Jett Lawrence moving to the premier class has been one of the hottest topics to follow in the sport for the last few months. Ever since it was confirmed in the off-season that the Austrailian native would contest the full 450 Class of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship this summer, there has been a lot of speculation as to how he will do against the field—even before he lined up for (and won) the 250SX West Region Championship!
Well, in his AMA Motocross premier class debut over the weekend, Jett Lawrence was the fastest overall qualifier—by over two seconds(!)—then rode home not one but two moto wins, going 1-1 and taking the early points lead after the Fox Raceway National. It was quite the debut ride by the #18, who was able to hold off newly crowned 450SX Champion and 2022 450 Class Pro Motocross runner up Chase Sexton (2-2) as well as 2021 450 Class Pro Motocross Champion Dylan Ferrandis (3-3). Jett continued his streak of winning the overall at Fox Raceway at Pala—taking the 250 Class overall win in 2020, then twice in both 2021 and 2022 before now taking his first ever 450 Class start as well: an impressive six-for-six at this track!
What made the day even more special was that Jett’s older brother Hunter claimed the 250 Class overall win with 3-1 moto finishes, marking the first time ever that two brothers won the overall in their class at the same Pro Motocross event. Check out what Jettson had to say about his day during the press conference.
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"It’s so hard to hear our bikes. It’s so damn quiet. ...Every time I’d just check back, I’d see 23 and I’m like, gosh damn it, he’s still there. You wouldn’t hear him for a bit. Maybe I’ve got a gap. I’d look back and it’s almost just as close. So, it was fun." - Jett Lawrence Align Media ![Jett Lawrence claimed the overall win his AMA Motocross debut in an impressive ride.]()
Jett Lawrence claimed the overall win his AMA Motocross debut in an impressive ride. Align Media
Jett, what is up with Pala with you? Nine moto wins out of 12 chances, but six overalls out of six chances of winning here. Pretty impressive, you can’t do any better than that. Also are you aware how special it was, this is the first time in history that two siblings, you and your brother, won on the same day in AMA pro motocross. Were you aware of that?
Jett Lawrence: No, I wasn’t. It’s crazy because the Palas before, I never really liked the track at all, where at least today I liked the layout a lot better. I felt like it wasn’t so as high speed as normal. We actually got to slow down, a little more technical stuff where it really challenged your balancing. But the dirt was still horrible dirt. But we’ll take it. It’s definitely one cool thing, H [Hunter] and I winning on the same day. It’s crazy to think. It actually went through my head when we signed the back board of the podium. It was actually pretty eye-opening. Pretty sick. I know it’s not going to be like that every weekend. Like Chase [Sexton] said, he’s getting more and more time on the bike, obviously getting more comfortable. I’ve been lucky to get a little bit more time than he has on the 450 with outdoors because obviously we went over to the East Coast and I was able to ride. But we’re still finding our feet on the 450. We’re going to have a mistake every now and then, I can say that now. But we’re looking forward to an awesome summer. I get to race with some sick guys and sick lads. It’s going to be a fun summer.
You guys were marking each other throughout the race and the track was very difficult. I noticed you lowered your lap times, better lap times, your personal best all the way up to about the midway through the race. I did notice both of you actually made a mistake in the right-hander coming towards the finish line. You [directed towards Chase Sexton] got pretty close to Jett. Jett, he was real close at one point and he made a bobble in that final right-hand corner. Then ironically, I saw you make a mistake later on in the moto there. So, the track was very, very difficult, no question about it. I saw you look around a couple times, so he was close.
Jett: I couldn’t hear the guy! [Laughs] It’s so hard to hear our bikes. It’s so damn quiet. So a few times I had to look back. I’m like, I can’t hear a bike. I look back and I see all the red. I’m like, gosh damn it! [Laughs] So, it was hard. In 250 normally you’re always on the rev limiter. It’s a lot easier to hear. With our bikes we’re so quiet. I feel like we’re always a higher gear up than other people, especially on this track with how edgy it is. Every time I’d just check back, I’d see 23 and I’m like, gosh damn it, he’s still there. You wouldn’t hear him for a bit. Maybe I’ve got a gap. I’d look back and it’s almost just as close. So, it was fun.
Fox Raceway - 450
May 27, 2023| Rider | Hometown | Motos | Bike | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 1 - 1 | Honda CRF450R |
| 2 |  Chase Sexton | La Moille, IL  | 2 - 2 | Honda CRF450R |
| 3 |  Dylan Ferrandis | Avignon, France  | 3 - 3 | Yamaha YZ450F |
| 4 |  Aaron Plessinger | Hamilton, OH | 5 - 4 | KTM 450 SX-F |
| 5 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 4 - 5 | KTM 450 SX-F |
How often have you had a moto like that where you had someone right on you? In the 250 class, you’ve had a good run, so did you learn something being under pressure like that?
I think the closest thing that I had to that really was when I was racing my brother last year in outdoors, I think at Millville and High Point in one moto, where I think this year, it’s going to be… Like, the first moto I got pretty lucky. I ended up getting a good start and kind of getting a bit of a safety kind of gap and just managing. Like Chase said, he didn’t feel as good and had to make a shock change. So obviously didn’t feel up to par, like how he felt on that one. Then the second one, he got a better start. For me, I find it fun because it makes me a better rider all around. I don’t get that very often. I’m definitely going to be having that all season. I can tell you now, there’s going to be some races where just because it’s the first year fully on a 450, I’m just not going to have it some rounds. I think the best thing for me is to just be smart and just learn, okay, I don’t have it this weekend. Chase or Dylan, you guys have it, and just play it smart. I get to race with some of the fastest guys. It’s kind of crazy because last time I raced these guys when I first kind of went pro was back in 2020. So it’s kind of like I’ve raced them, but then back then I was nowhere near them. So I barely even got to learn how they ride. Now I’m up there and I’m just really excited. It’s going to be an awesome summer with some gnarly dudes.
Was there some sense of security that the guy that was pressuring in moto two was your teammate? Pretty sure that he’s not going to do anything silly, but pushing you further ahead? Did you learn more racing with him than you did in the first one when you were just running away from it?
The biggest thing with the second one was when I seen it was Chase, I’m like, he’s going to be there all moto. I know that for sure. In 250 I could always either out-speed someone or out-fitness someone. Where we’re in the big bikes, everyone’s fit. Everyone’s strong. So I was like, well, okay. This one is going to be a long, 35-minute moto. But, we both respect each other. I know for sure we’re not going to do anything silly to put each other on the ground. I know when we got back we’d get a whooping from Honda. But we respect each other. I think we get more of a buzz out of having a good, clean race than going down at the end.
Congratulations on the result. You’ve obviously had a lot of exceptional results during your career, but to win with the 1-1 result first time out in 450 MX, where does that rate for you overall?
It’s a really cool feeling, especially doing it with the guys who are in the class. It’s pretty wild because if you look at it, I’ve been teammates with both these guys. Back in 2016 when I first went to Europe I was teammates with Dylan. He was on 250 and I was on an 85 trying to get around Lommel! Now obviously when I first went to GEICO, I was teammates with Chase and still now. So, it’s pretty cool. It definitely goes up there as one of the pretty cool ones. I haven’t felt that excited over a win in a while, because the 250 ones kind of just got expected. So when you expect it, it doesn’t have that much of excitement. Where this one I didn’t really expect. I’m like, we’re going to go out there and see how it is, and to go 1-1 like that, especially with Chase behind me in that second one pushing me, which was great learning for me also which makes it just even better.
That second moto was absolutely amazing to watch. How tough is it to have a guy pushing you that hard for that long?
I definitely say it’s not easy. Like I said on the podium, it’s been like a chess game. It’s a little harder for me because obviously I can’t see him, so I’m trying to almost feel it a bit, feel it out and just see what the pace is. Kind of seeing who’s going to push now, who’s not pushing, and just kind of like a bit of a back-and-forth thing. Okay, are we setting at this pace? Are we going to go at this pace until the end? Kind of feeling that out, which for me I had a blast because the whole time you were thinking, “Should I change my line here? Do I want to change my line? Should I not take that line and lost time? Am I going to take this?” Then it got even harder with the lappers, because I feel like we’re catching the lappers so fast. By the time we got on the back of them, they couldn’t process fast enough to get out of the way. It made it very difficult. For me career and my future, it’s definitely going to help me become a better rider because I get to race against gnarly dudes.
