Chase Sexton Clinches First Victory of the Pro Motocross Season
It has been an impressive return to Pro Motocross action for the reigning 450 champion. What has been a steady return to racing blossomed into an outbreak of success at Washougal. Quickly taking the lead after the first turn in moto one, Sexton was on a mission to re-stake his claim at the top of the 450 class. He faced adversity quickly however, with current 450 class points leader, Jett Lawrence, closely behind him in second place. Sexton held strong in first as Jett crashed in the final corner of sector five, handing second position to Eli Tomac. From there, Sexton held the lead and took a 3.441 second moto victory ahead of Tomac.
It was an aggressive start to moto two for Sexton. This time starting behind Jett, Chase needed to remain close to stay in contention for the overall victory. Jockeying for position on the opening lap, Sexton made several attempts at passing Jett but to no avail. With Hunter Lawrence leading the field, Jett eagerly passed his brother to take the lead on lap three with hopes that clean air and track position would keep him ahead of Sexton. Chase followed suit, passing Hunter on the final corner of lap four but was met with a red flag while crossing the finish line. Based on the rules, Chase had to start behind Hunter as the incident which caused the red flag occurred before he made the pass. The race was restarted and by the third corner of the opening lap, Chase officially passed Hunter. With the overall win on his mind, Sexton had to manage the race to ensure he could clinch the victory.
“We had a really good pace going and obviously Eli was right there, so I didn’t really have any room to back off,” Sexton shared post-race. As the race progressed, Sexton and Jett managed to establish a gap from Tomac, allowing Chase to cruise to a second place finish and an overall victory. “I’ve done that once this year in Dallas trying to go for a win when I didn’t need to and made myself look like an idiot. So I’m like, ‘Yeah today I’m probably not going to try and do that.'”
Garrett Marchbanks Captures First Career Pro Motocross Podium at Round 8
Very quietly, Garrett Marchbanks has been having an admirable Pro Motocross season. In his second stint with the Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki team, Marchbanks has been consistently attaining top 10 overall finishes and even a moto podium at Thunder Valley. Although Marchbanks has been in the professional ranks since 2018, he had yet to reach an overall podium until this weekend at Washougal. Known for his success in Supercross, Marchbanks is proving he is an all around competitor in the SuperMotocross World Championship.
The story that has followed Marchbanks this summer is his poor starting ability which has hindered his chances at success. “I’ve been a terrible starter,” Marchbanks admits at the press conference. “I’ve always just been a super big kid. No matter what bike I’ve been on, I was known for that as an amateur all the way to the pros.” His 6’2″ frame ranks as one of the tallest in the class and is unfavourable to establishing a good starting position. From a technical perspective, the more weight added to the motorcycle, the slower it will accelerate forward. This is extremely pertinent off the starts and is a key contributing factor towards Marchbanks’ starting ability.
For Marchbanks, it has been a long road to reach an ounce of success in Pro Motocross. After making his professional debut at Hangtown in 2018 with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki he failed to achieve quality results other than in Supercross. In 2021 he joined the Muc-Off/FXR/ClubMX Yamaha team and dabbled in the 450 class but showed little signs that he could challenge for wins or podiums. He re-joined Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki toward the tail end of last season with another chance to prove his worth and find success in the 250 class.
“I’ve always been super close, but to come back to the team, put it all together, started working with [Brock] Tickle. I put in a lot of hard work since basically Arlington. It feels super good to show all the hard work I’ve been doing is finally paying off. Wish it obviously would have happened way sooner in my career, but, it feels great to finally get it done for them [Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki].”
