Once again, the red plate in this 450 Pro Motocross Championship battle has changed hands. Though it has stayed in the same truck, Honda HRC Progressive, and the same family. As Hunter Lawrence, who came into Spring Creek one point behind Jett, beat Jett straight-up in moto one, and was able to capitalize on another uncharacteristic like mistake by Jett in moto two to reclaim the points lead. Hunter spoke about his day, including the fact that he had no idea he had won the second moto until he pulled off under the tents and Jett wasn’t there.
“It was a good day," Hunter said at the post-race press conference. "First moto was good I was really happy with that, my riding was really good. The second moto was interesting. We got off to a good a start, I was really happy with my starts today. Jettson had a really good flow and good pace this second moto and he got me and I was trying to hang on and do the same lines and I just wasn’t able to really make it click like the first one. Which is interesting because you think it's the same day you should be able to make it click whenever you want, right? But sometimes it just comes a little easier than others. I actually didn’t know that he crashed, I was like, ‘Damn, he’s on one.’ Like he was up there inching away and then all of a sudden, I couldn’t see him like, ‘Damn.’ My lap wasn’t great that lap, I had some lappers and I was like, ‘Far out, he’s on another level this moto.’ It wasn’t until I got back to the tent that, I had no idea he had crashed.”
In the first moto, Hunter rode maybe the best fans have ever seen, and at the end he won by over 16 seconds over Jett. Everyone expected much of the same from him in the second moto, especially when he got out to the early lead. But Jett was able to pass Hunter and put some time on him before going down.
“It just felt like he was able to make some of the lines turning across the bumps a little better than me. Just traction wise it felt more difficult for me to open things up. The downhill for example where he eventually crashed, I felt tough turning across the bumps and then that next section you go right, drop down the hip and then right. A lot of turning across bumps and the track was really slippery today. It wasn’t very heavy, it was a very hard packed base and more slippery than normal. So, I think that was where it was.”
Sometimes it just takes the smallest thing to make a difference when two riders are so evenly matched. Which is something Hunter is very aware of.
“I think it comes down to such a small thing that makes such a big difference. Like first moto went my way, can’t argue the momentum wasn’t going my way. And same with the second moto, it went his way. Last weekend felt like it was going my way and then I went down, same thing with him. It's been just kind of back and forth, I think. We are at a very similar level and that level is so high so it's just kind of, ‘Which brother is it going to be this weekend?’ I guess.”
Look, it is very unusual to have two riders, two brothers at that, be teammates and fighting tooth and nail over a championship. This means the brothers share everything, including bike set up.
“I’ve been pretty happy with where my set ups at and Jett’s kind of been inching closer to my set up this year. Which I feel like I had the edge in the beginning so I’m kind of like, ‘Ahh no, it's not that good’ [Laughs]. He is on a pretty similar set up to me right now. Almost identical, I think one shim on the shock.”
The Lawrence’s share everything, and ride together during the week. They are constantly learning from each other and it's the reason neither one is able to break away from the other. They were asked if either one has an edge when they're riding together during the week, but Hunter says they don't really work on lap time battles during the week.
Some places are like dog eat dog through the whole week and we feel like in that atmosphere you don’t get to work on your craft as much,” he says. “We focus on what we need to do and what we think we need preparation wise to be as ready as possible for the weekend. Whether that’s recovery, a little more laps whatever it is. I wouldn’t say we work against each other during the week or trying to get an edge."
We live in an individualistic culture, in a very individual sport. This collaborative approach feels very odd, but the Lawrence’s have found a way to work together and not let it interfere with their relationship as they have always put family first. And let’s face it, with them working together, raising the bar every week, it just makes it that much more exciting for the fans to watch. As we head into Washougal this weekend and wonder “Which brother is going to win?” we now know Hunter is wondering the same thing.
