Thrasher has enjoyed some bright moments throughout the season, but his ride at Ironman Raceway was his best yet. He started the day with fifth place in qualifying, giving him a good gate pick for Moto 1. Thrasher used that gate pick to turn out his first holeshot of the season, quickly pulling a gap on the rest of the field. He maintained the lead for the first half of the race before moving back to fourth after experiencing some arm pump. The fourth-place Moto 1 finish was Thrasher’s best of the season, setting him up for a good overall score. At the gate drop of Moto 2, Thrasher got out to a fourth-place start and had good pace with the rest of the field. He fell back to sixth on Lap 12 but was able to bring it home and score fifth overall.
The day started out extremely well for Cooper, who once again found himself at the top of the qualifying time sheets. He enjoyed a decent start in Moto 1 in seventh but quickly pushed up to fifth on the second lap. The New Yorker held on there for many laps, eventually finishing out the moto in sixth. As the Moto 2 gate dropped, Cooper led the field around the first turn, giving the team both 250MX holeshots for the day. He held onto second for several laps before falling back a few spots, finishing the moto in fifth for sixth overall.
After a great first showing last weekend, Spanish newcomer Farres wanted to make another good statement before returning to Europe next week to race in the German championship, where he is leading the points in the 250 class. He had a decent qualifying in 11th as he learned the technical track. His first moto was off to a great start and slotted into second behind his teammate. He was fourth after the first lap before falling back a few spots to sixth and continued to ride strong to earn his second career top-10 moto result in ninth. Farres faced a tough second moto after his rear brake went out after contact with riders during a hectic mid-pack start but still managed to fight and turn out a 16th-place finish.
Kitchen returned to racing after suffering a wrist injury and turned out a great opening moto ride for eighth, but ultimately his wrist wasn’t quite ready to stand up to two rough and rutted motos. He pulled in during Moto 2 and called it a day, giving him 12th overall thanks to his solid Moto 1 performance. The Washington rider will most likely sit out of the season final in Pala, California, to focus on returning to full fitness for the 2023 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season.
Leblanc was also returning to the starting gate from injury and struggled to find the intensity needed to face the stacked field of 250MX racers. He finished in the points in both motos (20-17), scoring him 21st overall.
Deegan made his debut at the penultimate round and faced a rollercoaster day. He started the day learning the track and qualified 16th. After coming around the first lap of Moto 1 in 12th, Deegan quickly realized he had a rear brake issue, but that didn’t stop the young rider from pushing forward. He had closed in on the top 10 when he had a big crash and was unable to continue the moto. Deegan lined up for the second moto a little banged up but ready to go, only to go down when he and another rider came together just after the start. He rejoined in last place but didn’t give up and pushed the entire moto to make his way back up to 24th, awarding him 31st overall.
The Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team will head back west to Fox Raceway in Pala, California, for the final round of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship on Saturday, September 3.
