・Chase Sexton third in 450SX after leading early
・Colt Nichols earns ninth place in premier class

Following a rare second-place overall finish at Anaheim 2 and a two-week break in the 250SX West series, Jett Lawrence returned to his winning ways at the Oakland Supercross, which had been postponed five weeks due to rain. The young Australian took his third victory of the season and extended his title-chase advantage to 20 points. In the premier division, Chase Sexton kept his podium streak alive, taking third place.

Lawrence got a great jump out of the gate to start the 250SX West main event, but exited turn 1 in third. He put his CRF250R by Cameron McAdoo in the whoops on lap 3, then took over the lead on lap 5 when RJ Hampshire went down in a corner. Once in front, Lawrence began pulling away, ultimately winning by over 16 seconds.

Sexton took the 450SX main-event holeshot and slowly but steadily grew an advantage to over 7 seconds aboard his CRF450RWE, only to go down with seven laps remaining. The Illinois native remounted in time to retain second, but Cooper Webb made a pass three laps from the end. Colt Nichols was knocked off the track by another rider early on, but recovered to finish ninth.

NOTES

• On Friday, Chase Sexton and Colt Nichols had an opportunity to check out the Oakland track when they took part in media-day activities.

• The temperature was 58º Fahrenheit for the 250SX West main, and dropped to 54º for the 450SX main.

• For the fourth time in a row and the fifth time in six rounds, Sexton was the fastest qualifier in the 450SX class. He was the only rider to dip into the 1’05” range, with a best time that was nearly half a second faster than the next-best rider. Colt Nichols was seventh-fastest.

• Jett Lawrence was the top-qualifying 250SX West rider, the only rider in that class to post a time in the 1’06” range—nearly three-quarters of a second better than the next-best rider. Also respectable was SmarTop/MotoConcepts Racing’s Mitchell Oldenburg, who rode his CRF250R to the ninth-best time.

• Despite a relatively poor start, Lawrence handily won the second 250SX West heat race. He quickly moved up to fourth and took one more position on the first lap, then grabbed second on lap 2. After dogging Cameron McAdoo for several laps, he took the lead in the whoops on lap 5 and pulled away to win by 2.5 seconds. Also advancing through the heat were Oldenburg and SmarTop/MotoConcepts’ Anthony Rodriguez. Concrete Plants-sponsored Red Rider Maxwell Sanford made it in through the last-chance qualifier.

• Sexton started third in the second 450SX heat and took over second at the end of lap 1. He grabbed the lead from Cooper Webb on lap 4, only to immediately lose it to Eli Tomac and finish second. Nichols notched a sixth-place result, whereas Fire Power Honda’s Dean Wilson advanced through the first heat.

• Moments after winning the 250SX West main event, Lawrence gave his mechanic Christien Ducharme a celebratory high five. Unfortunately, the duo were a bit overly enthusiastic, to the point that Ducharme’s shoulder was dislocated. The Alpinestars Medical crew quickly popped it back in for him, and he rejoined the podium celebration.

• Continuing a trend this season, the best laps in both main events were tallied by Team Honda HRC riders, with Sexton and Lawrence fastest in 450SX and 250SX West, respectively.

• Lawrence’s 250SX win was the 10th of his career, and it put him on the list with Eli Tomac and Malcolm Stewart as Honda riders to win the Oakland 250SX West race. Sexton’s 450SX podium was the 16th of his career.

• Sexton and Lawrence both took part in the post-race press conference at Oakland.

• Lawrence’s 250SX West title-chase lead is now 20 points, while Sexton is tied for second with Cooper Webb in 450SX, seven behind Tomac. Nichols moved up a position in 450SX, to a three-way tie for ninth.

• Lawrence’s win also extended Honda’s streak as the only manufacturer to win one of the two classes at every round this season.

• The next AMA Supercross round is in Arlington, Texas, on February 25. It marks a return to the 250SX East Region, which means Hunter Lawrence will return to action in an effort to extend his undefeated streak to three.

• With the next 250SX West round over a month away, Jett Lawrence will begin supercross testing on the CRF450RWE, but not with an eye toward racing the premier class at AMA Supercross East Region events. Instead, this will be prep work for the three SuperMotocross rounds, scheduled to take place in September.