2021 Ironman Motocross Recap

Typically, the final race of the season in past years, Ironman Raceway hosted Round 10 of the 2021 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship series on Saturday in Crawfordsville, IN and though no Champions were crowned, points leaders in both classes brought a strong season-ending case for the title.

In the 450 class, early battles for the lead included Joey Savatgy, Ken Roczen and Dylan Ferrandis as Roczen battled his way out of the Top 5 to the front on the first lap, only to fall behind Ferrandis again all before the green flag waved.

Then came Eli Tomac (2-1).

The three-time Outdoor champion, changing bike brands next year, got past Roczen and battled with Ferrandis (1-2) for Moto supremacy. Tomac, on the gas seemingly the whole race, eventually dialed back a bit and settled on second. Roczen, left way behind by the frontrunners finished third and reigning 2021 Supercross Champion Cooper Webb got his best finish of the season in fourth.

In Moto 2, Tomac picked up where he left getting by both Ferrandis and Webb after Lap 4 and checked out. Ferrandis and Webb gave the fans a nice battle for second ultimately won by Ferrandis and his second-place overall was only marred by losing the tie-breaker to Tomac who enjoyed his first overall of the season. Webb (4-3) held on for third and third-place overall for his first podium of the year, Roczen (3-5) took fifth and fell 11 points further behind Ferrandis in the Championship hunt.

With two rounds remaining, Ferrandis leads Roczen by 40 points and Tomac by 71 points. Outside a mechanical or bad get-off from Ferrandis he looks well on his way to his first premier-class Outdoor Championship.

In the 250 class, Jett Lawrence (1-1) and Jeremy Martin (37-DNS) put on a clinic on battling for the lead as Lawrence initially got by Justin Cooper for the front position then felt immediate resistance by Martin as the two kept it pinned. About halfway through the race, Martin sideswiped off a jump and was tossed from his bike into a roller. He broke his wrist and not only was his day done so was an already slim hope for a third championship.

With Martin sidelined, Jo Shimoda (2-3) finished a career best second and Michael Mosiman (3-6) took third in his first racing action since Washougal after a crash in practice kept him off the track for two rounds.

In Moto 2, Shimoda grabbed the MotoSport.com Holeshot, leading for a lap, but Lawrence quickly showed him his tailpipe and checked out. Behind him, RJ Hampshire (13-2) worked his way into second-place for his best finish since Washougal and Shimoda settled for third giving him second overall, tying a career best.

Lawrence celebrated not only his first career overall sweep, but he took the points lead from Justin Cooper, who finished third overall but on a (4-4) day. Cooper now trails Lawrence by 11 points and with Martin no longer a factor the last two rounds will come down to how these two handle the pressure.

Motocross heads to California for the final two rounds with Fox Raceway 2 up next on Saturday in Pala, CA. Until then, live Round 10 all again:

2021 Ironman Motocross