Unadilla welcomed the 2026 Pro Motocross Championship back into action for round nine, where more changes occurred in the race for this year’s 450MX and 250MX titles. Hear more from the leading riders of each division in this Reaction feature.

450MX

Image: Octopi Media.

P1 | Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive):
Today was really brutal. It was a bit of a struggle to get a flow and get good lines – everywhere was just choppy and had square edges. I like to win – I haven’t won a lot this year, so that’s pissing me off. But I still can’t be too terribly mad, just because of the injury that I have. I’m just going to try and keep looking forward and focus on what I need to do to get better. I didn’t want to get the red plate like this, so I’m kind of bummed, honestly. We still have two rounds to go, and Hunter’s been riding phenomenal lately, so we’ll see how it turns out. We’ll still be good as brothers – that will never change.

P2 | Jorge Prado (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing):
We had those three weeks to work on the bike and we knew exactly what we needed to do. I was convinced that we were on the right path with my decisions, and it showed today. It was the best race of the year for me – we had really good speed battling with Jett [Lawrence] in that second moto, and we were pulling away from everyone. I’m super happy, thanks to the whole Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team for believing in me.

P3 | Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing):
Unadilla was good. This place was a bit of a struggle for me in the past, so to be able to pull off a third today, I’m pretty happy with it. Overall, it’s good. We’ve got a good podium streak going. Obviously, we’re chasing that moto win, so we’re working hard. We’ll keep on doing it. We’ve got another round coming up next week, so we’ll just keep going for it.

P4 | Garrett Marchbanks (Monster Energy Kawasaki):
My results throughout today were great, except for my starts. Today was really good for the injury I had coming in. I rode basically one and a half days this week. I was coming into today hoping I could turn out two strong motos, and I really showed that. I showed that my fitness and speed are still really good. I tied my best overall result with a 5-4 moto score. The speed was there today, and I passed a lot of guys, so I’m happy with my performance today.

P5 | RJ Hampshire (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing):
It was an eventful weekend. I was riding well in the first moto and I felt good, before making a mistake there late and losing a position. Second moto, someone flinched off the gate, and I was pretty dang close to dead-last. I went down another two more times before putting in a heck of a charge to get me fifth overall. On a day where I wasn’t overly comfortable, we’ll take it.

P6 | Dylan Ferrandis (Troy Lee Designs Red Bull Ducati):
It was a good day, I felt comfortable on the bike, we still are lacking a little bit in performance to close the gap to the guys in the front. I had fun riding the bike and that makes a big difference on race day. The small crash in the first moto cost me a little bit. Moto two I had a good start and by turn two I got passed by a lot of riders and it made my race harder and I had to fight hard with that group from like fifth to 12th. The class is very stacked right now and I was right in there so I had to pass a lot of guys. Sixth overall, it was a good day and we know where we could be better so that’s what we will focus on.

P7 | Jed Beaton (Monster Energy CDR Yamaha Team):
I have raced all over Europe for a number of years and not really spent any time in the US, so when the opportunity came up, I wanted to make it happen and get a chance to race on some different tracks, against some different riders, in a different country. The team back at home was great in letting me not only take motors and suspension, but also my mechanic Jesse is here with me, so I feel comfortable. I would have loved to have stayed in fourth in that final moto, and it would have given me about fifth overall for the weekend, but I hit a bit of a wall with a few laps to go and couldn’t keep the pace. Coming from our winter and living in Victoria means it’s a pretty drastic change and there is no doubt it affected me. It’s not an excuse and I have another week to acclimatise and hopefully can keep the good results coming at Budds Creek and Ironman in the next two weeks. The point of being here isn’t to try and get a ride, I’m super happy racing in Australia and with the CDR Yamaha team, but it was just something I wanted to do and test myself against the riders here. So far, so good.

P8 | Hunter Lawrence (Honda HRC Progressive):
Cheers to motorsports, even if I personally hate it right now. I’m grateful to have a great team behind me and four more chances to make this happen.

250MX

Image: Octopi Media.

P1 | Cole Davies (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing):
Unadilla was good. The track was pretty sketchy, but we were able to kind of lock in and have a good day. I had a pretty big crash in qualifying, but I was able to reset, go 2-1 in the motos today, and pull off the win here at Unadilla. The second moto was good, and I’m leaving one point back from the championship. We’ve got four motos to go, so we’re going to try to maximize points and come out on top.

P2 | Levi Kitchen (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki):
I felt like I could have had one of those days that was perfect and that I’ve been looking for, but it was close to that. Second moto, I had a little off-track excursion, and hopefully it’s the last of that. I executed a great start, and I thought Julian [Beaumer] and I were gonna come out really well, but it is what it is. I just had to put my head down and try and get as far as I could. I’m bummed on that pass on the last lap too. I saw several blue flags waved at that rider and was confused because I thought he was a lapper, and it wasn’t until the last turn I realized he wasn’t a lapper because he was racing me really hard. I was able to salvage second, which was great, but I wish I could have made up some points. Unfortunately, I lost more, but at this point, it’s an all-out war anyway. I look forward to next weekend. We’ll try to do the same thing again next weekend, besides the rough start. I’m riding great right now, so I have no complaints.

P3 | Chance Hymas (Honda HRC Progressive):
It’s nice to see the progress, for sure – I feel like I’m back to being a consistent podium person. I’m building and making good progress, but I just keep making stupid mistakes in the middle of the motos. You just can’t be doing that when everyone’s already running the same times. It’s kind of frustrating, being that close and still feeling like I’m so far off, in a sense. Just wanting to be top-three in both motos on the weekend is my expectation. My goal right now is to hopefully get third in the championship. If I can keep knocking out some good starts, finishing where I’m finishing and minimizing the mistakes going forward, I think I can accomplish that goal.

P4 | Carson Mumford (AEO Powersports KTM):
Unadilla – 3-4 moto scores for P4 overall. Wow, just wow. So blessed to be in this position, I love riding my dirt bike.

P5 | Ryder DiFrancesco (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing):
Unadilla was good – a solid day. Every session I was out there, I was inside the top-five, and that’s where I belong. Going 5-3 for fifth overall is tough, but we’ll keep digging. We closed the gap to third in the points, so it was a positive day, and the last two tracks are usually really good for me.

P6 | Brodie Connolly (Quad Lock Honda):
P6 on the weekend! Thanks to the entire team and everyone who helps make it possible for me to be over here.

P7 | Drew Adams (Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki):
This weekend was an improvement for me. Qualifying was great. I qualified third overall. In the first session of qualifying, it was so foggy you could barely see the track. First moto, I had a pretty good start and made two passes for seventh. Second moto, I had a bad start and had a couple of sketchy moments, but ended up getting ninth for seventh overall. It’s definitely an improvement from this place last. I didn’t like this track last year that much. I do really like the next two rounds coming up, so I’m looking forward to those.

P8 | Caden Dudney (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing):
I definitely needed the two weeks off. I just tried to be consistent and ride my ride. Overall, it was a pretty good day and a step in the right direction, so I think next weekend will be even better. I actually like this track, so it was pretty fun for me. I like how technical it is. I feel like a lot of people can’t really ride that stuff very well, but that’s always kind of been my thing.