Words and images from MX Sports Pro Racing
| The opening round of the 2026 Women’s Motocross Championship Powered by Synchrony (WMX) commenced with unprecedented anticipation and fanfare at the Coker Pump Hangtown Motocross Classic. A pair of tightly contested and highly entertaining motos saw the series’ top riders wage battle, from which Altus Motorsports bLU cRU Yamaha’s Lachlan “Lala” Turner, the reigning back-to-back champion, prevailed with a 1-1 victory after she withstood a fierce challenge from her rivals. |
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 Lachlan “Lala” Turner began her quest for a third straight WMX title with a 1-1 effort at Hangtown. MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. |
| The first 12 Minutes + 1 Lap moto of the weekend took place on Friday afternoon and began with Turner leading the field to the holeshot ahead of Quad Lock Honda’s Charli Cannon and Partzilla Blaster Power PRMX Kawasaki’s Taylah McCutcheon, who made her U.S. debut. As Turner looked to sprint away with the lead she went down and gave up the lead but was able to quickly remount in fourth place. That allowed Cannon to move out front and put some distance over McCutchen and SLR Honda’s Mikayla Nielsen, who moved into third. Turner was able to quickly recompose herself and began a march back to the front. She got by both Nielsen and McCutchen on the same lap to climb from fourth to second and then looked to make inroads on a multi-second deficit to Cannon. With each passing lap, Turner closed in on Cannon and soon the two were bar-to-bar after Cannon went off track and re-entered just as Turner looked to take the lead, but Cannon held on. The closing laps featured an all-out battle between the two, with Turner able to pull off an incredible last lap pass that forced Cannon to take evasive action. An impressive come-from-behind effort gave Turner the moto win by a margin of 5.6 seconds over Cannon, with Nielsen third. McCutcheon finished fourth in her first WMX moto, while Jordan Jarvis Racing Yamaha’s Jordan Javis finished fifth. At the conclusion of the moto, race officials reviewed Cannon’s off-track excursion and deemed she accelerated before re-entering, a violation of the rulebook. As a result, she was assessed a one-position penalty. Nielsen was credited with second while Cannon was relegated to third. |
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 Turner tracked down Charli Cannon (7) in the first moto for a thrilling victory.MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. |
| The second and deciding moto took place on Saturday alongside the Pro Motocross Championship. The field was faced with a much different, more demanding racetrack and off the start it was Built Hard Racing KTM’s Piper Bell who grabbed the holeshot, only to be passed by Cannon, Nielsen, and Turner. The clear track allowed Cannon to put some distance on her rivals. Turner was aggressive early and made her way around Nielsen for second. She then looked to erase the deficit to Cannon, only to find that the Honda rider had gone down. The Australian was in the process of picking up and remounting her motorcycle when Turner and Nielsen came through and resumed in third place. A determined Cannon went back on the attack and quickly got by Nielsen to move into second. She then tracked down Turner to set up another showdown for the win. While she kept Turner close, Cannon was unable to make a pass attempt. Turner withstood Cannon’s pressure to put the finishing touch on a sweep of the motos by a mere 0.781 tenths over her Honda counterpart. Nielsen finished a distant third. |
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 It was Turner versus Cannon again in Moto 2, from which Turner withstood late pressure for the win. MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. |
| With a 1-1 effort, Turner’s pursuit of the championship three-peat got off to an ideal start. Cannon impressed in a 3-2 effort to secure the runner-up spot, which came via a tiebreaker over Nielsen’s 2-3 finishes that placed her third overall. Turner has established an eight-point lead over Cannon and Nielsen after the opening round. |
 Turner holds an eight-point lead in the championship standings following her sweep of the motos. MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. |
 Cannon gave Turner all she could handle en route to a runner-up effort (3-2). MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. |
 Mikayla Nielsen enjoyed a consistent start to the season with a third-place finish (2-3). MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. |
| Overall Results (Moto Finish // Points)Lachlan Turner, Gardnerville, Nev., Yamaha (1-1 // 50)Charli Cannon, Maroochy River, Qld., Australia, Honda (3-2 // 42)Mikayla Nielsen, Riverside, Calif., Honda (2-3 // 42)Jordan Jarvis, Leesburg, Fla., Yamaha (5-4 // 35)Taylah McCutcheon, Cornubia, Qld., Australia, Kawasaki (4-5 // 35)Lilly-Ann Pettus, Hanceville, Ala., Triumphi (6-6 // 32)Emma Milesevic, Lal Lal, Victoria, Australia, Yamaha (7-7 // 30)Piper Bell, Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., KTM (8-9 // 27)Destiny Slingerland, Cowley, Alberta, Canada, Yamaha (14-8 // 22)Haileigh Williams, Grass Valley, Calif., Husqvarna (11-11 // 22) Championship Standings (Round 1 of 6)Lachlan Turner, Gardnerville, Nev., Yamaha – 50Charli Cannon, Maroochy River, Qld., Australia, Honda – 42Mikayla Nielsen, Riverside, Calif., Honda – 42Jordan Jarvis, Leesburg, Fla., Yamaha – 35Taylah McCutcheon, Cornubia, Qld., Australia, Kawasaki – 35Lilly-Ann Pettus, Hanceville, Ala., Triumphi – 32Emma Milesevic, Lal Lal, Victoria, Australia, Yamaha – 30Piper Bell, Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., KTM – 27Destiny Slingerland, Cowley, Alberta, Canada, Yamaha – 22Haileigh Williams, Grass Valley, Calif., Husqvarna – 22 |
 For the second straight year Cannon (left), Turner (center), and Nielsen (right) made up the overall podium at Hangtown. MX Sports Pro Racing, Inc. |
| The 2026 Women’s Motocross Championship Powered by Synchrony will continue next weekend with Round 2 from Colorado’s Thunder Valley Motocross Park. The WMX will be a part of the Toyota Thunder Valley National Presented by American Petroleum Institute with two days of racing. Moto 1 will take place on Friday, June 12, with Moto 2 alongside the Pro Motocross Championship on Saturday, June 13. Live coverage of the second moto can be seen on Peacock as part of the network’s comprehensive coverage of Thunder Valley that begins at 12 p.m. PT / 3 p.m. ET. |
| For more information on the WMX series, visit the official website at www.RaceWMX.com or call (304) 284-0101. Join the conversation on the series Facebook page, follow us on Instagram, and be sure to always hashtag #RaceWMX.Facebook: @racewmxInstagram: @racewmx |
