Hunter Lawrence keeps championship hopes alive with victory in Denver
2022 Monster Energy AMA Supercross
Round 16 Denver Empowerment Court in the High Mile Denver, CO
Reporting by Trevor Hedge – Picture by Jeff Kardas
250 heat a
Christian Craig successfully opened fire in the first game, against Dominique Thury of Germany and Jo Shimoda of Japan.
Thury was quick enough to hold off Shimoda for the opening two minutes of the six-minute Heat plus one lap. After that, it took Vince Friese several rounds to push the German back to fourth place.
Up front even though Craig was just reeling with himself, until he started patting people… Craig was the clear winner ten seconds ahead of Shimoda, while Vince Friese stepped onto the podium
Australian private Geran Stapleton finished 15th and therefore had to go to the LCQ where he went on to finish fourth to claim a spot in the Main.
250 heat a result
Location | Rider | Bicycle | Loop / Interval |
first | Christian Craig | Yamaha YZ250F | 9 rounds |
2 | Jo Shimoda | Kawasaki KX250 | +09,646 |
3 | Vince Friede | Honda CRF250R | +17.532 |
4 | Dominique Thury | Yamaha YZ250F | +19.227 |
5 | Nate Thrasher | Yamaha YZ250F | +19,672 |
6 | Derek Kelley | KTM 250 SX-F | +21.417 |
7 | Jy Roberts | Kawasaki KX250 | +40.216 |
8 | Devin Harriman | GASGAS MC 250F | +41,863 |
9 | McClellan Hile | Honda CRF250R | +44,752 |
ten | Maxwell Sanford | Honda CRF250R | +49,442 |
11 | Jerry Robin | GASGAS MC 250F | + 1m21,670 |
twelfth | Jesse Flock | Yamaha YZ250F | 8 rounds |
13 | Carson Mumford | Suzuki RM-Z250 | +11.672 |
14 | Logan Leitzel | Kawasaki KX250 | +15.288 |
15 | Geran Stapleton | GASGAS MC 250F | +15.608 |
16 | Wyatt Lyonsmith | Kawasaki KX250 | +16,641 |
17 | Addison Emory | Yamaha YZ250F | +25,741 |
18 | Kameron Barboa | Yamaha YZ250F | +46,188 |
19 | Mike Henderson | Kawasaki KX250 | 7 rounds |
20 | Ryan Carlson | Kawasaki KX250 | 6 rounds |
250 Heat Two
Hunter Lawrence scored a goal with his nose against Carson Brown and Michael Mosiman in Heat Two but capitalized on that start, dropping out of the field and winning the match. Notable however is the fact that Hunter’s fastest lap was half a second faster than Craig managed in the opening Heat…
In second place is Michael Mosiman, who is also ahead of Craig while Garrett Marchbanks is ahead of Chris Blose. Mosiman took second place after a somersault just over half the race sent him relegation to fourth but he had the pace to climb back to second in front of the flag.
250 Heat Two Results
Location | Rider | Bicycle | Time / Distance |
first | Hunter Lawrence | Honda CRF250R | 9 rounds |
2 | Michael Mosiman | GASGAS MC 250F | +06.457 |
3 | Garrett Marchbanks | Yamaha YZ250F | +08,929 |
4 | Chris Blose | GASGAS MC 250F | +10.255 |
5 | Jalek Swoll | Husqvarna FC 250 | +16.839 |
6 | Carson Brown | KTM 250 SX-F | +19.345 |
7 | Robbie Wageman | Yamaha YZ250F | +19,980 |
8 | Mitchell Harrison | GASGAS MC 250F | +36,443 |
9 | Ryan Surratt | Yamaha YZ250F | +38.615 |
ten | Brandon Ray | Kawasaki KX250 | +48,730 |
11 | Preston Taylor | Kawasaki KX250 | +49,362 |
twelfth | Alexander Nagy | KTM 250 SX-F | +54,293 |
13 | Colby Copp | GASGAS MC 250F | +1: 07,971 |
14 | Joshua Greco | Kawasaki KX250 | 8 rounds |
15 | Bamboo Fierro | Kawasaki KX250 | +07.759 |
16 | Bobby Piazza | KTM 250 SX-F | +20.005 |
17 | Rider Fisher | Kawasaki KX250 | +28,500 |
18 | Chad Saultz | KTM 250 SX-F | +30,093 |
19 | Isaiah Goodman | Kawasaki KX250 | +49.448 |
20 | David Pulley | Yamaha YZ250F | DNS |
250 main
The form guide for Main goes beyond what we’ve witnessed in the Heat races, which is a fight between Christian Craig, Hunter Lawrence and Michael Mosiman and, depending on how they run away, Jo Shimoda and Vince Friese, who will also display platform speed if things fall their way…
Heading to Main Christian Craig just finished a few slots ahead of Hunter Lawrence tonight to win the Western 250 championship with one round still remaining. The two stood side by side on the starting line, but it was Lawrence who took the lead over Swoll and Craig. Craig quickly moved into second and it was the title challengers 1-2 with 15 minutes plus a lap…
Craig just had to follow Lawrence home to win the championship this round but he showed the Aussie youngster a two-minute wheel in the race to let him know he was right there… Further on, Mosiman worked his way forward and up to third after taking Swoll.
Craig overshadowed Lawrence, put pressure on and even wanted more speed when he waited for his moment – or let Lawrence make a mistake – but Craig made that mistake instead! After the five-minute race, Craig plunged into the sand and was back in seventh by the time he was back up and running.
At half-time, Lawrence is now five seconds ahead of Mosiman, Shimoda is evenly third while Christian Craig is fifth – now three seconds behind Shimoda and 13 seconds behind race leader Hunter Lawrence.
With five minutes to run, all leaders had to deal with heavy traffic at most turns.
Christian Craig took third place from Jo Shimoda with two laps remaining and a pass left him easily behind. Craig then started catching up with Mosiman before traffic halted that charge and he ran out of time to challenge that second place, having to settle for third.
Hunter Lawrence was the clear winner, withstood that early pressure from Craig and picked up 26 points.
Craig’s 21 points for third place him into the Salt Lake City season finale in next weekend’s East-West showdown with an 18-point advantage over the Australian. Their age is 8 years old, and the difference is 18 points… Craig certainly has the upper hand when it comes to the final round but it’s not over until the end… The pair currently have four wins this season.
The only other winner this season is Michael Mosiman, who won the third round of the season in San Diego. Mosiman finished the race for number 1, but was only 16 points behind Hunter Lawrence and not out of the race for number 2…
Victorian privateer Geran Stapleton finished the main game in a very reliable 14th place, scoring his fourth in the last five rounds to move up to 22nd on the championship standings.
250 main results
Location | Rider | Bicycle | Loop / Interval |
first | Hunter Lawrence | Honda CRF250R | 20 rounds |
2 | Michael Mosiman | GASGAS MC 250F | +04.042 |
3 | Christian Craig | Yamaha YZ250F | +07,495 |
4 | Jo Shimoda | Kawasaki KX250 | +11,183 |
5 | Garrett Marchbanks | Yamaha YZ250F | +25.575 |
6 | Vince Friede | Honda CRF250R | +29.409 |
7 | Chris Blose | GASGAS MC 250F | +30.413 |
8 | Robbie Wageman | Yamaha YZ250F | +32,444 |
9 | Nate Thrasher | Yamaha YZ250F | +39,720 |
ten | Jalek Swoll | Husqvarna FC 250 | +41.348 |
11 | Derek Kelley | KTM 250 SX-F | +46.145 |
twelfth | Dominique Thury | Yamaha YZ250F | 19 rounds |
13 | Carson Mumford | Suzuki RM-Z250 | +03.697 |
14 | Geran Stapleton | GASGAS MC 250F | +13.117 |
15 | Ryan Surratt | Yamaha YZ250F | +14,788 |
16 | Mitchell Harrison | GASGAS MC 250F | +24,900 |
17 | Devin Harriman | GASGAS MC 250F | +29,055 |
18 | Brandon Ray | Kawasaki KX250 | 18 rounds |
19 | McClellan Hile | Honda CRF250R | +12,654 |
20 | Alexander Nagy | KTM 250 SX-F | 17 rounds |
21 | Jy Roberts | Kawasaki KX250 | +00.851 |
22 | Carson Brown | KTM 250 SX-F | 11 rounds |
250 Main Featured Videos
250 Post Race press conference
250 Western Championship Rankings
Location | Rider | Home | Point |
first | Christian Craig | Temecula, CA | 215 |
2 | Hunter Lawrence | Wesley Chapel, FL | 197 |
3 | Michael Mosiman | Minneaola, FL | 181 |
4 | Vince Friede | Menifee, CA | 144 |
5 | Jo Shimoda | Menifee, CA | 144 |
6 | Nate Thrasher | Livingston, TN | 126 |
7 | Garrett Marchbanks | Coalville, UT | 117 |
8 | Robbie Wageman | Newhall, CA | 109 |
9 | Chris Blose | Phoenix, AZ | 106 |
ten | Jalek Swoll | Clermont, FL | ninety three |
11 | Carson Brown | Ravensdale, WA | 84 |
twelfth | Carson Mumford | Simi Valley, CA | 80 |
13 | Derek Kelley | Riverside, CA | 78 |
14 | Dominique Thury | Schneeberg, GER | 60 |
15 | Cole Thompson | Brigden, ON | 50 |
16 | Ryan Surratt | Corona, CA | 48 |
17 | Mitchell Harrison | Leesburg, FL | forty six |
18 | Seth Hammaker | Temecula, CA | 44 |
19 | Dylan Walsh | Southam, GB | 41 |
20 | Logan Karnow | Amherst, OH | 40 |
21 | Devin Harriman | Longview, WA | 32 |
22 | Geran Stapleton | Clyde North, VIC | 30 |
23 | Kaeden Amerine | Great Bend, KS | 28 |
24 | Dilan Schwartz | Alpine, CA | 26 |
25 | Hunter Schlosser | El Paso, TX | 16 |
26 | Dylan Woodcock | Rayleigh, ENG | 15 |
27 | Jerry Robin | Hamel, MN | 13 |
28 | McClellan Hile | Atascadero, CA | 13 |
29 | Bamboo Fierro | El Paso, TX | ten |
30 | Brandon Ray | Fremont, CA | 9 |
thirty first | Justin Rodbell | Prince Frederick, MD | 8 |
32 | Maxwell Sanford | Pasadena, MD | 7 |
33 | Wyatt Lyonsmith | Boise, ID | 7 |
34 | Jesse Flock | Claremore, OK | 3 |
35 | Alexander Nagy | Richmond, IL | 3 |
36 | Gared Steinke | Klamath Falls, OR | 2 |
37 | Richard Taylor | Woodland Hills, CA | 2 |
38 | Jy Roberts | Cooranbong, AU | 2 |