Troy Dog
He did it! Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence accomplished his first career 450 overall win at Texas Motor Speedway for Round 2 of the SuperMotocross Playoffs.
The 450 class rookie hasn’t ridden like one at all this season. Despite winning three Motos this summer during the Pro Motocross Championship, he never was able to lock down an overall. Mostly due to the fact that all of those Moto wins came from the first Motos.
Low and behold, Lawrence won the first Moto at Texas Motor Speedway in one of the best races of the season. Hunter held his own and kept a charging Eli Tomac and his brother Jett at bay. In Moto 2, Hunter brought it home in third, but the moto gods finally came through for him. It was his day to stand on top of the podium.
“It was a good day,” Lawrence said in the post race press conference. “I don’t think I surprised myself. I feel like I’ve been knocking on the door long enough now, all throughout summer.”
The conditions were extreme in Texas. The late summer heat saw temperatures climbing upwards of 95 degrees on Saturday, which caused for some nasty track conditions. The dirt was lost early in the day as all the moisture was sucked out of it causing for dusty, slick, and blue grooved conditions. None of that seemed to phase the 25-year-old Australian.
“It was just a good training day,” Lawrence said. “These conditions, we have not ridden something like this since Europe. It’s cool to ride something a little different, hindsight it’s cool, in the moment you’re probably not like, ‘ah man this is so sick’. Its good to brush up on those conditions again because we never really get to ride them.”
The Texas track was definitely challenging. Riders had to be precise and calculated when trying to make passes. The speedway’s layout gave the riders a different vibe and in the case of Lawrence, a vibe he hasn’t felt in a very long time.
“I feel like I’ve raced here before on like a 65cc,” Lawrence said. “It’s a state fair type vibe with the grass on the sides. I can’t believe how hard packed this dirt was. You go 30 minutes East to Arlington and it’s the best dirt on the tour and this dirt is wild.”
In the press conference, Hunter did kind of poke fun at himself at one point talking about how he stays fresh during the week to come out and battle with ‘the kids’ on the weekend.
“I jump in the Cryo Chamber, pet my donkeys on the farm, that’s great for the soul, and I just come back fresher and stronger,” Lawrence said.
Although, it’s kind of funny, Hunter is clearly messing with his younger brother, but at the same time he really is a true rookie of the 450 class. It’s been a remarkable year and Hunter is establishing himself as one of the riders to beat for the future. However, Hunter doesn’t seem to sweat all that. He’s focusing on right now.
“Obviously Jett, if he didn’t have the year he had last year, yeah it’d be a pretty good rookie year,” Lawrence said. “I don’t really get into that stuff, I don’t really worry about it because I know what during the week was like for the guy that went perfect season last year. I was right there and it’s the same as me during the week this year, not going perfect season. The work never stops.”
The first 450 Moto at Texas Motor Speedway will forever go down as a race that Hunter Lawrence may never forget. It’s the first time that he had the chance to beat Eli Tomac and his brother Jett straight up in a race. It was a special day for kid who has come all the way from Australia to beat the World’s best racers on the biggest stage.
“It’s cool to race Tomac,” Lawrence said. “I watched him from Australia racing Stewart, Villopoto, and Dungey. It’s probably a bucket list thing.”
The race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this coming weekend is shaping up to be an instant classic. It’s going to be a winner’s take all matchup, with triple points on the line, and the new SMX points leader H. Lawrence has a good of a chance as anyone to bring the playoffs home.
Main Image Courtesy of Hunter Lawrence
