had allowed the stronger two-position penalty, Hunter would still have won with a 3-3 (40 points) over Hampshires’s 1-7  (39 points).

450 RESULTS: MOUNT MORRIS NATIONAL
1. Jett Lawrence (Hon)…1-1
2. Ken Roczen (Suz)…7-2
3. Adam Cianciarulo (Kaw)…4-4
4. Dylan Ferrandis (Yam)…6-3
5. Cooper Webb (KTM…3-6
6. Garrett Marchbanks (Yam)…2-8
7. Ty Masterpool (Kaw)…5-7
8. Aaron Plessinger (KTM)…8-5
9. Grant Harlan (Yam)… 11-9
10. Derek Drake (Suz)…9-12

450 POINTS STANDINGS AFTER 4 OF 11 ROUNDS
1. Jett Lawrence…200
2. Dylan Ferrandis…151
3. Cooper Webb…147
4. Aaron Plessinger…138
5. Adam Cianciarulo…134
6. Ty Masterpool…92
7. Lorenzo Locurcio….85
8. Fredrik Noren…81
9. Derek Drake…79
10. Grant Harlan…78

250 RESULTS: MOUNT MORRIS NATIONAL
1. Hunter Lawrence (Hon)…3-1
2. R.J. Hampshire (Hus)… 1-7
3. Haiden Deegan (Yam)…2-6
4. Jo Shimoda (Kaw)…7-3
5. Tom Vialle (KTM)…11-2
6. Chance Hymas (Hon)…8-5
7. Ryder DiFrancesco (Kaw)…5-8
8. Jalek Swoll (Hus)…4-11
9. Levi Kitchen (Yam)…12-4
10. Max Vohland (KTM)…6-12

250 POINTS STANDINGS AFTER 4 OF 11 ROUNDS
1. Hunter Lawrence…175 (7 points deducted)
2. Haiden Deegan…147
3. R.J. Hampshire…133
4. Jo Shimoda…129
5. Justin Cooper…121
6. Levi Kitchen…115
7. Max Vohland…107
8. Tom Vialle…100
9. Chance Hymas…92
10. Ryder DiFrancesco…92

 

\