After last Saturday's Budds Creek National, there is only one race left in the 2023 AMA Pro Motocross Championship, and Hunter Lawrence expresses excitement in getting ready for the weekend. With two more great motos under the belt, the #96 is feeling good about the championship and is ready to bring it at the SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) finals.
Hunter talked about it all at the post-race press conference with the media.
Congratulations. It was a good day for you. Had yourself a win here. A traditional Budds Creek race. It was warm, but not overly warm. A hard-pack track in some cases, soft in other cases. Tell us about your day.
Hunter Lawrence: I think we got treated to a very friendly Budds Creek this year, in comparison to previous Budds Creeks where it’s just hot, humid. Down the start line you feel like you’re going to die, it’s so hot. Today was beautiful, honestly. A little breeze and stuff. It was really nice. Don’t know where it came from, because it’s normally hot as hell here. So it was good. The day was good.
You had a good start. That first moto with the red flag, we were fifteen minutes or so in and the red flag comes out. A little bit of chaos. We line you back up. Another start. Really two half-motos. Did that affect your day at all? Is that just what it is?
It was weird because you want to do the full duration. When you break it up like that, it’s kind of two short sprints. So obviously you’ve got to get a good start again, first and foremost, but it was just whatever.
One more to go. Heading over to Indiana. Still up for grabs. Any special training? Any anxiety heading to Ironman? Do you like Ironman?
Yeah, Ironman is sick. It should be a good weekend. One more down. Really looking forward to it. Finish off this pro motocross championship strong, and then onto SMX.
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Hunter Lawrence Align Media ![Hunter Lawrence and Jason Thomas]()
Hunter Lawrence and Jason Thomas Align Media
Obviously you kind of battled with Justin here a handful of times. You guys kind of banged bars a little bit today. Usually it’s pretty respectful between both you guys. Just talk a bit about racing him and what to expect and the battles you guys have had.
Yeah. It’s nothing out of the ordinary. He was in the first moto 22 or 23 points down, one round to go. There’s going to be stuff like that happening. Can’t say I would have did anything different if I was in his position. So it just is what it is.
He’s a pretty good starter. He’s a pretty good qualifier. Obviously you’re going to worry about yourself, but does that play anything into your approach next weekend, or just same thing and hopefully it works out?
Yeah, just same thing. Same thing as always. Qualifying doesn’t really make or break your day. It sucks for me. The starts, obviously we put a lot of emphasis on and do the best we can to get up there.
You got a comfortable enough lead. Are you going to go golfing this week and kind of take your mind off it, or what’s your approach to just not trying to think and overthink it and make it worse than it could be?
Tell you what. If it’s in the 70s in Tampa, I’ll be golfing. But I don't think that’s the case. So no golf.
In this class the start is the key to be in the podium. The first moto you had a bad start, but you reached Justin Cooper. What was the [INAUDIBLE] for second moto, because you picked a better gate? Still fighting for the championship. Did you know that Justin Cooper was getting close the last lap, that he was so frustrated to just cross the finish line? Did you know that he was getting close?
Yeah, I knew where he was. Absolutely. The last lap I tried a new line before the uphill triple and didn’t have enough run-up to get it. Obviously I’ve got to be perfect off the starts. It’s no secret how fast the Yamahas are, so I have to be absolutely perfect every time to be close on the start. So, it was really good. Just put emphasis on a really important day today to give myself an easier run into Ironman.
You’ve been in America for a number of years. I’m currently writing an article on Harri Kullas whose second AMA race was this week from Estonia. It’s a bit of a culture shock to him, coming here. The protocol for starting opposed to MXGP, or the humidity, the food. So what would your advice be to a young rider from overseas coming to race in America for the first time?
You’ve got to adapt to it. It’s just plain and simple. When we went to Europe, the culture shock was crazy. For us, going from Europe to America was easier because our cultures are similar. But you’ve got to get there and you’ve got to have a complete open mindset and go, okay, this is new the normal and this is what we’ve got to do.
