2023 Thunder Valley Motocross Photo Gallery

2023 Thunder Valley Motocross Recap

The brothers of down under dominated Round 3 of the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship series on Saturday at Thunder Valley as each passing week looks more like a runaway for the Australians.

Jett Lawrence remains undefeated in the 450 class and it's not even close. He grabbed both MotoSport.com Holeshots and won the first Moto by more than 30 seconds and a mere 12 seconds in the second race. While others at times struggled on the rutted track, Lawrence seemingly glides over the dirt regardless of the natural obstacles. He even escaped a first turn pileup in Moto 1 but mostly because he was already so far out in front of the pack.

In one of the least stacked 450 class fields ever, no one comes close to the rookie who, as along as he keeps it on two wheels, will wrap the premier class championship up quite early and might even go undefeated for the year, a feat not accomplished since James Stewart in 2008.

That leaves everyone else. Dylan Ferrandis (3-6) and Aaron Plessinger (4-2) collided in Moto 1 in a sort of battle for fifth but really Ferrandis was trying to get into fourth and it looked like a rut swapped his rear into Plessinger knocking them both down. But Plessinger feverishly worked his way into fourth for the race which thanks to a second-place Moto 2 got him a second overall. Cooper Webb (2-5) ran mostly alone in second for Moto 1 with Adam Cianciarulo (3-6) not far off but he offered little fight for the runner-up spot. Webb was unable to hold on to the third-place spot though in Moto 2, instead, got passed by Ty Masterpool at one point and eventually dropped to fifth for third overall.

Speaking of Masterpool, he slipped by not only Webb but Ferrandis and Cianciarulo for third, a spot he held for a bit, but later was unable to fend off Ferrandis at the last moment on the final lap and settled for fourth in Moto 2 and sixth overall after a fifth in Moto 1. The privateer was just one of many non-factory riders getting Top 10s as Garrett Marchbanks (6-8) took seventh overall, Grant Harlan (8-7) eighth, Freddy Noren (10-10) ninth and Lorenzo Locurcio (12-9) 10th.

Standings remain unchanged with Lawrence in first, now 34 points ahead of Ferrandis with a smaller four point lead over Webb in third.

2023 Motocross 450 Class Standings after Round 3

Jett Lawrence - 150
Dylan Ferrandis - 116
Cooper Webb - 112
Aaron Plessinger - 109
Adam Cianciarulo - 98

250 Class

In the 250 class, Hunter Lawrence (2-1) may not be undefeated in Motos but has three straight overall wins and he too escaped a first turn crash in Moto 1 that took down a number of riders bowling pin style. RJ Hampshire, Jo Shimoda and Tom Vialle most notable of the casualties.

Justin Cooper (1-4) led all 16 laps in Moto 1 for his first win of the season showing some serious competition for Lawrence. He grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot in Moto 2 but the ruts quickly got the best of him, knocking him down and he dropped to 13th. He worked his way to fourth good enough for second overall. Our favorite local guy Levi Kitchen (5-2) took third for his first podium of the season.

Shimoda rebounded from the pile-up to take third but an eighth in Moto 2 after he fell on the last lap while in fourth gave him fourth overall. Chance Hymas (11-3) got his first Moto podium in the second race finishing fifth overall. Haiden Deegan looked good for his third-straight podium after taking the MotoSport.com Holeshot in Moto 1 but he fell after a few minutes in the lead and fell to fourth. A ninth in Moto 2 gave him eighth overall which drops him to third in the standings with Cooper moving in to second 16 points behind Lawrence.