Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/GasGas Factory Racing rider Michael Mosiman broke through for his first career win in Monster Energy AMA Supercross last weekend, ending Christian Craig's quick 2-0 start to the season. Honda HRC's Hunter Lawrence was right on him, applying pressure the whole way. Craig was back up front at round four, and he and Mosiman battled for the win the whole way, with Craig edging ahead.
Lawrence didn't quite have it on the night and took third. Can he and Mosiman ramp it back up for the Triple Crown race this weekend in Glendale? They spoke with the media after Anaheim 2 to give their perspective.
Michael, once you got behind Christian there, you were close for a while then he pulled away a little bit, you closed back in a little bit. Where do you think your strengths and weaknesses were speed-wise compared to him?
Michael Mosiman: Good question. I think my strengths were pushing through rhythms. I think my weakness was the sand. The sand and maybe just one or two passes in the whoops. The whoops were so gnarly that it’s a little bit hit-and-miss for everyone out there. Also, I honestly didn’t know where we were at in the race. I thought I had more time. Props to Christian. He rode awesome. Anyway, I’m stoked.
Hunter, I want to ask you about the heat race and dealing with [Vince] Friese. Maybe a little frustrating? It looked like he really came over on you I think in that long rhythm section. Talk about dealing with him. You had a close one in the whoops while chasing him down in the main.
Hunter Lawrence: No, it wasn’t too bad. Vince didn’t really cross-jump me or anything. I saw where he was going and he was in front of me enough. But, I had a few close calls in the whoops. They were sketchy, especially on the right side. The middle to left was kind of okay, but the right-hand side they were really tall and steep still. I had a few close calls there. He went down pretty hard. So, it wasn’t obviously great for him but made my life a little easier gaining that position. Just didn’t quite have it. Didn’t quite have the edge [today]. The boys were pushing a really good pace and stuff. Just was third best tonight. That’s all she wrote.
![Michael Mosiman]()
Michael Mosiman Align Media ![Hunter Lawrence]()
Hunter Lawrence Align Media
You guys have basically been playing second and third fiddle to Christian most of the series so far. How important is it to you guys and what sense of urgency do you currently feel to kind of knock him off that pedestal right now?
Lawrence: For sure. I think it’s fair to say he started off the season how Michael and myself would have loved to have started off. So, props to him. He’s getting good starts and putting himself in the best position. We’re still working on stuff, and obviously can improve on our starts. Nights like tonight when I’m not quite feeling like I have that edge, to bring it home in third rather than maybe just push it a little beyond myself and end up on the ground like I’ve done in the past. We’re just week in and week out trying to get better. We know where we need to improve. We’re happy to be just healthy and fit and ready to fight again next weekend.
Michael, your starts are there. You’ve led laps, and you haven’t had a ton of answers for the guy aside from being able to push through those rhythm sections. Where is it that you need to make up ground?
Mosiman: I really think that tonight could have gone either way. I think that he had a little bit of an advantage being behind me. When a guy is right on you and you know he’s kind of in striking distance, it puts in little seeds of doubt. I think that in the sand was an area where I just wasn’t quite sure what was the best line. You want to protect the inside. I think we were very evenly matched. I think that we’re going to have a lot of awesome battles this year. I don't think there’s a whole lot of gap to be bridged, really. I think the [points] deficit is there, meaning the first two rounds obviously put me in a little hole. But take the last two weekends and you take this weekend even, in a championship battle you can afford a second every now and then. But you can’t afford a sixth and a fourth. But, it’s a long season. I think we’re going to battle it out tooth and nail. He’s a great starter and I’m a great starter, so I think it’s going to be really exciting. We have a lot of respect for each other. My whoops are improved.
Michael, on the broadcast, Ricky [Carmichael] asked whether you would be kind of upset with this, bummed out about losing the race to Christian, or if you were going to be happy with it because you know what you have to learn. So, what are your thoughts?
Mosiman: It takes a lot for me to be bummed. I think the first round I got sixth, and I came off the track and I just had so much fun. I rode good that day. Stuff didn’t go my way. It takes a lot for me to really get bummed. My outlook and my approach to things is if I’m going to come off the track, I just raced in front of a bunch of fans. I rode my butt off. I battled for the win. It was even cool. Christian and I had a moment. He said, “That was one heck of a race. You were savage,” or something like that. Man, that’s so cool. I had a great race. I’m going to have a great race next weekend, and we’re going to keep this thing rolling. Sometimes I’ll win and sometimes I won’t. That’s just racing.
Michael, how was the week after your first win?
Mosiman: The week has been awesome. It’s kind of epic when everywhere you go, everyone you see is just hyped on you. It’s almost like living in the Truman Show. Everyone just gives you high-fives, and is just super friendly. It’s been a blast. It’s been also just kind of going through the motions. Just like another week, but a little bit sweeter.
Hunter, you were battling Michael for the win last week. What changed from week to week? Is it just the track? Is it just the feeling that you have?
Lawrence: Yeah, just didn’t quite have the edge. Just wasn’t really firing on all cylinders from the get-go. The boys were riding really well. In this class, in any class, you have to be 100 percent, more or less, to be able to win. So, that was kind of just it, really. Didn’t really have it. Was a little flat. You’re going to have those weekends here and there. So, to minimize it, what could have been worse, we’ll take it.
Hunter, I don't know if you’ve participated in a triple crown series race yet. I think you were battling injury the last time we had one. So, do you think that your strategy is going to change a little bit during this week in preparation? Lawrence: Honestly, I think it might help me, because the more laps I seem to do, the better I get. So, it might be the same with the starts. Who knows? I might even get a holeshot. We’ll see. There’s not much that changes, really. We [will] do the triple crown program throughout the week and stuff. I’m looking forward to it. I feel like my fitness is really good. I think it will be cool. It will be the most laps we do out of any of the races. It should be fun. New stadium, new dirt for me. Should be cool. Should be a good night.
Watch the full post-race 250SX press conference below:
