Motocross Statistics | Numbers at Washougal 2

Another season of 2023 Pro Motocross is nearing its conclusion and that means that it is time to dive into more statistics, so settle down and prepare to digest many facts and figures. In this regular Vital MX feature, uncover points of interest that lurked in the shadows at Washougal in Washington.

• Another week and another pole position for Jett Lawrence. Washougal was his sixth pole position in the 450MX division and the thirteenth of his career. One more pole position aboard the CRF450R is all he needs to match his 250MX total, which is rather incredible. If it happens at Unadilla, for instance, then he would have achieved a feat that took him thirty-six starts in 250MX in eight 450MX starts. It is context like that which sheds more light on his prowess.

• A random note before we jump into the racing. Chase Sexton has not qualified outside of the top five in Pro Motocross since the final round of the 2021 season; he was sixth in timed qualification on that day. Sexton is seemingly so reliable when transferring his skills from round to round because the last time that he qualified outside of the top ten was round six of 2019 Pro Motocross (he was twelfth in 250MX on that occasion).

• Lawrence was rather unstoppable in the first moto – there is no doubt that he controlled proceedings. The fact that he posted the four quickest laps in the moto underlines that point. Even more impressive is the fact that those four laps occurred in a row (laps five through eight). How much time did he gain on Ferrandis, who was second at the start of that period before being passed by Sexton on lap seven? Peruse the times in the table below.

• It is worth noting that the lap time that Ferrandis set on lap five, the 02:16.488, was the second-best time in moto one (fifth if individual lap times are included) and Lawrence was almost a second quicker. To add to Lawrence's assertive performance in the opening moto, he was the strongest in four of the five sectors. Sexton topped him in sector four – that was the blip on his scorecard in that first moto.

• Although the fourth sector was his weak point in the first moto, he was just superb in the third sector. The third sector stretched from the holeshot line to the moment where you go downhill into the tight switchback section. The track map can be viewed at the top of the feature, for a visual cue, so hopefully that helps. Lawrence had the seven fastest times in sector three. Only one athlete, Ferrandis, posted a single time in the sector that was quicker than Lawrence's average.

• The advantage in the third sector was still prevalent in moto two, as he recorded the five fastest times on that portion of the Washougal track. Lawrence spent seven minutes and forty-nine seconds of the second moto in sector three, whereas Sexton spent seven minutes and fifty-five seconds in there. The difference may seem minute, and it is, but even a couple of tenths make such a massive difference in this game.

• Although Lawrence was the fastest in sector five in moto one, that was far from the case in the second moto. The important thing to note here is that Lawrence's speed did not change too much – his best time was a 37.567 in moto one and then a 37.695 in moto two. Sexton seemingly made huge gains in sector five, which stretched from the booter at the back to the finish, as his best time was a 37.568 in moto one and he dropped that to 37.167 in moto two.

• There are six times missing from each star. However, using the information that's online, Sexton spent six minutes and thirty-one seconds in sector five (and posted the two quickest times). Lawrence spent six minutes and thirty-nine seconds there, in comparison. Each rider set their fastest time on the fifth lap, so Sexton gained more than half a second on his foe on that lap. Oddly enough, the quickest five times in sector five were set on lap five.

• Sexton had the fastest time of the second moto, and it was a near-perfect lap for him; his fastest time in three of the five sectors came on that lap. The result, a 02:15.628, was a lap that was almost a full second quicker than the best one that Lawrence recorded (02:16.593). Despite that gulf, Sexton only had the two fastest times of the race. Such a statistic points to just how amazing that fastest lap was. It was his best lap of the day.

• In the interest of clarity, the fastest time of moto one was set by Lawrence (02:15.496) on a lap where he had one best sector. That was over in sector four – previously identified as his weakness – proving that was somewhat of a hinderance. On a similar note, he would have had a much better time in moto two had it not been for a mistake in sector one on the sixth lap. '18' screwed up in that part and then responded by posting personal bests in sectors two, three and four for his second fastest lap.

• Back to the duel that Lawrence and Sexton had in moto two! Sexton was seemingly on somewhat of a charge prior to his fall, as he took time out of his teammate often. How did the dynamic look before his mistake? The table below covers laps six through twelve. It all came crashing down on lap thirteen. Like Millville, the speed is present to match and better the championship leader. It's just a matter of executing.

• To take this a step further, let's run through a lap-by-lap comparison. Sexton was faster than Lawrence on nine of the sixteen laps, so the opposite was true on seven occasions. Sexton was quicker on three consecutive laps on three occasions (laps five through seven and laps fourteen through sixteen). There was just one instance of Lawrence gaining time on consecutive laps, that being across laps eight and nine. Those are highlighted in the table above.

• A random tip of the hat to Sexton, who was visibly frustrated after the fall. Not only did he climb onto his bike and go faster than Lawrence on the three laps that followed, but he set his eighth fastest lap right at the very end (lap sixteen). '23' had not gone as quick as that since lap eleven, for context, so it's impressive that he was willing to return to that pace when all was lost. Sexton had an average lap that was 00.096 slower than Lawrence, despite his crash.

• There has been a Honda star atop the 450MX podium at the last three rounds in Washougal. Lawrence won on Saturday, of course, then Sexton won in both 2022 and 2021. Unsurprisingly, Sexton has an average moto finish of second at Washougal since moving onto the big bike (1-3-2-1-2-2 have been his moto scores). In contrast, he never ended higher than fourth in a 250MX moto amongst the trees of Washougal.

• There were four Kawasaki riders inside of the top ten in the 450MX overall classification at Washougal. This is extremely rare for the manufacturer – it last happened at the 2013 Pro Motocross finale at the man-made facility of Lake Elsinore. Ryan Villopoto (first), Jake Weimer (fourth), Tyla Rattray (fifth) and Brett Metcalfe (eighth) painted the top ten 'green' that day. Truth be told, having three Kawasaki stars in the top ten is just as uncommon.

• There were just three nationalities – the USA, France and Australia – represented inside of the 450MX top ten on Saturday. Unsurprisingly, that is the lowest total in 2023 Pro Motocross thus far. The last time that just three countries filled the top ten was at last season's finale. The countries were the USA, United Kingdom and Germany on that day. This is what happens when athletes like Fredrik Noren and Jose Butron miss the top ten.

• There was just one rider who took a season-best moto finish amongst the Washougal trees: Robert Martin, who is classified in ninety-seventh in the 450MX standings and had completed a single moto prior to Washougal. Thirty-ninth was his prior best (moto one at Fox Raceway) and he posted a thirty-first in moto two on Saturday. It is just bizarre that no other rider hit such a high, but the influx of returning riders is making that tricky.

• This makes little sense and could be a data error of some kind, but Kevin Moranz posted his best lap time of each moto on the very last one. Even more bizarre is the fact that the quickest lap in the final moto was more than two seconds faster than anything that he did previously! What is there to possibly attribute that to? Props to '80' for having that much in the tank when he is not committed to the Pro Motocross series.

• Another random note about a privateer before signing off. Luca Marsalisi has the worst average start position of the top thirty 450MX riders, despite being nineteenth in the championship standings. The average that he's sat on is twenty-third; Jace Kessler has the next worst at twenty-second. Butron has the worst average of the top ten riders, that being a seventeenth. It goes without saying that Lawrence has the best average start of everyone, right?