Well, this has certainly been a week in the world of SMX. There was even more injury news throughout the week and even on Saturday itself, and one of the most shocking news drops the sport has seen in many years involved its top star. Might as well open with that on the Week of A2.
The Lawrence Brothers/Lucas Mirtl Situation
Lewis Phillips was first on this Thursday morning, receiving a statement from the Lawrence camp claiming that the Lawrence brothers, in addition to the Wasserman agency, had each fired agent Lucas Mirtl for alleged misappropriation of personal funds. The statement also starts by saying that this all came to a head over the last two weeks when they noticed some suspicious bank activity in a business account and made the call to fire him at 9:00 AM EST on Thursday. Then, in a pair of Instagram note posts, Mirtl came out with these two statements on Thursday and Friday.
In the interest of not wanting to get myself in trouble with words in this specific instance, and the fact this is all still alleged for the time being, I'll keep this brief, but these are some serious allegations for someone who's one of a few super agents in the world of Motocross. He's also been with the Lawrence since their days on the MXGP circuit, so should these claims be proven true, that's a massive betrayal for just about anyone to deal with. I can't say I wouldn't have any trust issues moving forward anyway.
Daytime Program/Injury Notes:
- Jorge Prado suffered a dislocated shoulder in practice.
- Pro Circuit needs a seance to stop the injuries. Masterpool is out, and Drew Adams is in.
- Back-to-back whoop sections are peak.
- 250 Fastest Qualifier: No. 38 Haiden Deegan (52.848)
- 450 Fastest Qualifier: No. 4 Chase Sexton (51.566)
Heat Racing Highlights
The rain, which was expected to miss, hit the floor of Angel Stadium mere moments before 250 Heat 1, but nothing more than sprinkles. Coty Schock went wire to wire here, but this one featured some good runs out of the teenagers Cole Davies and Drew Adams, who both finished inside the top four. The former gave Schock a run for his money on that final lap, only ending up about a bike length back. Heat 2 saw Julien Beaumer hold a nice lead before a hard-charging Haiden Deegan got into him in a bowl corner, and that was that.
Eli Tomac's pace has been phenomenal in these California rounds, and that was certainly the case in Heat 1. He fared much better off the start than Malcolm Stewart and Aaron Plessinger, who had to claw to get into transfer spots, and Tomac's teammate Justin Cooper, who couldn't make a top-nine berth and was LCQ-bound. Heat 2 on the 450 side featured a tight battle between Jason Anderson and Jett Lawrence, along with Chase Sexton lurking in the background, with the Monster Kawi rider going wire-to-wire as well.
250 Class Recap
1st - No. 38 Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha)
It took him a few rounds, but that was the Deegan many people expected to see in rounds one and two. An elite start followed up by a good bit of defensive riding on Beaumer was essentially the entire race in a matter of 20 seconds, as Deegan faced minimal resistance throughout those 15 minutes and change. Gotta imagine he has an IOU still from the No. 23, but for now, he's back seven points going into the last round before a multi-week layoff, so worry about that in time.
2nd - No. 23 Julien Beaumer (Red Bull KTM)
Disappointed that Beaumer lost touch with Deegan as quickly as he did, but he was definitely the better guy on Saturday night, saying as much on the podium. The good news is that I think he'll be one of these guys who'll benefit big time with the Triple Crown format in Glendale, and if he can have a 10-point buffer to go into the break with, that's a great spot to be in.
3rd - No. 100 Cole Davies (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha)
I don't think anyone expected to see Davies be in the spot he's in right now, but this region is better off for it. As are fans because he's been as exciting a development in this entire sport three weeks in. Not once has he felt out of place as a teenager, and without the hype coming in that Deegan or the Lawrences did, he's legitimately a dark horse title contender after three rounds. If he somehow pulls off what Levi Kitchen did at the A2 Triple Crown a couple of seasons ago, I'd get really worried if I were these other top guys. Davies absolutely has "it."
6th - No. 30 Jo Shimoda (Honda HRC)
Shimoda getting honest results powering through his hand injury is pretty remarkable. He's someone else who is probably happy about these shorter races next weekend, and judging by his pace in both the Heat and Main Event, Shimoda should be able to push through these three 10-minute plus-one lappers.
250 West Class Anaheim 2 Top 10
1st No. 38 Haiden Deegan
2nd No. 23 Julien Beaumer
3rd No. 100 Cole Davies
4th No. 19 Jordon Smith
5th No. 37 Coty Schock
6th No. 30 Jo Shimoda
7th No. 93 Michael Mosiman
8th No. 98 Drew Adams
9th No. 52 Anthony Bourdon
10th No. 63 Hunter Yoder
250 West Points Standings After Anaheim 2
1st No. 23 Julien Beaumer (69 Points) (Nice)
2nd No. 38 Haiden Deegan (62 Points)
3rd No. 19 Jordon Smith (60 Points)
4th No. 30 Jo Shimoda (56 Points)
5th No. 100 Cole Davies (52 Points)
6th No. 37 Coty Schock (49 Points)
7th No. 52 Anthony Bourdon (39 Points)
8th No. 25 Ryder DiFrancesco (35 Points)
9th No. 93 Michael Mosiman (35 Points)
10th No. 63 Hunter Yoder (33 Points)
450 Class Recap
1st - No. 1 Jett Lawrence (Honda HRC)
For many reasons, I imagine Saturday night felt good for Jett and his inner circle. His battle with Anderson was surprisingly very respectful for a couple of guys who hate each other, and it made for some fun TV, if nothing else. I hope we can get more of that moving forward. Only a half-dozen points out from taking sole possession of the series lead that, the kid is certainly right in the thick of it three rounds in.
2nd - No. 94 Ken Roczen (HEP Progressive/Ecstar Suzuki)
It was a really good night for Ken Roczen to capitalize on a night where some heavy hitters had trouble and to out-battle Jason Anderson for that second podium spot. Now, for the first time since Round 4 of 2015, a Suzuki rider will carry a red plate in 450 Supercross. That last rider was...Ken Roczen.
So, just to put this in perspective, the last time Roczen had a red plate for RMArmy, Jeff Gordon was still a full-time NASCAR driver, DeflateGate was the leading story in the nation, James Stewart (so good by the way) was serving a sham WADA, suspension, and Ryan Villopoto was still about a month away from making his MXGP debut. Yeah, it's been a hot minute.
3rd - No. 21 Jason Anderson (Monster Energy Kawasaki)
It was a return to A1 form for El Hombre, who has kicked off a season with podiums in two of the first three rounds for the first time sine 2018. Wonder how he ended up doing then. Anyways, you can't fault him too much for losing to Jett, or even Kenny for the matter. Can't imagine it was super ideal with the light rain and to get out of there with a podium is big.
7th - No. 3 Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha)
Having watched Tomac enough over the last several years on a 450, these good starts weren't going to last forever, and Saturday felt like a natural correction. The good news is that he picked off 15 guys en route to a seventh, but his points lead is gone going into Glendale. Also, here's the aftermath of his start, in case you wanted to get a better visual.
450 Class Anaheim 2 Top 10
1st No. 1 Jett Lawrence
2nd No. 94 Ken Roczen
3rd No. 21 Jason Anderson
4th No. 4 Chase Sexton
5th No. 96 Hunter Lawrence
6th No. 32 Justin Cooper
7th No. 3 Eli Tomac
8th No. 2 Cooper Webb
9th No. 27 Malcolm Stewart
10th No. 51 Justin Barcia
450 Points Standings After Anaheim 2
1st No. 94 Ken Roczen (62 Points) (New Points Leader)
2nd No. 4 Chase Sexton (59 Points)
3rd No. 1 Jett Lawrence (57 Points)
4th No. 3 Eli Tomac (57 Points)
5th No. 2 Cooper Webb (52 Points)
6th No. 21 Jason Anderson (49 Points)
7th No. 96 Hunter Lawrence (45 Points)
8th No. 32 Justin Cooper (42 Points)
9th No. 51 Justin Barcia (42 Points)
10th No. 27 Malcolm Stewart (40 Points)
Anaheim 2 LitKit Recipient: Cooper Webb (Fly)
Main Image via Honda HRC
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