Charli Cannon has pressured Lachlan Turner every step of the way to the 2026 Women’s Pro Motocross championship, which will not be resolved until the sixth and final round this weekend at the Ironman Nationals in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
Given how the season has progressed, with Cannon finishing within one position of Turner in eight of 10 motos, it will likely go down to the final race.
But even though Charli will likely fail win the title this year, 2026 has been defined by two riders.
In the High Point National earlier this year, before the summer break, Cannon became the third rider to score an overall victory in the WMX in the past two seasons. She won the second moto that weekend after finishing fifth in Moto 1.
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Most importantly, Cannon has closed the gap on Turner in terms of speed.
This weekend at Budds Creek, both riders had modest starts in the first moto and quickly found one another in the early laps. Cannon led Turner though the pack and led Lap 4. Once Turner gained the advantage, Cannon kept her in sight for the remainder of the race.
“To get that [next] overall win? It’s right at the tip of my fingertips, but there’s just a few things that I need to clean up,” Cannon told NBC Sports in Mechanicsville, Maryland. “Lala’s no slouch, I’ve never really had this competition before. It’s amazing to grow this level of the women’s riders.”
Charli Cannon and Lachlan Turner have finished within one position of the other in eight of 10 motos in 2026, Align Media
Charli Cannon and Lachlan Turner have finished within one position of the other in eight of 10 motos in 2026, Align Media
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Last week following a 2-2 weekend at Unadilla, Cannon told the assembled media that she knows what to work on for improvement. While not getting into specifics regarding the bike setup, she mentioned increased aggression as one of her personal goals.
That was still on her mind in Maryland.
“It’s a process,” Cannon continued. “I feel like I’m little ticking boxes off every weekend, but just keep practicing, being aggressive. Our moto is really a sprint race, so that’s something I need to improve on, just being able to concentrate and doing sprints every single lap, which I feel like she’s pretty good at.”
The brevity of WMX races is something many of the riders have commented on in 2026.
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In order to be part of the Saturday show and have the second moto featured as part of the halftime break between the first and second motos of the men’s program, the WMX races have been scheduled at 12 minutes, plus one lap.
Cannon feels that longer motos would further separate the cream from the milk.
“I feel like at 20 minutes, that really shows the truly gritty rider,” Cannon said. “You’ve got to have that endurance. You’ve got to be able to race [at a] high intensity for a while. I know over in Europe that the women’s World Championships are 20 plus one, or 20 plus two. That just gives you time to race and catch up or pull away if you have to. But I understand why they do the 12 minutes, so it’s okay. We’re on live NBC.”
The partnership with NBC took another turn in the past two weeks.
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Beginning with Unadilla, Friday’s on-track activity has been streamed on YouTube. That means the entire women’s race program can be viewed live. On a typical weekend, Saturday’s moto fits nicely into the Peacock.tv coverage.
But at Budds Creek, the network aired the second motos in all three divisions live on NBC Sports. The WMX Moto 2 kicked off the coverage.
“These last three rounds that we’re getting, the coverage has been unreal,” Cannon said. “Both of our races are streamed on YouTube and then on NBC Sports for our second moto. So it’s great. It’s putting us on the map. It’s showing the world, the country, WMX. And that’s what we need, more views and all the feedback from the fans. Everyone has been very positive, which is really nice to see. And hopefully we just keep on growing it and hopefully it’ll turn into something really cool. And us girls will make a living out of it and get paid. That’s our goal.”
TV and media coverage for the WMX has risen to a new level in 2026 and there has been one major factor. The competition level has grown exponentially this year.
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Taylah McCutcheon debuted with the series at Hangtown; she set the fastest lap in practice before sweeping the top five. McCutcheon earned her first moto podium the following week in Thunder Valley.
Mayla Herrick debuted at High Point the next week and won in her debut before crashing at the start of Moto 2. She stood on the overall podium the following week at Unadilla.
MXGP star, Lotte van Drunen came to the United States for two Nationals earlier this season and finished second in her third moto. Her worst finish in four races was sixth.
“The level is definitely lifting, which is great to see,” Cannon said. “There’s more battles going on in the front end of the pack, but I just race forward. They’ve been getting good starts. Me and Lala have not been getting good starts. So we’ve always been having to charge through and get to the front. We’ve done that. We are just trying to get better. And it’s great to know that the girls coming up are also putting on a good show and showing some good speed. So yeah, [the WMX is] very healthy at the moment.”
