Sexton And Ferrandis Go 2-3 Unadilla MX National

Monster Energy’s pro motocross racers returned to action following the AMA Motocross Championship’s annual summer break, taking up the lion’s share of podium real estate at the Honda Unadilla MX National in New Berlin, New York, on Saturday.

Leading the Monster Energy podium assault in the premier 450 class were Chase Sexton (Honda) and Dylan Ferrandis (Star Racing/Yamaha). Sexton would go 3-2 for 2nd place overall, while Ferrandis would chip in with a 2-3 for the third and final podium spot. Monster Energy/Kawasaki’s veteran Adam Cianciarulo continued to race well this summer, parlaying a 4-6 two moto finish to 4th place overall. And Cianciarulo’s teammate, Jason Anderson, rallied back from a 14th place finish in the opening moto to finish just off the podium in Moto 2 (4th), earning Anderson a spot in the overall top ten (8th).

The podium results kept rolling in for Monster Energy in the 250 class at Unadilla as both Levi Kitchen (Star Racing/Yamaha) and his teammate, Justin Cooper, would win motos – ultimately placing 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in the afternoon. Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Jo Shimoda would put up two 3rd place podium finishes on the day, and ran that effort to a 4th place overall result. Monster Energy also received top ten places from Ryder DiFrancesco (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki), 8th, and rookie Daxton Bennick (Star Racing/Yamaha), 9th.

With all the great news from Unadilla came some rough news, as 250 championship contender Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha) suffered a reported mechanical failure while in hot pursuit of points leader Hunter Lawrence (Honda) in Moto 1, resulting in a crippling DNF. Deegan dropped from being within three points (300-297) following the previous round (Washougal), to 4th place in the overall 250 standings.

Unadilla MX

450 class results                                                250

2nd - Sexton (Monster/Honda)                            2nd - Kitchen (Monster/Star/Yamaha)

3rd - Ferrandis (Monster/Star/Yamaha)               3rd - Cooper (Monster/Star/Yamaha)

4th - Cianciarulo (Monster/Kawasaki)                 4th - Shimoda (Monster/PC/Kawasaki)

Overall Standings (9 of 11 rounds)

450 class                                                             250

2nd - Ferrandis, 347 points                                 2nd - Cooper, 322 points

4th - Cianciarulo, 269 points                              3rd - Shimoda, 309 points

5th - Sexton, 260 points                                      4th - Deegan, 308 points

450

Moto 1

Sexton would be the lead Monster Energy guy out of the opening 450 moto start, slotting into 4th place early. Sexton would move past Estonian racer Harri Kullas (Yamaha), who was making his debut in American pro motocross, and into 3rd place on the first lap. Sexton would then get past Garrett Marchbanks (Yamaha) and into 2nd place, and moved up – to within a couple seconds – of his Honda teammate and overall 450 points leader, Jett Lawrence. During Sexton’s Moto 1 run towards the front, Ferrandis was equal to the task of moving up, rocketing up onto Marchbanks’ rear fender after starting outside the top five. As Ferrandis made short work of Marchbanks, Sexton was all over Lawrence, coming together with his teammate, then having to let Lawrence go in order to get his CRF450R back in position. A late crash by Sexton, after he’d cut Lawrence’s lead down to two seconds, would allow Ferrandis to take over 2nd place, and he (Ferrandis) nearly caught Lawrence at that point. Sexton remounted and held onto 3rd, with Cianciarulo in 4th.

Moto 2

Sexton and Cianciarulo both got great starts - 2nd and 3rd places - in pursuit of Lawrence. Ripping up to 3rd place and applying early pressure to Cianciarulo was his teammate, Anderson. The two would battle through the first ten minutes of the moto before Anderson was able to make the pass for 3rd. Charging up again to the lead racers from inside the top ten was Ferrandis. He’d first catch Cianciarulo for 4th, then made his way onto the rear tire of Anderson – who fell when he and Ferrandis got together. Sexton continued to drive hard after Lawrence, cutting consistent time off the Australian’s lead. But in the end, the less than five-second margin between the two grew to just over nine seconds at the finish. Well back of Sexton (2nd) would be Ferrandis, to round out the Moto 2 podium. And as Lawrence clinched the Edison Dye Cup two races early, Ferrandis gained on 3rd place overall Aaron Plessinger (KTM) in an effort to secure the runner-up spot in the 450 class, and now leads the KTM racer by 35 points, 347-312.

250 

Moto 1

Monster Energy’s Kitchen fired the first 250 salvo round at Unadilla, nailing the Motosport.com Holeshot ahead of a fleet of Monster Energy racers, including Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker, Cooper and Deegan.  Hammaker would challenge Kitchen early for the lead, but Kitchen would be just too much for the Kawasaki racer. Behind them, racing for 3rd place, was Deegan and Max Vohland (KTM), along with Shimoda and Hunter Lawrence (Honda). Vohland would eventually catch Hammaker for 2nd, Lawrence then got around Hammaker for 3rd, then Vohland. Deegan would then pass Vohland for 3rd, giving Monster Energy the 1st and 3rd positions in Moto 1 as the race neared a close. The Kitchen and Lawrence battle would heat up with just a few laps remaining, with Kitchen withstanding the onslaught from Lawrence and taking the opening 250 moto win. Deegan would then suffer that mechanical misfortune, with Shimoda then bringing ‘er home in 3rd behind Lawrence.

Moto 2

A rough RJ Hampshire (Husqvarna) crash at the start of 250 Moto 2 lap would bring out the red flag, forcing a restart. Monster Energy’s Ryder DiFrancesco (Pro Circuit/Kawasaki) would take full advantage of the second start and pulled the holeshot, with Cooper, Shimoda and Kitchen in tow. Starting the second lap, Cooper made his move on DiFrancesco and passed the Californian for the lead. Shimoda would then get by his teammate, with Monster Energy racers how holding down 1st, 2nd and 3rd. A Kitchen mistake would allow Lawrence to take over 4th place, then 3rd past DiFrancesco. Shimoda, who was poised for an overall podium while in 2nd, would lose that position to Lawrence mid-race. At this point, Cooper was flying up front, bringing home his third moto win of the season – two seconds up on Lawrence. Shimoda held on for a close 3rd.

Notes & Quotes

• “I feel like in the first moto my bike was handling really well. I didn’t get the result I wanted with the crash, but I was riding well.” – Chase Sexton
• “I don’t get the starts. I guess it’s just a lack of luck.” – Dylan Ferrandis
• “We got two good starts and made the most of the day, so I’m happy with that.” – Levi Kitchen
• “We need to put ourselves in the best position each moto and do the best we can. We put ourselves out front to start the second moto and then managed the gap from there. I’m stoked on that.” – Justin Cooper
• How about Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Daxton Bennick? After winning Open Pro Sport and the Nicky Hayden Horizon Award at Loretta’s, Bennick rolls into Unadilla and places a career-best 9th in the 250 class.
• “Epic ride by Levi Kitchen in that first moto. I don’t feel like I gave him the credit he was owed,” said NBC TV announcer Ricky Carmichael regarding his first 250 moto call. “He looked comfortable. He looked poised. He looked absolutely perfect.”
• “Championship time. No more gimmies. Then ‘Boom,’ he cooks his engine,” Carmichael on Deegan’s unfortunate mechanical issue in Moto 1.
• “Justin Cooper went Beast Mode? I don’t know. Whatever you want to call it. The kid was on a different mode the second moto.” – NBC announcer James Stewart on Justin Cooper’s Moto 2 effort.
• The battle for 2nd between Lawrence and Shimoda, which came right down to the wire, decided the overall, which would have gone to Cooper had Lawrence not grabbed 2nd at the tape.