A week ago at RedBud, Jett Lawrence stood in disbelief on the side of the track after his engine let go while leading the first moto of the RedBud National. The resulting DNF gave his brother Hunter the points lead for the first time all season and left Jett with the duty of rebounding in a big way. Over the weekend at Southwick, Jett did just that as the reigning 250 class champion cruised to a 1-1 performance while Hunter struggled with some crashing, a chipped tooth, and bad starts.
As such, Jett went from seven points down of his brother to 15 points up in the blink of an eye. After it was all said and done, Jett spoke with the media in the post-race press conference about the rebound at Southwick.
Jett, you had a great day. Tell us about your day a little bit.
Jett Lawrence: It started off pretty well. Qualifying was funny. Before I even went out, I already had a flow in my mind, you could say. I already felt like I knew the flow. I went out and just flowed with the track straightaway and I was having a lot of fun. I was pretty amped to get into the racing. It looked like it was going to form up pretty nice. I was excited for that and getting both really good starts. The second one had a really good reaction. I got a bit excited and ended up coming across a bit too early. I was in, at least more than half of the straight in the really soft stuff. I ended up screwing myself a bit. But I cut under and was able to get another holeshot. I think that’s the most holeshots I’ve ever gotten in a day, or in my career being pro. So, I’m pumped. I just gelled with the track today. Just felt like at home when I was in Lommel really, just kind of flowing. Just trying to keep the bike light. Just having a good time.
What was the deal with that start? I watched you. You got shot out of a cannon. You were way out. It looked like it almost surprised you. Something happened about, ten bike lengths out of the gate. You had a clear holeshot and went sideways from there. You were able to salvage it. Tell us what happened.
I was talking to Jo[Shimoda] after in the little tent behind the podium. I’m like, “Did you flinch or something?” I swear something moved that made me flinch, and when I released the clutch a little bit, I had seen the gate actually drop. So, I just stayed committed. I don’t think if you asked me to do it again, I bet you 100 bucks I couldn’t. I ended up getting a really good jump. I’m like, Yeah, sweet!” But because I surprised myself a little bit, I was a smidge off balance. I’m like, “Well, I at least better stay committed with it.” I started going a bit ripe. But Justin, he got out and stayed in that rut. That’s why it’s a very important thing to get practice starts. It’s so important to get a good jump and stay straight. In the main, in the actual start it’s very important to stay in that rut. Because it’s not as soft. I ended up getting out of it. So, I got a bit excited. And Justin ended up pulling back past me. But I was able to cut under in the first turn and remake that position back, you could almost say. It was, not smooth sailing from there, but it was definitely nice not to get roosted on the first lap.
![Jett Lawrence]()
Jett Lawrence Align Media ![Jett Lawrence]()
Jett Lawrence Align Media ![Lawrence taking pressure from Levi Kitchen in the second moto.]()
Lawrence taking pressure from Levi Kitchen in the second moto. Align Media ![A 1-1 day and Jett Lawrence reclaims the 250 Class points lead.]()
A 1-1 day and Jett Lawrence reclaims the 250 Class points lead. Align Media
Did you flinch, Jo?
Jo Shimoda: I saw everything. There’s no way a human can react to the gate that fast. He has to time it, or something happened, because it was literally perfect.
With the 450s going first, the second moto for you guys was probably a pretty beat track. Did you guys notice a big difference there or was it just a little bit of lines differently formed up from the guys before you?
Yeah, sand track is not the funnest to go after 450s. In sand, their lines are so much different to ours. For a 250, we’re trying to carry as much speed as we can in and around turns. For them, they come in kind of point, shoot, and go. So, it creates a real massive hook, where for us 250s, we’re like off the back, clutching it, trying to get out of the sand. So, it definitely made it difficult for sure.
Southwick - 250
July 9, 2022| Rider | Hometown | Motos | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 1 - 1 | Honda CRF250R |
| 2 |  Jo Shimoda | Suzuka, Japan  | 2 - 3 | Kawasaki KX250F |
| 3 |  Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY  | 3 - 4 | Yamaha YZ250F |
| 4 |  Levi Kitchen | Washougal, WA | 8 - 2 | Yamaha YZ250F |
| 5 |  R.J. Hampshire | Hudson, FL | 4 - 5 | Husqvarna FC 250 |
Your formidable years of riding, you were living in Europe, based in Belgium, riding Lommel with the world’s best sand riders. Do you feel like that’s an advantage for you? That growing up, every day you probably saw everybody from Herlings to Cairoli to whoever was based near the Lommel tracks. You got to ride with those guys. Do you feel like that’s an advantage for you?
Yeah, 100 percent. The biggest thing is, it’s still such different sand, in a way. In Europe, the sand is a lot bigger grain. It’s a lot heavier, so you can hit it and your bike won’t go through it as much. Where over here, if you hit it, but if you come into a turn hot and bury the bike, you’re most likely to completely destroy the turn. It’s a such different sand to Europe, but there’s so many more things that you can take away from Europe. I was riding since like 85s there at Lommel. I had seen Jeffrey a lot riding a lot there. Max Anstie, he’s a really good sand rider. Like you said, Antonio Cairoli. So, as a young kid, especially watching them, you can pick up so much small things and so much information from it. Them being nice guys that would kind of help a little bit every now, or they’d say, “You’re on the same path as I was when I was younger.? So, it was nice to have that as your backyard in Europe, for sure.
Jett, red plate going back on the bike. You got to love that.
The bike definitely looked a bit weird. Number one plate with no red background looks kind of weird, for sure. I don’t like it. It looks a little weird. But I wish I could have earned it back a little bit better. Had not the best day of getting cross jumped again. Almost similar thing to what I had last year, by another Husqvarna, so it kind of sucks. He looks a bit like me now with the chipped tooth. It’s kind of funny. Calling him Lloyd. It’s nice to have it back, like you said. It’s nice to have it back, but I just wish I could've earned it back in a bit of a different way. More of a challenge with him being up there and that stuff would’ve been nicer. But it’s good to have it back.
So, your brother has a chipped tooth?
Yeah. He looks a bit like Lloyd now. It’s pretty funny. It’s massive. It’s good.
