When it comes to rookie rides in this season of Monster Energy AMA Supercross, Jett Lawrence winning his first ever 450SX main seems to overshadow everyone else. Winning right off the bat is not the norm. Instead, what is expected of a rookie is to show some great speed but make mistakes, very similar to what Jett did in Arlington.
Hunter Lawrence on the other hand started the season off on the other end of the spectrum, not even qualifying for Anaheim 1. He then started building each weekend and now has a pair of fifths in the last two rounds. Impressive by any rookie standards let alone against such a deep field. Our Kellen Brauer caught up with the brothers after the race to get an idea of how both rookies are feeling.
Jett Lawrence
After leading almost the entire main event in Arlington, it looked like Jett was going to be able to wrap up his third win of the season. Then he went down in the later stages of the race. On a rutted track that took down plenty of riders, especially in the 250SX class, Jett was lucky to be able to come out fairly unscathed.
“I was feeling great and was kind of just going through the laps and kind of relaxing. I just kinda got sent right on that one into the Tuff Blox. And it went bad. I almost got it back to being good again, being right behind Cooper [Webb] and then going bad again with the [second] crash and hitting Vince [Friese]. So, things to learn from this one, ups and downs, but thankfully the starts are what they are again with getting good starts and hopefully we can continue them on to Daytona. But, no, gotta go back, watch some footage, see what I need to learn on and then hopefully try and come back to Daytona and not make those mistakes.”
Remember making mistakes is just part of the learning curve of all rookies, even the phenoms. One of the true tests for Jett is about to start, now that we are moving into the meat of the season, he is about to see just how long and grueling a 450SX season can be. No month-long breaks to let the body rest like in the 250’s.
We asked him if the longer schedule is catching up to him at all.
“I feel pretty good so far," he said. "I'm excited. It's kind of, I feel like it's an exciting learning curve right now for me, because I feel like there are a lot more experienced people who really shine now [at this point in the season]. So, I'm looking forward to it.”
Hunter Lawrence
After a fifth-place finish in Glendale, Hunter was able to prove that result wasn’t a fluke by backing it up with another fifth place in Arlington.
“You know, you put in a lot of work, so it's a kick in the nuts when you're putting all this work in and you're not exactly seeing it translate into a race result," Hunter said. "So, it's cool to see that. This main event compared to last round at Glendale's main event, the result ended up being the same, but it felt like a lot more interesting and exciting tonight than it did at Glendale.”
The biggest difference for Hunter has been the intensity at the beginning of the race. The 450’s race for longer, but they push the entire time.
“I'm just focusing on myself and trying to hit my marks and do the best and push like a bull in the first 10 minutes. Just get going, because like the first few of the races, I was slow in the beginning and then I kind of get going.”
Not only was Hunter able to push at the beginning of the race in Arlington, but he was right there with the lead group for the entire race. When he says it was more interesting and exciting than Glendale, that's because he was right there in sight of the podium the entire way.
“It just felt like I was behind Aaron Plessinger for like 55 laps is what it honestly felt like," he said while laughing. "It was cool to be up there racing in that conversation and just learning and getting going and stuff like that. Few mistakes, I know what I need to clean up, know what I need to work on.”
In fact, he was so close to Plessinger at the end of the race, when Jett went down for the second time, Hunter went off the track trying to avoid hitting his downed bike. If not for that Hunter would have finished fourth, instead of Jett. So, for the second week in a row the brothers both finish in the top five. The learning curve might have been steeper for Hunter, but he appears to be a fast learner. It might not be long before we see both brothers on the podium just like in their 250 days.
