With yet another perfect 1-1 for first overall for Jett Lawrence last weekend at Southwick, he maintains a 67-point lead over second place Dylan Ferrandis in the AMA Pro Motocross 450 class championship. Lawrence is now halfway through a so-far perfect season in his rookie year in the 450 Class. No one has been able to give the Australian a run for his money just yet, though Chase Sexton and Ferrandis are becoming quite hungry for some moto wins. Jett discussed his day at Southwick with the media in the post-race press conference.
Jett, 12 for 12. Give us your assessment of your day, other than obviously winning, but the track and conditions. How did you feel out there?
Jett Lawrence: It was a pretty brutal day today. Even practice, it was kind of flat but still had a few rough spots. Today was just survival, trying to get the best out you can and just try and fight your way. At the end everyone was so done, where it was just like, I think everyone has settled down. But another good weekend. Was okay on the starts. We were second on both, but we were able to capitalize on that single in both. I’m just looking forward to getting out of this place really and getting on to Millville. [Laughs] That track is pretty fun. It’s one of my favorite ones, I would say.
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Talk about the start. Dylan got a great start. Looked in control of the holeshot. You tucked in on the inside of him in that second moto. Going over the first big jump, you looked like you really accelerated as if, 'I want to get out front now so I don’t get roosted for the next lap or two.' Tell us what motivated you and how you made that move to get into the lead.
Dylan just got a better jump in that second one and obviously was on the inside of me, so I couldn’t quite do a lot. I just had to try and maybe out-brake him. But by the time I was kind of pulling back in front of him, the turn was already there so I couldn’t quite make or do anything there because he was going to drift out wide anyway. So, I just tried to tuck in underneath and then was just trying to hit those turns as best as I can and maybe try and get him in that next section. A lot of people can’t hit that. When you land that single, it shoots you off in any direction. If you don’t get it quite good or if you land in a deeper spot of sand it takes away a lot of speed. So, I'm just like, all right, let’s hope we just land in a good spot and capitalize on him landing in a softer area or not. So, we just really didn’t want to get covered in sand. I didn’t want to be eating that.
Southwick - 450
July 8, 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 | 4 - 4 | KTM 450 SX-F |
| 5 |  Garrett Marchbanks | Coalville, UT | 10 - 5 | Yamaha YZ450F |
What are you thinking about throughout the race? Do you focus on your pit board every lap and just kind of want to see what your mechanic writes each lap? Or what are your thought processes and what are you thinking about each lap? Are you breaking it down in segments or just in general, 'I’ll get through this five minutes or ten minutes,' or whatever?
It’s weird. If someone was in my mind throughout the race, I’d be kind of confused because I’m on and off focusing on where Chase is at, Dylan’s there. It was definitely a lot easier to spot Chase this weekend with the green. [Laughs] It catches my eye really quickly, so that was good. So, it was just thinking of that and trying to make sure I hit my lines, see where the gap is. Obviously, mine was also thinking about how tired my legs were, but then at the end I had a song playing in my head. It’s like a squirrel brain a little bit, but the main ones, at the start is just the gap and hitting my marks.
When you pick your start, your competition, do you care where they’re starting? Do you want to be inside or outside? Now you’re picking first all the time, so do you consider where you competition might pick, or you just pick where you want and don’t think about them?
I just kind of got off of what I feel best with, now because they’re prepping only so far out in front. So, I just look at the best rut and the best angle at the first turn. If my competitors go next to me, like Dylan this weekend, he asked which way I lean. I kind of tend to hook right a bit. He got lucky on this weekend. I went straight, thankfully. I just look at whatever position is best on the gate.
