The first two rounds of the AMA Supercross series are done and after a disappointing first round for the Lawrence brothers, they bounced back at round two. Jett finished an impressive second after a great battle with Tomac while Hunter finished a solid fifth.
We caught up with an always honest, Darren Lawrence to get his thoughts on both Brothers, the start to the season and much more…
GateDrop: Darren, interested to get your take, it’s been a very difficult first round but I think a pretty good second round. What’s your overall verdict, two rounds into this championship?
Lawrence: Yeah, really good, a good recovery from the boys. That was unreal racing tonight, I really loved watching that, it was so good. So yeah, it was good to finally get our settings sorted a little closer and now we can just try and get the boys some consistent laps.
We’ve been doing so much testing, you sort of do two laps and then you know you give feedback, two laps and feedback, so now what I’ve seen tonight was just the boys their eye speed was just a little slow in some areas. So yeah, really good.
GateDrop: Whenever Anaheim 1 happened, how did you react in the truck that night with the boys? Are you angry or have you got calm solutions? What’s your role in that?
Lawrence: No, you stick to your facts… You go, okay, the bike wasn’t correct, but I still always blame my boys because you know they had a decision. I could see Hunter’s crash coming and I’m like mate why didn’t you go to jumping? He’s like ah, and so it’s a two-sided, you have an athlete going oh I really believe I was getting the timing of them and I could work it out, I could make the difference and that’s just that. I think that determination, that grit to want to go faster than he should have. If he would have just went back to jumping he might have got sixth for the night. You know, Coop probably would have passed him because he was doing better. Then Jett was the same just blitzing when he should have just, no mate… We knew the bike wasn’t quite right but you should have pulled back. So I still sort of blame them for that decision at that point in time in the race to go no I need to settle. They’re still young, you know, in the sport I guess. They’re still going to learn so we just look at it analytically.
Like everyone said I never forget Ricky on the 250cc number four back in the day like he cartwheeled at Anaheim 1 way back when we started watching him in 2004. People forget those but there’s peaks and valleys in life and there’s peaks and valleys in results in motorsport. You just have to keep going.
GateDrop: Did you expect them to be that off coming to Anaheim 1 based on your testing or did you think it was going to be closer?
Lawrence: No, no. At our practice track we were sort of like hey, we found something we’re really happy with. This is a pretty good window and then you’ll start your season and you can go a little bit, a little bit with it. It blew our socks off that it was so bad, you know. You sort of forget how slippery Anaheim gets, how hard it gets. so yeah boo on our behalf, I wanted to sack myself (laughs).

GateDrop: How was it for you going back to Australia especially because you brought the whole family there, you were away for so long so to be back home again… On a personal level was that really nice to go home or does it make you want to go back home?
Lawrence: There was a really strange feeling for me. it was actually that I felt like a visitor in my own country so that was really like wow America is my home now. That was actually a feeling I didn’t think I’d get, I thought I’d land and go oh wow I’m back home for a while, it’s really great but I was actually like, no this isn’t home anymore so that was the strangest feeling but it was good just to go back over and see my brother in like nine years. It’s good to catch up with him and see some family.
GateDrop: So that all created that sort of the people hate the Lawrences, hate Jett and all this… I was speaking to Jett at Anaheim 1 and I think it’s important for you guys to remember you’re so popular in Europe people cheer for you there, people cheer for you in America and obviously Australia everyone cheers for you… What role do you play in that and keeping it in their minds that they are loved by a global fan base at this point?
Lawrence: Yeah you’re always going to have people that love you and always going to have people that hate you. I think what’s most important, I say to my boys is the people that know you and the people that are in your circle love you. Every person that knows Jett and every person that knows Hunter would take a bullet for them and they’re the only people that matter. That’s talking to everybody in the world, there’s always people on the outside especially with this stupid thing that have an opinion and they have no accountability of their opinion. You know so it’s worthless and that’s what I talk to them about, the people that are closest to you and in your circle. They’re the only ones that matter.
GateDrop: Is that difficult for you as a father taking the race thing out of it to see people having these basically false opinions of Jett and Hunter because you know them so well and know that they’re really nice guys?
Lawrence: For sure, but I sort of can’t blame them either. Because people shouldn’t put bullsh*t on the internet. You know and then people believe it you know from not credible sources and they still believe it because they want to hate the boys. It’s just natural, you’re never going to change their minds because they want to hate them so they’ll find anything they can to hate them. It’s fine you’re never going to change their mind so I’ve said to them you don’t argue with an idiot because it’s hard to tell who the idiot is (laughs).
GateDrop: So just on the 2025 Honda after tonight or do you feel you’re way much more in a better window because Hunter had a good ride tonight as well?
Lawrence: I was so pumped with Hunter he was not feeling good he laid in his bunk most of the day with a with a hot thing on his head his sinuses and headache and stuff. I wasn’t expecting that from Hunter at all. I thought Jett had enough speed to get on the podium but obviously this track for me was really well maybe not.. maybe I’m wrong. I thought it was going to be start oriented but once Eli and Jett got out to the front they sort of just took off so that blew my socks off. I was like wow the boys were hauling so no I’m really happy with both. It’s a good comeback and now we just don’t get too carried away. Now we start to log some more laps.
GateDrop: Sometimes I feel a bit sorry for Hunter because Jett gets all the limelight but to me Hunter’s elite as well and he’s in that Eli, Cooper, Chase kind of level too, do you feel like for him or not?
Lawrence: No I think Hunter can get to that level but he’s still different. He’s a methodical, he just takes his time and he won’t risk nothing. I don’t think he’s Chase’s or Eli’s level yet. I think when Hunter’s on a great night, good start… maybe he can get in there with them for sure on a track that suits him that is really technically, he’s really really good then. I think I’m very conservative but happy with Hunter being that if he’s that four to six guy I’d be pumped. Then if he gets the odd podium and he builds once again has a good year and builds to become close to them boys next year.

GateDrop: What in your opinion makes Jett special because even under pressure like from last week to this week… when the pressure is on he rises to the occasion. What makes him so good, not just technically but mentally under pressure?
Lawrence: He just loves it. Seeing him after that that battle he was just so pumped. He just loves a fight, loves it and he enjoys it. I’ve said it many times, if Jett is not made to focus that’s when I get concerned. When he’s on it and people on him… you see him with Chase in the outdoors, you know he hounds him and he just hit his marks. His focus and his mental strength is really good.
GateDrop: Do you think the first round is in some way a blessing in disguise then because it gives him that carrot?
Lawrence: Yeah, exactly. You don’t want it but on the other hand I was thinking oh this might be too bad because you’re really knuckle in and focus you know.