Aussie ace Hunter Lawrence turned Protective Stadium into his own personal playground this past Saturday, proving that "Sweet Home Alabama" sounds a lot like a revving Yoshimura-equipped HRC Honda CRF450R Works Edition. Hunter snatched the lead on the opening lap and proceeded to treat the rest of the field like they were stuck in Friday afternoon traffic. Despite a late-race "hello" from Ken Roczen that shrunk the gap to 2.3 seconds, Lawrence remained cooler than the other side of the pillow to secure his second straight win. With three victories in the last four rounds, Hunter has stretched his championship lead to nine points.
"I was trying to push as much as I could," said Lawrence. "That’s one of the things I find the coolest: a high-pressure moment or high-stakes scenario, and you’re able to deliver. You’ve got to be consistent, precise and just push the whole main."
Jo Shimoda’s Alabama adventure was a high-speed heartbreaker. After clawing his way from a mid-pack start into a multi-rider dogfight for the lead, Shimoda looked poised to put his CRF250R Works Edition on the box. However, a chaotic final-lap shuffle saw him shuffled back in the closing turns, crossing the line with a gritty fourth-place finish. He may have missed the podium by a whisker, but his relentless charge proved he has the pace to dictate the terms of this championship chase.
Young motorcycle racer Kensei Matsudaira has shared a fresh video from racing our Yamaha YZF-R7 project bike. He dominated the twins field at Buttonwillow Raceway at Round 1 of the California Roadrace Association (CRA) series. The short clip, captures his YZF-R7 charging past rival twins and pulling away, underscoring the caption’s claim that he “laid waste to all other twins bikes”. Framed as “Part 2” of the build and development series for the racebike, the video highlights not only his pace but also the continued progress of the Project R7 package as he opens his '26 season with a statement ride in the highly competitive twins class.
Yoshimura R&D’s new AT2 stainless full exhaust for the Yamaha YZF-R9 basically gives your bike what pre-workout gives gym bros: more punch, less weight, and a tougher opinion about everything around it, with a sleek Works Finish and carbon bits so it looks fast enough that you can blame any future speed violations on “aerodynamics and peer pressure,” not your right wrist. And the best part? It is 49-state legal and easy to install.
They say there’s "no love in Oklahoma," and Nick DeFeo certainly didn't find any for his competition this weekend. The RM Red Bear Kawasaki racer extended his American National Enduro Championship reign at the Cross Timbers round, delivering a clinical sweep of all six tests to remain undefeated in the NE Pro2 class.
Rider and machine were in perfect sync as DeFeo’s Yoshimura-powered Kawasaki KX250X propelled him to a massive 4th overall finish. With the 2025 champion showing no signs of slowing down, "TRex" continues to be the undisputed apex predator of the woods.
The 2026 Yamaha YZ450F just met its better half. Meet the RS-12 Signature Series Slip-On—a lightweight powerhouse engineered to deliver the kind of gains that make your rivals consider a new hobby.
We’ve even done the paperwork for you. The RS-12 is USFS approved and ships with a spark arrestor pre-installed, so you can head straight to the woods without a lecture from a Park Ranger. It features a rugged stainless steel mid-pipe paired with a weight-saving aluminum muffler, topped off with a matte carbon fiber end cap, because if you aren't going to be the fastest person on the track, you should at least be the best looking.
Pre-order now; first shipments arrive this May.