Injured – like his brother Jett – at the early stages of the Supercross season, Hunter Lawrence had a tough beginning to the year. However, the Honda HRC rider delivered his best performance of the season so far at High Point this weekend, coming very close to his first premier class Motocross victory. In the end, he was narrowly beaten by his younger brother — by a single point.
“I know what I’m capable of when I’ve got a handlebar in my hands,” Hunter said after the High Point race. “After the first moto, I knew I could get a better start because it hadn’t been great. That’s the key in a race — getting out of the gate well. I could also have done a few things better at the start of the moto. But you know, all plans go out the window when you’re on the start line and it suddenly starts raining like that — it totally changes the dynamic. The first lap pretty much sets the tone for the whole race. The approach was different, sure, but nothing changes too drastically between both motos.”
Rain did indeed begin to fall right as the final moto of the weekend kicked off. While some hadn’t anticipated the worsening conditions, Hunter made a last-minute decision to switch his goggles.
“Just before the start, I changed my goggles,” explained the Australian, who returned to the podium after finishing fifth at both Hangtown and Thunder Valley. “I was torn between going with tear-offs or using roll-offs. Luckily, I decided to go with roll-offs just before the gate drop. I was wondering if we’d be able to avoid the black clouds that were rolling in — they were gnarly. We knew that if they hit, it’d be more than just a drizzle. We weren’t really sure what to expect. Some people were saying it might hit 30 or 40 minutes later. The goal was to get out front and hope we’d only have to deal with the mud near the end. But by the second lap, it was pouring. It was… interesting.”
Up against Eli Tomac, Hunter Lawrence didn’t disappoint in the second moto, keeping pace with the Yamaha rider. But his effort were cut short by a red flag just a few minutes before the scheduled end — right after Jett, who had started poorly, moved into third. That was enough for the younger Lawrence brother to claim his fourth consecutive outdoor win.
“I felt like I was doing okay, keeping Eli in sight,” Hunter said about moto two. “Then at one point, I ran into the same issue as everyone else. Riding in mud? That we can handle. But eventually, you run out of tear-offs or roll-offs and you can’t see anything anymore. That’s really what decides the race in those kinds of conditions.”
Hunter Lawrence came within touching distance of claiming his very first 450 Pro Motocross overall win on Saturday, but the red flag’s timing ultimately denied him. Jett’s 3-1 edged out Hunter’s 2-2. If the red flag had come one lap earlier, Hunter would’ve taken the overall.
“I was really frustrated,” Hunter admitted. “Honestly, we had no idea when the race was going to be stopped — or even if it would be. They gave us the signal for halfway, and I was just about out of tear-offs. Water was starting to leak underneath, we were catching backmarkers, and I was trying to figure out how I could catch Eli and pass him. I was wondering if I should wait for him to make a mistake. I thought if he did, I could toss my goggles and just spray him with mud [laughs]. That’s the kind of stuff you start thinking about in those conditions. You’re torn between playing it safe and going for it. To be honest, I had planned to ditch my goggles on the lap they threw the red flag. So afterwards, I was thinking I should’ve just gotten rid of them earlier. On the flip side, riding behind Eli on his 450 without goggles isn’t exactly the smartest move either.”
Injured back in February, Hunter Lawrence took his time to regain form for the outdoor season. Unlike 2024, when he made an instant impact, this year’s comeback has been more gradual.
“I think I was still trying to find my rhythm during the first three rounds of the outdoor season,” the Australian concluded. “But I feel like I’m riding at the same level as last year, if we want a point of comparison. I’m really happy with the bike right now. What’s cool is we made a shock change during Friday’s press day, and it gave us exactly the feeling we were after. It worked out the way we wanted, which means we were spot on — and that’s awesome. The team’s doing a great job, and now I’m just looking forward to getting more time on the bike, putting in motos, finding that flow again… and getting used to this sand tire [laughs]. Before the race, Aaron [Plessinger] and I were joking that we all need to come to an agreement: either no one uses it, or everyone uses it!”
