Racing can be strange, and that’s how Hunter Lawrence came to be the points leader in Lucas Oil Pro Motocross’ 250 class. On the day he arguably rode his worst of the five races in the series, he ended up grabbing the red plate, since his brother, Jett, suffered a DNF when an engine let go in moto one. Hunter, also, felt like his bike was about to let go, but luckily for him he’d already watched Jett’s bike expire, so he knew to back it down.
In the second moto, things were not so good, either, as Jett simply caught, passed and rolled away from Hunter, one race after Hunter hounded him to the end in an epic High Point battle.
So, Hunter was none too pleased with his 2-2 finishes, and yet, now he’s leading the series.
Hunter Lawrence | 2nd Overall (2-2)
Hunter, you were right up there the whole day, congratulations on that.
Yeah it was an interesting day. It’s funny because it’s like such a bittersweet feeling for me right now to leave with the red plate, but in my eyes, the first moto was not a blessing, but we got really lucky with the fact I was able to nurse the bike home and not push it off the track. So, that was kind of like, ‘Phew, okay!’ The second moto I just really struggled. I just sucked to be honest. I was just so tight. Two-two but I just felt like there was so much more in it and stuff like that. But then you’re still leaving with the red plate so it’s like… they don’t come as fast as you want, and they don’t come how you want most of the time. So, a weird kind of deal and feeling for myself to be completely honest, but I’ve dreamt of this for myself for a long time. There’s been many times when I’m leaving the track in the rental car and we’re like, “Damn, we would kill to have a day like this, not happy with our performance but we leave with the red plate.” So, we’ll take it.
In any other time, if you were following a rider and their bike broke, you’d say I got one, I got lucky that time. But when it’s your brother, that has to be a different emotion?
Yeah when it happened, it was kinda smoking the few laps before. I thought it was overheating. And then he like pulled off. I was sitting behind him, I didn’t want to pass him too early like I did at High Point last weekend. So, I was just happy sitting there. Then he pulled over and I was like “Is he letting me go? What’s this?” Then the next lap I saw bike was getting pushed off. I was like, that’s kind of weird, that hasn’t happened in a long time. And then, I want to say four laps from the end, maybe five, right in that same section, my bike just dropped to a different tone completely. I got scared. I was like, I can’t be pushing this thing off the track. So, I just shut down completely and I was riding around at half throttle, just literally trying to bring this thing home.
Was it in your head or was there an issue?
[Laughs] No, there was actually an issue. Same thing as Jett’s bike, both engines got pulled apart immediately. Yeah, it was the same thing, but I think the fact that I seen his engine go and knew in my head we were on the same bike. As soon as I hear that engine tone change, I just backed it down and nursed it home. I think if I had maybe pushed it a little more, I could have pushed it home.
Southwick you got your first 1-1 last year. You’ve got the points lead, riding really well. You’ve got to be pretty confident going into there.
Yeah, I like Southwick, it’s cool and it’s cool to have the red plate for there. Anything can happen so I’m just going to take it race by race. You’ve just got to enjoy ourselves. We’ve dreamt of times like this and there will be times when we will miss it. So, we need to enjoy ourselves.
Hunter it’s not a stretch to imagine you and your brother racing for Team Australia at Motocross of Nations. So, who rides a 450 and who rides a 250?
Yeah so, a couple of weeks ago it was me on a 450 and Jett on a 250. Then last week it was like “We’ll put Jett on a 450 and me on a 250.” So, who knows? In two weeks, it could be swapped again. A lot of it depends on the third rider that we have, which is most likely going to be another 450 guy. So, it will be one of us on the 250, and obviously with Jett going up next year on the 450, it makes more sense for him to be on the 450. Fingers crossed we stay healthy and get to race the des Nations for our company. That would be awesome.
Stilez Robertson | 3rd Overall (3-5)
It’s been a rough up-and-down season for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Stilez Robertson, who is in a contract year and wants to log some results. Injuries have kept him from some races, but it all clicked at RedBud thanks to two good starts. He took third in the first moto, then crashed while battling for a moto podium in the second race. He was able to fight back for fifth, and the 3-5 was enough for the first motocross podium of his short pro career. Here’s what he had to say.
Take us through your day?
It was pretty crazy. First moto I got a pretty good start and tucked in behind the Lawrence brothers and stayed with them as long as I could. I got a little tight and then after that I just tried to stay there, and Jett’s bike ended up breaking and I was kinda’ gifted a third at the end. My teammate RJ was coming at the end, so I had to empty the tank at the end, and I was like, ‘Dang, we have another one to go.’ But the second moto was good as well. I just went down and made it hard for myself. But my first podium at RedBud is special for sure. Two good starts help, too.”
Both motos I believe the leader came by with 10 seconds left on the clock. I’m not sure you’re paying attention until that two card comes out. But if they had been the slightest bit slower you would have had one less lap.
Yeah, actually my mechanic in the last moto, he put three to go and I came around and I was like “okay, two lap board will be out” but then there was no two-lap board. I knew RJ was coming! I was like “Dang it!” Put my head down and made it happen.
You guys were the second moto and normally you’re the first moto. We saw the track change quite a bit compared to your practice. We also saw some of the hard pack stuff come up. Was that something you struggled with? Traction?
A little bit, when I tucked the front in the second moto, it was hard (the dirt) and I pushed too hard. I ran the paddle tire all day. I enjoy riding the second moto, actually, the track is a bit more developed and gets rough. More of a man’s track, I guess.
Good day for central California!
100 percent. And I’m the only American person on the podium so that’s pretty awesome.
