Lachlan Turner on the Hangtown Podium – Race WMX Photo
REIGNING CHAMPION LACHLAN TURNER FENDS OFF CHALLENGE TO OPEN 2026 WOMEN’S MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP WITH HANGTOWN WIN
Charli Cannon and Mikayla Nielsen Round Out Overall Podium
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. (June 7, 2026) – 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 – 50
* Charli Cannon, Maroochy River, Qld., Australia, Honda – 42
* Mikayla Nielsen, Riverside, Calif., Honda – 42
* Jordan Jarvis, Leesburg, Fla., Yamaha – 35
* Taylah McCutcheon, Cornubia, Qld., Australia, Kawasaki – 35
* Lilly-Ann Pettus, Hanceville, Ala., Triumphi – 32
* Emma Milesevic, Lal Lal, Victoria, Australia, Yamaha – 30
* Piper Bell, Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., KTM – 27
* Destiny Slingerland, Cowley, Alberta, Canada, Yamaha – 22
* Haileigh Williams, Grass Valley, Calif., Husqvarna – 22
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.