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The 450SX class rookies Jett and Hunter Lawrence had another memorable night in Denver and it was a changing of the guard type of moment. I’ll only refer to this as a moment because it wasn’t an official changing of the guard moment quite yet. The veterans still have so much more left in the tank, so it’s not that time yet. However, it was a sign of what’s to come in this class.
Hunter led 11 laps in the Main Event, with his brother right behind him the entire time. Even when Jett made his move for the lead, Hunter stayed close and was right there at the finish when Jett crossed the line. Hunter had his best 450SX race yet in the Mile High City and he’s been figuring this premiere class stuff out. The Lawrence brothers are clearly the future of this class and they finished 1-2 for the first time in their big bike careers. They became the only set of brothers to do that in the history of the premiere class.
The two brothers have had very different paths in their careers to get to this point. Hunter was the reason that the Lawrence family packed up to head to America in the first place. His ride with the GEICO Honda team ended up being the perfect stepping stone for Jett at the right time. Hunter ended up getting injury after injury for a period of time while Jett progressed into the rider that you see today. Hunter bounced back last year by winning both 250SX and MX titles and he’s still building in his rookie 450SX season. He’s looking at the big picture of his career and checking off boxes as building blocks as he goes.
“I’m more of a rider who gets confidence and mental strength from doing the work,” Hunter said. “You know, I’m not the guy that can mess around all offseason and come to round one and try and convince myself and believe that I deserve to win. I have to put in the laps, I have to put in the work, to be able to say that I deserve to win. That’s just because I’ve done everything possible . I’ve been like that for most of my career. Everyone’s path is different. Chasing number 18 during the week and on the weekends and stuff, I’m playing catch up from the years off with injuries, and he’s the best in the world right now. I have a great base to keep training and learning off of. If Jett wasn’t here in this class I’d probably be a good candidate for a great rookie season, but number 18 stole that one truly. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve been there to help him when we were younger and now the tides have turned the past three odd years and now I’m chasing him. It’s cool.”
Jett now holds a 20-point lead over Cooper Webb in the standings heading into the final round in Salt Lake City this coming weekend. In the press conference he talked about how special it was to go 1-2 with his brother while trying to be careful to not make any big mistakes.
“That last lap after I had seen the white flag, I knew Hunter was right there,” Jett said. “I was like ‘please nothing go wrong’ because at the finish we ended up making history tonight and I think that’s a pretty big accomplishment. Going down the start straight I was looking back and making sure Hunter was still there. I was already getting amped up.”
It’s also pretty cool that this feat happened in the 50th anniversary season of Supercross. The writing is on the wall. The Lawrence brothers are setup to go 1-2 in many, many more races in their careers, but they’ll never forget the first time in Denver.
Main Image: Octopi Media
