Sexton on his latest crash
Continuing his dominance of the 2023 AMA Supercross 250SX East Region series, Hunter Lawrence rode his Team Honda HRC CRF250R to yet another win in his first visit to the motorsports-crazy city of Indianapolis, whose soft soil invariably makes for a treacherous, rut-filled track. Through just five rounds, the Australian has already matched his four-win tally from 2022, with more than half of the races still to be run. Meanwhile, the 450SX division cleared its midway point, with Chase Sexton riding well all day. He topped qualifying and his heat race aboard his CRF450RWE before a hard crash in the main event limited him to a 10th-place result.
The 250SX East main event saw Lawrence nail the holeshot and open up a comfortable gap, enjoying a largely drama-free performance (apart from a close encounter with a lapped rider). In the end, Lawrence won by nearly eight seconds, stretching his points lead to nearly a full race.
Sexton exited turn 1 of the 450SX main in second place and was shuffled back to fourth before ending the first lap in third. He passed Cooper Webb through the whoops on lap 3 and set his sights on the leading Ken Roczen, only to suffer a nasty, rut-induced crash four laps later. Sexton shrugged off a sour ankle to remount in 12th, but crash damage to the bike limited progress. In the end, he finished 10th, but the results of his title rivals meant that he only lost three points in the championship hunt.
The mistake that cost Chase Sexton a shot at the win in Indy 🫣#SupercrossLIVE #SuperMotocross pic.twitter.com/mKzacwajEz
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) March 13, 2023
Sexton: ““The day started off great for me. We had figured some things out in testing earlier in the week, and I felt like I was riding well, even with the gnarly ruts. I topped qualifying and won my heat race, and I was feeling good in the main event. Unfortunately, I hit a rut that sent me to the ground, and the bike was bent up to where it was tough trying to make up time after that. It’s a bummer, but I know I have the speed and I’m still in the championship hunt. There’s no quit in me, and I’m going to keep swinging. I look forward to Detroit.”
Lawrence: “The track was pretty wild. It’s my first race here at Indy, so it was a big eye-opener. I just kind of let it all come to me this morning in the first couple sessions, trying to figure out when and how the track was going to break down. The way things went is unreal! We work so hard for these races, so it’s great when it pays off.”
Lindstrom: “It was another bittersweet day for us. We’ve had a lot of these, and it never gets any easier trying to celebrate a win and then having another one slip away–especially when our competitors were having off nights. On the positive side, we didn’t lose as many points as we could have, and luckily, Chase wasn’t hurt too badly, and he’ll be able to race next weekend. Most of the day went great, qualifying first in both classes and winning both of our heat races. It was also really cool having the IndyCar guys here; we have a great relationship with HPD and our IndyCar teams, and we can learn from them and share information.”
Words and image: Honda
