The Lawrence brothers—Jett and Hunter—once again shared the podium at the third round of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship at Thunder Valley. Jett didn’t get a moto win (he went 2-2 on the day) but still took his third straight overall to start the season. Hunter, meanwhile, captured his first moto win of the season in the second moto and took second overall on the day. Through three rounds, the brothers sit 1-2 in points, as Jett holds a 12-point lead over Hunter.
They both talked about their days in the post-race press conference.
Jett Lawrence | Honda HRC | 2-2 for first overall
Jett, you did what Jett does. You went out and you put in good, consistent laps. Showed the speed when you needed to. Give us your thoughts on it.
Jett Lawrence: It obviously helped getting really good starts today. I didn’t think my sprint speed was that great today, because Levi [Kitchen] and Hunter [Lawrence] both motos got me outside. I put a bit of a charge to see if I could maybe break them. I knew Hunter was going to be a little bit harder because of his fitness, but we both did the same thing. So, it was kind of seeing where he was at. Levi was a little bit of a new one because I haven’t got to race with him much in front of me. Even in amateurs, I didn’t get to race him much. It was kind of the first time getting to see how he races. I had probably four or so laps when I tried to see if I could break him, because sometimes once you get that second maybe, they start to try harder and they make a few more mistakes. Realistically, I’m pretty sure he ended up dropping it even more and ended up pulling out. So, I ended up going, I just got to keep a second here and make sure I get another good start in the second one and hopefully get a win or something like that. He ended up pulling out a holeshot and I’m like, this is going to be a fun one trying to get around him.
Jett, it looked like at the end of that moto, everybody in your class was like, we just got to get through this thing. I didn’t feel like anybody was really pushing forward. It was just like, let’s maintain and get it over with. Was that the case for you? Was it elevation, heat? The conditions this weekend were probably the worst of the three so far.
Jett: Yeah. I hate to keep using the sickness, but obviously the altitude is a little bit more. I feel like I didn’t feel it as much because last year I felt fine here. I think it wasn’t the altitude. It was more so this sickness. Just trying to get rid of it because Hunter and I, this week we didn’t do much. We mainly did starts. I think our bodies are just working twice as hard, you could say, during the moto because it’s fighting off this sickness and then riding also. So, it’s a lot on our body, which is annoying because obviously that first moto when Levi was out front, I wanted to keep on pushing and really make him earn that win. But I just got to 15 minutes and I was like, my arms felt like they started not to be there. So, it sucks. I’m hoping this week we can finally get rid of this cold. It’s been a pain in the butt. As of right now, I think I’ve just got to say this sickness is really kicking my butt.
Jett, you’ve been sick this race and the previous race at Hangtown and you’re still winning. So, what does that do for your mindset moving forward? You’re winning even when you’re sick, so how is it going to be when you’re well?
Jett: As of right now, I think it’s just getting lucky. I did put myself in pretty good spots on the start. My fitness is good enough where I can get to 15 minutes and then just ride like I would do for a 40-minute moto. Just use the least amount of energy as possible. So, I’m definitely excited to get back to 100 percent without this sickness, because we see how it went at Pala. So, it will be a lot nicer to get rid of this cold so at least I can fight. Like that first moto and second moto I was kind of like a sitting duck. I got into second and I was just sitting there like, I had nothing for Hunter or Levi just because once I got into second around 15 minutes, I was pretty spent. So, it would be nice to finally get rid of this cold. It’s been a pain in the butt, for sure.
Hunter Lawrence | Honda HRC | 4-1 for second overall
Hunter, I just told you a minute ago the hills were abuzz. The bottom line is, if he gets up front, does he have the speed? Can he win? Man, you answered all of those questions today. This crowd went absolutely crazy for you. How cool was that?
Hunter Lawrence: It was awesome. It’s awesome to come by and to hear the crowd. They were just going nuts. It was good. It makes you feel welcomed and loved. So, it’s cool. It was a good race. The first one I was really kind of frustrated with myself, just my start. Didn’t give myself a good opportunity to be where I wanted to be. The second one, I was just going like, screw it. Just going to hold it wide. Can’t get any worse off the gate. It worked out really well. So, it turned out to be pretty good.
Hunter, your starts have been your struggle point really this season. So, what was different? You said you just kind of pinned it, but really was there anything different? Was there any gearing changes, anything you did different for that last moto?
No. We worked on it all during the week. We didn’t really get to do any laps and such. Just went out and worked on starts. I’ve been trying to get rid of this cold. It was literally just days of start practice and working on different clutch delivery and stuff like that. First moto I didn’t give it enough RPM’s. Then second moto I just said, screw it, I’m just going to send it. Then I just held it wide, and it worked out pretty good. I got out of the gate and I’m like, finally! This is like a dream. Then just clicked through the gears. Then I’m like, all right, I feel trash, but I’ve got to pull that lap. I can’t get passed or drop the anchor or anything. So, I just pushed as hard as I could and it was not too bad.
Watch the entire 250 press conference here:
