With so much uncertainty in the off-season surrounding Jason Lawrence and his new team – built upon the Yamaha of Troy team that he raced for the last couple of seasons – he was probably yet another defending champion that was an underdog going into Anaheim I. He’s still on a Yamaha, but there’s almost no “blue” in sight. At Anaheim I, though, he put in top-tier lap times in practice and won his Heat, only to fall in the second turn of the main event. Still, he recovered for a fifth-place finish and solid points. We talked to Lawrence in the pits after the main event.
Racer X: That probably wasn’t the result you wanted, but considering how it started, it wasn’t bad.
Jason Lawrence: No, it’s not bad at all. When you do something like that on the first lap... I used to hear David Bailey say it probably every race when he was a commentator: “Crash on the first lap, and everyone goes by you. It’s the worst time to crash.” Well, I crashed in like the second corner, so it was a real bad time! I got up, and luckily my levers were straight, and I was pumped on that, and everything was good. I tried to adjust my visor, and I hit it up, and it must’ve been broken because it kept going up. It definitely doesn’t give you confidence, knowing that you don’t have a visor. You know you look like an [idiot] already, so anything you do bad is just amplified now, so I wasn’t happy with that. Then, I felt like I was gooning, and I had like five laps where I was behind Canard, and I knew he was a lap down, but I didn’t know how mad he was, so I didn’t want to go up and try and pass him.
So the crash was your fault?
Oh, yeah, it was 100-percent my fault. So, I was scared to get by him because I didn’t know what he wanted to do, and it turns out he was a totally fair kid and wasn’t doing anything. He let me by when I got up to him. It was a rough race, though. I feel like everyone else was so tired out there... I mean, I think if you look at the lap sheet, I probably didn’t even pick up my times in the last four laps, but wow, I was catching people like crazy. For the first 10 laps, I wasn’t even gaining on anyone, it felt like, and I was like, “Man, these guys are ripping out here,” and then everyone dropped their anchors. It was good. Fitness got me a couple extra spots, and then I got docked one for accidentally cutting the track.
{QUOTE}
One spot isn’t so bad, though, considering all that went on.
No, one spot’s not so bad. It puts me nine points out of the lead and I think like three or four points behind Dungey.
{LINKS}Speaking of Ryan Dungey, tell us about your new deal with One Industries. We all thought you’d be on Fox gear this year.
Yeah, that’s an unfortunate deal. I was actually going to be in Fox gear, but we had this One Industries deal, which is a company I’ve been with – wearing their Trooper helmet – for a long time, so I just wanted to continue on with them. We have a good deal, and we don’t have it set up for too many years right now, but I would like to run their gear for a long time. It’s a new company coming up, and they’re open to all new ideas, which is cool. They want to let me do new colorways, and they want their riders’ insight on things, and for the first version, the Defcon stuff, it’s great! It’s awesome. I was wearing Fox, which is said to be the top-of-the-line gear, and I’m wearing One Industries now, and I have no complaints whatsoever.
Thanks for your time, Jason.
No problem.
Jason Lawrence: No, it’s not bad at all. When you do something like that on the first lap... I used to hear David Bailey say it probably every race when he was a commentator: “Crash on the first lap, and everyone goes by you. It’s the worst time to crash.” Well, I crashed in like the second corner, so it was a real bad time! I got up, and luckily my levers were straight, and I was pumped on that, and everything was good. I tried to adjust my visor, and I hit it up, and it must’ve been broken because it kept going up. It definitely doesn’t give you confidence, knowing that you don’t have a visor. You know you look like an [idiot] already, so anything you do bad is just amplified now, so I wasn’t happy with that. Then, I felt like I was gooning, and I had like five laps where I was behind Canard, and I knew he was a lap down, but I didn’t know how mad he was, so I didn’t want to go up and try and pass him.
So the crash was your fault?
Oh, yeah, it was 100-percent my fault. So, I was scared to get by him because I didn’t know what he wanted to do, and it turns out he was a totally fair kid and wasn’t doing anything. He let me by when I got up to him. It was a rough race, though. I feel like everyone else was so tired out there... I mean, I think if you look at the lap sheet, I probably didn’t even pick up my times in the last four laps, but wow, I was catching people like crazy. For the first 10 laps, I wasn’t even gaining on anyone, it felt like, and I was like, “Man, these guys are ripping out here,” and then everyone dropped their anchors. It was good. Fitness got me a couple extra spots, and then I got docked one for accidentally cutting the track.
{QUOTE}
One spot isn’t so bad, though, considering all that went on.
No, one spot’s not so bad. It puts me nine points out of the lead and I think like three or four points behind Dungey.
{LINKS}Speaking of Ryan Dungey, tell us about your new deal with One Industries. We all thought you’d be on Fox gear this year.
Yeah, that’s an unfortunate deal. I was actually going to be in Fox gear, but we had this One Industries deal, which is a company I’ve been with – wearing their Trooper helmet – for a long time, so I just wanted to continue on with them. We have a good deal, and we don’t have it set up for too many years right now, but I would like to run their gear for a long time. It’s a new company coming up, and they’re open to all new ideas, which is cool. They want to let me do new colorways, and they want their riders’ insight on things, and for the first version, the Defcon stuff, it’s great! It’s awesome. I was wearing Fox, which is said to be the top-of-the-line gear, and I’m wearing One Industries now, and I have no complaints whatsoever.
Thanks for your time, Jason.
No problem.
