Washougal AMA Pro MX – An illustrated recap

2024 Pro Motocross Championship
Round Eight – Washougal

The 2024 AMA Pro Motocross Championship made its final trip to the West Coast for the eighth round of the summer campaign, where the scenic surroundings of Washougal MX Park challenged riders under some of the hottest temperatures of the season.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Chase Sexton dominated with his third straight 1-1 effort to capture his fourth 450 Class victory of the season and add to his championship points lead.

In the 250 Class, points leader Haiden Deegan edged out Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle via tiebreaker for the fifth win of the season for the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider.

450 Moto One

The opening moto of the afternoon got underway with a massive holeshot for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Aaron Plessinger, who had a lead of several bike lengths exiting the first turn with the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing machine of Justin Cooper in second and Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence in third. Sexton started outside the top 10 but made quick passes to slot himself into sixth by the completion of the opening lap. Back up front, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson made the pass on Lawrence for third.

As the moto progressed through its midway point the field settled in, but Sexton was mounting a charge. After a pass on Phoenix Racing Honda’s Dylan Ferrandis for fifth, Sexton began to lay down the fastest laps of the moto, which allowed him to close in on the lead group. He caught and passed Anderson for fourth with ease and then set his sights on Lawrence and Cooper, who were in a battle for second. Lawrence made the move on Cooper to take second, then Sexton followed through into third with a little more than 10 minutes to go.

While he looked to keep Sexton at bay, Lawrence went down, which caused him to lose three positions and remount in fifth. Sexton inherited second and looked to erase a near five-second deficit to his teammate with just under 10 minutes remaining. Cooper moved into third, with Anderson fifth.

With two minutes to go Sexton had cut the deficit in half, but Plessinger responded with his quickest laps of the moto. Sexton didn’t relent and continued to increase his pace to inch closer to Plessinger. With three laps to go less than a second separated the teammates. Plessinger then stalled his KTM briefly, which allowed Sexton to get alongside as Plessinger restarted. The momentum allowed Sexton to slip past and pull away from Plessinger.

The championship leader stayed solid through the final laps to capture his sixth straight moto win by 5.3 seconds over Plessinger. Cooper followed in a distant third, with Anderson fourth and Lawrence fifth.

450 Moto One Results

450 Moto Two

The deciding moto started with Cooper leading the field to the MotoSport.com Holeshot, but he gave way to Lawrence briefly until Anderson made a charge to go from third to first in just a few hundred feet. Sexton followed in fourth, while Plessinger started fifth. While Anderson looked to sprint out to a lead, Lawrence strengthened his hold of second as Sexton made his way around Cooper for third.

Five minutes into the moto, Anderson had established a 3.3 second lead on the field, while Lawrence, Sexton, and Plessinger settled into their respective positions. Cooper, meanwhile, encountered misfortune and dropped outside the top 10. As the opening 10 minutes passed, Sexton started to apply pressure on Lawrence for second. The championship rivals battled briefly, but Sexton made the pass stick and set his sights on Anderson, who sat 4.6 seconds ahead. Lawrence then faced pressure from Plessinger in fourth, as the KTM rider was eventually able to make his move into the top three.

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As the second half of the moto unfolded, Sexton was able to chip away at Anderson’s advantage, running the fastest laps on the track. With a little more than 10 minutes to go, Sexton closed to within 1.2 seconds of the lead. An outside line opened the door for Sexton to attempt a pass, as he edged ahead on the exit to secure the lead with a little more than eight minutes remaining.

Anderson kept Sexton honest for several laps, but the KTM rider pulled away at the end to cap off another perfect afternoon by 13 seconds over Anderson, who wrapped up his best moto result of the season. Plessinger finished solidly in third.

450 Moto Two Results

450 Round

Sexton’s third consecutive 1-1 performance, and his fourth of the season, resulted in a milestone 10th career win. Plessinger equaled his career-best result in second (2-3) to complete KTM’s second 1-2 sweep in three races. Anderson’s strong second moto landed him on the overall podium for the first time this season in third (4-2).

With seven straight moto wins in tow, Sexton has built a 28-point lead in the 450 Class standings over Lawrence, who finished fourth (5-4) and missed the podium for the first time in his premier class career. Cooper, who finished fifth (3-7), sits third, 76 points behind Sexton.

Chase Sexton – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (1-1)

“It feels nice, because I wanted to get this win before the break, and to go into that with some momentum. We’ve got two weekends off, so I plan to go back and rest, because I haven’t been feeling the greatest these last few days. I felt really good on the bike, was able to push through and find a flow, which got me to the end. This crowd’s awesome and I love coming to this track every year. We’ll keep the hammer down from here and go for it!”

Aaron Plessinger – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (2-3)

“These fans at Washougal are unreal! It’s cool to see this same support country-wide and that these people have the same passion for dirt bikes that I do. I’m still achieving the goals that I set for myself, even if unfortunately last week I had a crash that kept me off the podium in fourth, but we’re back here now and I’m happy. We’ll take some weeks off for now and do some things I don’t usually get to do with the family!”

Jason Anderson – Monster Energy Kawasaki (4-2)

“I feel really good about today. I had a good qualifying session and good starts all day. In Moto 1, I was in contention for a podium spot until small mistakes on my end where I lost time, and we also made changes to my KX450SR before Moto 2 which was huge. It felt really great to establish a gap and lead a majority of the second moto, and I feel really good about where we are at as a team. I’m finally heading back home to California instead of continuing to test in South Carolina, and I’m excited to be back with the team and to have a little break before getting back to it. I felt great in the morning on my KX450SR and qualified first, which felt good heading into the motos. In Moto 1, I got a good jump out of the gate and thought I had more pace on the guys in front of me, but a few mistakes caused me to stay in that fourth spot all moto. In Moto 2, I had an even better jump out of the gate and maintained pressure on the top guys the entire race, but stayed consistent and finished just outside the Top 3. Overall, I am happy with the direction we are going and I am looking forward to more racing.”

450 Round Results

450 Championship Points

250 Moto One

The first 250 Class moto began with Vialle and Deegan side-by-side, with Vialle narrowly earning the MotoSport.com Holeshot. The rivals remained alongside one another until Vialle gained a slight edge going up Horsepower Hill to secure the lead. Behind them, Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GASGAS Factory Racing’s Ryder DiFrancesco slotted into third.

The leaders settled in until Deegan tipped over and gave up second to DiFrancesco. Despite the miscue, Deegan remounted in third. The point leader bided his time and reclaimed the position from DiFrancesco on the following lap. Deegan’s deficit to Vialle was four seconds with 23 minutes to go.

The lead pair mirrored times through the heart of the moto, which saw the lead stabilize at about 3.5 seconds. Behind them, DiFrancesco continued to run third but was forced to fend off Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Jordon Smith, who made the pass briefly before crashing, and then Team Honda HRC’s Jo Shimoda, who applied pressure in the closing minutes and successfully made the pass for third.

Back up front, Deegan attempted to make a late charge, but Vialle responded and effectively ended any threat. The Frenchman raced to just his second moto win of the season, his first since Round 2, by a margin of 11.3 seconds over Deegan. Shimoda finished in third, followed by a career-best moto result for DiFrancesco in fourth, with Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Max Anstie rounding out the top five.

250 Moto One Results

250 Moto Two

The final moto of the afternoon saw Vialle keep the momentum going with a sweep of the MotoSport.com Holeshots as Deegan got another run alongside to try and take the lead in what was a mirror image of the start of Moto 1. Once again, the KTM rider got a better run up Horsepower Hill to fend off Deegan and maintain his hold of the top spot. Behind them, DiFrancesco got another stellar start in third while hometown hero Levi Kitchen was able to make his way into fourth aboard his Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki. Despite the opening lap flurry, Vialle was able to move out to a lead of more than a second over Deegan.

A torrid opening 10 minutes saw several passes unfold, but soon the top five settled with Vialle and Deegan inching away from DiFrancesco as Shimoda made the pass on Kitchen for fourth. Deegan then decided to go on the attack and seemingly caught Vialle off guard. The points leader used an alternate line to get alongside Vialle and completed the pass at the next corner. Behind them, Shimoda made the pass on DiFrancesco for third.

The top three remained unchanged over the second half of the moto as Deegan continued to build his lead into the double digits. He easily secured his seventh moto victory of the season, which also ended a run of six winless motos, by a margin of 14 seconds over Vialle, who went unchallenged in second. Shimoda finished in a distant third.

250 Moto Two Results

250 Round

After two rounds without a victory, Deegan (2-1) returned to the top step of the podium with identical moto scores to Vialle (1-2), as the second moto tiebreaker gave the second-generation racer his fifth overall win of the season and the seventh of his young career. It also signified Vialle’s first podium result in two rounds and equaled his season-best effort. Shimoda (3-3) captured his third podium result in the past four races.

Deegan’s lead in the championship standings grew to 53 points over Vialle, who moved from third to second, while Kitchen sits third, 70 points behind Deegan.

Haiden Deegan – Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing (2-1)

“We made a little different bike setup [for Moto 2] and it made a world of difference. Got a good start, made the pass, and just rode my own race. It’s nice to keep the Washougal [win] streak going [after last year] and put it back on top of the box.”

Tom Vialle – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (1-2)

“Today was a good day! We were able to go fastest in qualifying and won the first moto, and then Haiden [Deegan] beat me in the second moto. The track was tough and I did my best – it’s nice to finish on the podium before the break. We’ll keep training and hopefully we can come back and win these last three races.”

Jo Shimoda – Team Honda HRC (3-3)

“Those two in the front [Deegand and Vialle] are going pretty quick right now. It’s not just one thing I need to work on. It’s a little bit of everything, but we’ll keep trying our best.”

Ryder DiFrancesco – P4

“That was my best finish that I’ve had and we’re happy with that achievement. I had two good starts today, so I was able to learn the speed up front more, and I keep getting better in terms of overall finishes. I’m excited to keep improving and the goal is to get on the podium by the end of the year. I’m looking forward to these couple of off weekends now.”

Pierce Brown – P5

“Washougal was a much better day for me after the last two weeks didn’t go to plan. It was refreshing to get a solid overall result today, which is tied with my best result of the season, and I’m looking forward to putting in the work over the break before Unadilla!”

Levi Kitchen – P6

“I had an okay weekend. I always love coming back to my hometown and home track at Washougal, and the fans are always supportive and great. I felt great after qualifying close to the top of the board, and then in Moto 1 did not get a good jump off of the start. I struggled to find my groove and make up time on a fast paced track, so I did everything I could to make up as many positions as I could. Moto 2 I had a much better start, and began to find good lines and carry a consistent pace which ended up paying off to finish fourth. I’m bummed on my results at home, but I’m ready for the break to regroup and refresh for Unadilla.”

Julien Beaumer – P11

“It was a decent day at Washougal. I was good in practice, and then struggled in that first moto – I don’t really know what happened there. In Moto 2, I was able to come back with better riding, so in this break we will look to make further improvements and come out swinging in Unadilla.”

Ty Masterpool – P12

“This was a rough weekend for me. I came into the weekend pretty sick, and still beat up from the start crash last week. I knew I was going to have to be as conservative as I could be to make sure I didn’t injure myself further, but I struggled with fatigue all day. I’m not satisfied with my results, but I’m happy to be heading into the break to let my body heal up and get back to the podium at Round 9.”

250 Round Results

250 Championship Points

Next Up

The 2024 Pro Motocross Championship will observe a late summer break of two off weekends before a return to action for its stretch run of the final three rounds, which will begin on Saturday, August 10, from the hallowed grounds of Central New York’s Unadilla MX. The ELF Unadilla National will serve as Round 9 of the season.