Jett Lawrence should not have won this race. This was Chase Sexton’s time. He was the outdoor champ, he was the man with momentum, it was his time, until it wasn’t.
Sexton, in a big mental blow, got beat by the recently returned Eli Tomac and the just returned Jett Lawrence in both motos, with Lawrence second in race one after “blowing off the cobwebs,” he then ran down Tomac who was on his A game in race two to win the overall.
Even Jett didn’t expect to win the opening round of SMX in Charlotte, yet win is exactly what this young phenomenon did. He almost can’t help himself, he just always, instinctively and skillfully, finds a way.
In one race, Jett Lawrence took back the momentum. Sexton is dedicated and determined, has the skill, the speed and the style to do it, but he has to be wondering what he has to do to beat this guy, they all do. Whatever Jett Lawrence is faced with he figures it out and wins. Every time!
The truth is this, Jett Lawrence has the perfect technique of Stefan Everts, who he rode for and learned from along with Harry Everts, he has the mentality and killer instinct of Ricky Carmichael who his current trainer, Johnny O’Mara, used to coach, and, just for good measure, he has the in-race IQ, self-confidence and laid back off-track outlook of Jeremy McGrath.
Lawrence has the best qualities of arguably the three greatest riders of all time, the MXGP Goat, the supercross king and the AMA Goat. He is almost impossible to beat, he has no apparent weakness even when he is supposed to be weaker coming off an injury.
“Yeah, it was kind of a question mark for myself,” Lawrence admitted in the press conference when discussing his win. “I mean, during the week Hunter was smoking me. So, I was like, ‘Oh, gosh, I guess it’s gonna be a rough one.’ But, yeah, practice went good, qualifying also, but I was kind of like, ‘Oh, I mean, it’s a lot easier to put down one lap than a 20-minute moto.’
“But then, got a good start first one. Was kind of blowing off the cobwebs with Eli. He had his lines set and made no mistakes the first five minutes and just kind of got that gap and then we started match and once I kind of got into my lines and Hunter ended up getting past me and it was kind of too late (to catch Tomac) could never pull it back.”
“And the second one I just knew I had to try and get Eli, and I was in front of him the first few turns, and he ripped it around me, and I thought like, ‘Gosh,’ so that made it a bit harder!’ But, no, I’m just glad to be back. Super pumped with that result. Hopefully we can just build up with more and just keep on improving because obviously, yeah, we still ain’t perfect just yet. The race intensity is definitely a lot different than practice. But no, I’m just happy to be back.”
Happy to be back winning as usual. The mirage of hope for his competitors just vanished on his return. Maybe a riding on the ragged edge Deegan, (or a technically equal Prado?) have the antidote in the future, because right now, everyone on a 450 in America is still trying to figure out the answer as to how to consistently beat this sensational Aussie kid yet – even a pair of rapid champions like Chase Sexton and Eli Tomac are still searching for the blueprint!
