The second round of the 2026 AMA Women’s Motocross Championship (WMX) delivered another entertaining battle at Colorado’s Thunder Valley Motocross Park, where reigning champion Lachlan Turner continued her unbeaten start to the season while a pair of Australians again featured prominently on the podium.
With the high altitude and demanding conditions tested riders, it was Australian Charli Cannon who made the first statement of the weekend. The Quad Lock Honda rider topped qualifying with a blistering lap of 2:18.568, finishing seven-tenths clear of Turner and setting the stage for another showdown between the championship rivals.
Friday’s opening moto saw Australian Taylah McCutcheon, who was suffering a bout of tonsillitis, grab the holeshot alongside Cannon, with the Kawasaki rider narrowly edging her countrywoman through the opening turns. Cannon quickly moved into the lead and attempted to put some distance between herself and Turner, while Mikayla Nielsen and Turner worked their way past McCutcheon.
Turner wasted little time mounting her challenge and first moved past Nielsen before drawing alongside Cannon over the finish-line jump on lap two. Carrying momentum around the outside, the Yamaha rider took control of the race.
Cannon refused to surrender and immediately attempted to counterattack, briefly pulling alongside Turner before settling back into second. A few laps later, her challenge suffered a setback when she crashed on the uphill roller section. Although she recovered quickly and only lost one position, the incident allowed Turner to stretch away at the front.
The leading trio looked set to finish in championship order until Nielsen’s Honda lost power on the final lap, forcing her out of contention and promoting Cannon back to second and McCutcheon into third.
Turner cruised to victory by 27.8 seconds, while Cannon secured second and McCutcheon celebrated her first WMX moto podium in third. Reigning FIM Women’s Motocross World Champion Lotte van Drunen, making her first WMX appearance in the United States aboard a stock Yamaha for HGS Slade Racing, finished fourth, with Jordan Jarvis rounding out the top five.
After the race, officials reviewed a red-cross flag infringement by Turner and issued a 10-point championship penalty. The sanction did not alter the Moto result but tightened the championship standings.
Saturday’s deciding moto unfolded on a dramatically different circuit after a full day of racing from the Pro Motocross Championship classes.
Turner launched out of the gate to secure the holeshot, with Cannon once again giving chase in second and McCutcheon starting third.
The Yamaha rider quickly opened a gap before a mistake saw her lose traction and fall, handing the lead to Cannon. The advantage was short-lived, however, as Turner responded immediately, catching and passing Cannon on the same lap using a move similar to the one that secured her victory in Moto 1.
Cannon remained within striking distance throughout the race, hoping to capitalise on another mistake, but Turner gradually edged away over the closing laps.
Behind them, McCutcheon found herself under pressure from Nielsen, who charged through the field from seventh place. Nielsen eventually secured third on the final lap, while McCutcheon held on for fourth.
Turner completed the 1-1 sweep with a 2.7-second winning margin over Cannon, while Nielsen’s recovery ride salvaged third.
The overall victory marked Turner’s second straight win to begin the season and extended her winning streak to seven races dating back to last year. Despite the championship penalty and a pair of crashes across the weekend, she remained upbeat afterwards.
“They prepped the entire track, so it was kind of like a skating rink out there,” Turner said. “I keep making it hard on myself [with the tip overs], but it’s definitely fun for the crowd to watch. That [second moto] holeshot was amazing, it was so much better than [Moto 1]. I’m just so hyped.”
For Cannon, the runner-up result came despite carrying a shoulder injury sustained in her Friday crash. The Queenslander fought through the discomfort to secure her sixth consecutive WMX runner-up finish and remains firmly in the title hunt.
“It’s become a pattern. I haven’t really been strong at the beginning of my motos, and [Turner] gets me,” Cannon said. “Then I get better towards the end. There’s a few things I did wrong that kind of ruined my flow and my intensity, but I kept in the fight. I was there; it just wasn’t my day today. Considering the weekend, 2-2 is okay. We’ll just keep chipping away to try and get that win.”
McCutcheon also had her own battle to overcome. The Kawasaki rider revealed she had been dealing with tonsillitis throughout the weekend, making her breakthrough overall podium even more impressive.
“This was hard,” McCutcheon said. “My lungs were on fire that whole moto. I just wanted it to be done. That was hard work, but my dad always told me to never give up. I didn’t and ended up on the box.”
The podium result was the first of McCutcheon’s WMX career and moved the Australian into third in the championship standings.
Turner leaves Thunder Valley with a four-point advantage over Cannon in the title race, while McCutcheon sits third, 17 points from the lead. Meanwhile, van Drunen’s highly anticipated American debut resulted in a solid fifth overall as the Dutch star continues to adapt to US competition.
Victorian Emma Milesevic continued her consistent start to the season. The Yamaha rider finished seventh and ninth in the two motos to secure eighth overall at Thunder Valley and remains inside the top 10 of the championship standings after two rounds.
The WMX Championship heads east next weekend for Round 3 at Pennsylvania’s famous High Point Raceway, where the battle between Turner and Cannon is set to resume and Australia’s strong presence at the front of the field will again be on display.
| WMX Class Overall – Round 2 – Thunder Valley National | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Hometown | Motos | Bike |
| 1st | Lachlan Turner | Gardnerville, NV United States | Yamaha | 1 – 1 |
| 2nd | Charli Cannon | Maroochy River, Australia Australia | Honda | 2 – 2 |
| 3rd | Taylah Mccutcheon | Australia Australia | Kawasaki | 3 – 4 |
| 4th | Jordan Jarvis | Clayton, NC United States | Yamaha | 5 – 5 |
| 5th | Lotte Van Drunen | The Netherlands The Netherlands | Yamaha | 4 – 6 |
| 6th | Piper Bell | Sault Sainte Marie, MI United States | KTM | 6 – 7 |
| 7th | Lilly-Ann Pettus | Hanceville, AL United States | Triumph | 8 – 8 |
| 8th | Emma Milesevic | Australia Australia | Yamaha | 7 – 9 |
| 9th | Mikayla Nielsen | Riverside, CA United States | Honda | 16 – 3 |
| 10th | Ava Silvestri | Redwood City, CA United States | Husqvarna | 9 – 10 |
| 11th | Destiny Burgess | West Valley, UT United States | KTM | 10 – 15 |
| 12th | Hailey Vassallo | Woodford, VA United States | Husqvarna | 15 – 11 |
| 13th | Kylie Alvarez | Stockton, CA United States | Yamaha | 14 – 12 |
| 14th | Taylor Herald | Yucaipa, CA United States | Triumph | 13 – 14 |
| 15th | Hailey Johnson | Motley, MN United States | Yamaha | 12 – 17 |
| 16th | Carrie Killebrew | Wittmann, AZ United States | Husqvarna | 17 – 13 |
| 17th | Brittany Marcotte | Trabuco Cyn, CA United States | Husqvarna | 11 – 22 |
| 18th | Jenna Jansen | Watkins, CO United States | Honda | 19 – 18 |
| 19th | Lauren Woods | Mission Viejo, CA United States | GasGas | 18 – 19 |
| 20th | Jackie Ives | Visalia, CA United States | Husqvarna | 26 – 16 |
| 21st | Skylar Draycott | Magnolia | KTM | 22 – 20 |
| 22nd | Destiny Slingerland | Cowley, AB Canada | Yamaha | 21 – 21 |
| 23rd | Ariana Scovel Tavares | Apache Junction, AZ United States | GasGas | 20 – 24 |
| 24th | Lana O’Brien | Valparaiso, IN United States | Yamaha | 25 – 23 |
| 25th | Lexi Weihe | Maple Valley, WA United States | Husqvarna | 24 – 25 |
| 26th | Lauren Volentir | Denver, CO United States | KTM | 28 – 26 |
| 27th | Gizele Spoor | El Dorado Hills, CA United States | Honda | 23 – 27 |
| 28th | Michelle Anaya | San Antonio, TX United States | Honda | 29 – 28 |
| 29th | Rusti Tucker | Rainier, OR United States | Kawasaki | 27 – 29 |
| 30th | Adrianne Spiker | McHenry, MD United States | KTM | 30 – 30 |
| 31st | Ashley Anderson | Littleton, CO United States | Yamaha | 31 – 31 |
| 2026 AMA WMX Championship Standings After Round 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Rider | Hometown | Points | Gap |
| 1st | Lachlan Turner | Gardnerville, NV, United States | 90 Points | +0 |
| 2nd | Charli Cannon | Maroochy River, Australia | 81 Points | -9 |
| 3rd | Jordan Jarvis | Clayton, NC, United States | 69 Points | -21 |
| 4th | Taylah Mccutcheon | Australia | 68 Points | -22 |
| 5th | Mikayla Nielsen | Riverside, CA, United States | 63 Points | -27 |
| 6th | Lilly-Ann Pettus | Hanceville, AL, United States | 60 Points | -30 |
| 7th | Emma Milesevic | Australia | 58 Points | -32 |
| 8th | Piper Bell | Sault Sainte Marie, MI, United States | 53 Points | -37 |
| 9th | Ava Silvestri | Redwood City, CA, United States | 38 Points | -52 |
| 10th | Lotte Van Drunen | The Netherlands | 34 Points | -56 |
| 11th | Brittany Marcotte | Trabuco Cyn, CA, United States | 32 Points | -58 |
| 12th | Destiny Burgess | West Valley, UT, United States | 29 Points | -61 |
| 13th | Carrie Killebrew | Wittmann, AZ, United States | 29 Points | -61 |
| 14th | Hailey Johnson | Motley, MN, United States | 25 Points | -65 |
| 15th | Kylie Alvarez | Stockton, CA, United States | 25 Points | -65 |
| 16th | Destiny Slingerland | Cowley, AB, Canada | 24 Points | -66 |
| 17th | Hailey Vassallo | Woodford, VA, United States | 24 Points | -66 |
| 18th | Haileigh Williams | Oakley, CA, United States | 22 Points | -68 |
| 19th | Adrianne Spiker | McHenry, MD, United States | 21 Points | -69 |
| 20th | Taylor Herald | Yucaipa, CA, United States | 17 Points | -73 |
| 21st | Lauren Woods | Mission Viejo, CA, United States | 17 Points | -73 |
| 22nd | Jaylie Gallacher | Redmond, OR, United States | 13 Points | -77 |
| 23rd | Jackie Ives | Visalia, CA, United States | 8 Points | -82 |
| 24th | Jenna Jansen | Watkins, CO, United States | 7 Points | -83 |
| 25th | Lexi Weihe | Maple Valley, WA, United States | 4 Points | -86 |
| 26th | Ariana Scovel Tavares | Apache Junction, AZ, United States | 4 Points | -86 |
| 27th | Lana O’Brien | Valparaiso, IN, United States | 3 Points | -87 |
| 28th | Skylar Draycott | Magnolia | 2 Points | -88 |
| 29th | Lauren Volentir | Denver, CO, United States | 2 Points | -88 |
