When the AMA Pro Motocross Championship kicked off at Fox Raceway, and Jett Lawrence returned from injury for the first time, let’s just say it was unusual to see him go 4-3 for third overall. But it did not take long for Jett to return to the top step of the box (only one week) and now three races in and he is on a four moto win streak. And the champ seems to back to his old form, albeit with a limp after the races.
At Thunder Valley, Jett pulled both holeshots to help propel him to another win. But that first moto the competition threw literally everything they had at him. First, he was under pressure from his brother Hunter Lawrence, then Haiden Deegan tried his hand before going down, and Hunter pulled back up to Jett’s rear wheel, only to go down himself. Jett was able to take a breather, but only for a moment as Belgium’s Lucas Coenen pulled up to under two seconds behind Jett on the final lap.
Jett talked about his race in the post-race press conference:
“That one, I was going slow," Lawrence said. "I didn’t have a flow of the track at all... I actually got more tired in that one than I did the second one. The second one I was pushing, you could say harder, everywhere. But I didn’t get as tired as in the first one. But that first one I just couldn’t crack a flow. And obviously with my foot there’s some things that reaction side of things you want both feet to be on the pegs. Where sometimes my foot is just really light in some areas, so when it [the bike] flicks, it flicks my right foot off. So, it was not ideal, but we were just on defense mode that first one. I think we did pretty well.”
And as for the much anticipated Haiden Deegan/Jett Lawrence battle that was being hyped up before the season, Thunder Valley was the first time fans saw Deegan battling for the lead. Jett was asked if he was able to learn anything from Deegan after the race.
He replied: “It's hard to learn much when you are out front on someone else. But you kind of get a feeling, a little bit, on where they’re gonna pass. And you can kind of read what’s his name [Deegan] like a book, you know where he is going to try to pass. It's a little easier to defend against that, obviously Hunter gets a little more creative, he was able to get around me, and I was able to fire back up the start straight. But I wouldn’t say I learned a crazy amount than I would have battling with them, behind them and stuff like that.”
Hunter put in a solid effort both motos but ultimately ended up crashing and getting docked a position for using a sneaky inside line, inside where the markers used to be (the same line Deegan used multiple times and got docked seven positions). He was credited with 4-4 for third overall, not a terrible day, but enough that Jett took possession of the red plate.
“Super pumped to have the red plate," Jett said. "It's obviously good to have, it doesn’t mean anything at this point, really, it's more important if you have it at the last round. Not really much change I feel like, just a look really. And to be fair, my ankle felt really, really good this weekend. I still can’t ride normal, I mean, I just have a little bit less pain. Every now and then I still jar it a bit. It was good honestly. Even after, walking around it's getting a lot better, which I am happy about. At least I don’t have to struggle with walking like I did before. So, it's looking positive."
"I think if each weekend we can make some good strides in improving it, where it feels like it's going back to normal," he continued. "Like even during this week when [Doc] G adjusts my ankle, before when he would pull on it, it would only pop on the left side of my foot, and my right side was still stuck in. It was still pretty stiff to go side to side. This week we were able to get both sides to pop and a lot more range of movement... So, that was really good. So hopefully each weekend it keeps making more improvements.”
![“It's hard to learn much when you are out front on someone else. But you kind of get a feeling, a little bit, on where they’re gonna pass. And you can kind of read what’s his name [Deegan] like a book, you know where he is going to try to pass. It's a little easier to defend against that.](http://rxi.iscdn.net/2026/06/330838_lawrence-jalignmediamx26thunder-valley026.jpg)
The fact that Jett is not 100 percent and is still looking to improve should worry the competition. As they keep getting better, so does Jett. And with the addition of the MXGP points leader Lucas Coenen to Thunder Valley, the competition was world class. Jett also spoke on having another set of fast brothers at the races.
“It's sick to see honestly, I think I said it maybe yesterday, not many people get to experience the feeling that my brother and I get, when we do well," he said. "In 2023 when he [Hunter] won the 250 championship and I won the 450 championship. Where the only people who can relate to that now is the Coenen brothers. Lucas is doing really well in MXGP and obviously Sasha is doing well in the 250 class in MX2. So, it's cool to see. When you see two brothers doing well it's sick because obviously they’re doing well because both of them are doing really good. And it's always good to see brothers do well. I think we had Jeremy Martin and Alex Martin before Hunter and I. When you see them two doing good it's cool, it's like a family thing. It was cool to see them come over, obviously I got to race them last year at Ironman [at Motocross of Nations]. I have seen the improvement just from then. It's cool to see, especially at a young age, being 19 years old. I remember when I was 19 riding a 450 you just keep learning, keep learning, you have that young energy. So, it's really cool to see and they came over for a tough track because like I said this dirt was really kind of weird and hard to adapt to.”
Before the start of the season, and even after round one, there were so many questions, that Jett has now answered. It did not take long at all to get his holeshots dialed and get back to managing races from the lead. Even when the racing is close, he still is in control. Will this trend continue for the rest of the season? Or will someone else get a race win soon?
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 138 |
| 2 |  Hunter Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia | 130 |
| 3 |  Haiden Deegan | Temecula, CA  | 106 |
| 4 |  R.J. Hampshire | Hudson, FL | 94 |
| 5 |  Dylan Ferrandis | Avignon, France  | 86 |
