After the lone off weekend of the season, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship made its anticipated return to action for Round 10 of the Monster Energy SMX World Championship from Protective Stadium. It proved to be a statement night for 450SMX Class points leader Hunter Lawrence, who enjoyed arguably the single-best performance of his career with Honda HRC Progressive in a dominant ride that netted the Australian back-to-back victories and three wins over the past four races.
The 20 Minute + 1 Lap Main Event for the 450SMX Class got underway with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Jorge Prado out front for the holeshot ahead of Lawrence. The Honda rider went on the attack immediately and seized control of the race while Prado settled in ahead of his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Eli Tomac. Behind them, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper Webb, the reigning champion, and Progressive Insurance Cycle Gear Suzuki’s Ken Roczen gave chase.
With a clear track, Lawrence was able to build a multi-second lead in the opening laps as Tomac engaged in an extended battle with Prado, which allowed Roczen, who came out the gate in 16th, to join the fight from fourth. Tomac made the move on his teammate for second and brought Roczen along into third. It wasn’t long before Roczen then went after Tomac and made quick work to take control of second. From there, the lead trio remained unchanged as Lawrence managed a lead of about four seconds over Roczen, while Tomac dropped well back and lost touch with his rivals. While Roczen did make inroads on Lawrence at times, heavy lapped traffic hindered any significant gains of momentum.
Lawrence took his third career win by a margin of 2.3 seconds over Roczen. Tomac followed more than 30 seconds back in third but made the most of a challenging evening that saw him navigate his first LCQ since the 2019 season after an incident with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Justin Cooper in their Heat Race.
Lawrence extended his lead in the 450SMX Class standings over Tomac to nine points, while Roczen’s sixth podium finish of the season allowed him to take hold of third, 31 points behind Lawrence.
Hunter Lawrence – 1st Place – 450SMX Class
“It feels good [to win for the third time in four races]. I’m just taking it one race at a time. It’s easy to think about the end result, which is the title, but I’m just trying to stay focused in the moment. Anything can happen, as we’ve seen tonight, so I’m just happy to be up here.”
Ken Roczen – 2nd Place – 450SMX Class
“I’m ecstatic, honestly. I think I rode really well, but you can’t start 15th and expect to win a race. Inconsistency on the start [is something] I’m not happy with. I rode so good tonight. Coulda, woulda, shoulda, but with racing like that I’m totally fine with it.”
Eli Tomac – 3rd Place – 450SMX Class
“I just wasn’t as good tonight as the front two. That’s it. Of course, the LCQ was very stressful and a high-pressure moment, but I got myself out there to a good start [in the Main Event] on the outside gate and just got beat tonight. Just a little bit off. It’s tough, one of those nights, but we’ll try to regroup next week and see if we can get back up front.”
The Monster Energy SMX World Championship and Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship will continue next Saturday, March 28, with Round 11 from Detroit’s Ford Field.
Results
450 Birmingham
Standings
Series_Points_16_498132Report and Images by Feld Motorsports
