Ahead of the AMA Supercross season opening round in Anaheim, Jett Lawrence was in a relaxed mood as he goes into the season as defending champion. The Aussie is a generational talent and just wants to keep on winning.
Ahead of A1, we caught up with Jett to discuss a range of topics which you can read, watch or listen to below…
GateDrop: Jett Lawrence, we’re here at A1 and you’re the champ this time, the defending champ of the 450 class. Do you feel any pressure with that or not? You look pretty relaxed to me in the press conference…
Lawrence: No, there’s no extra pressure. It’s the same as last year. You know, I came in with no title and at least this year you can be a little bit more relaxed. At least, you know, you’re close and capable of having that type of outcome. So, we’re looking forward to it. We’re just going to take this first round and just go with whatever position we get. We’ll then just go from there because you can’t win the championship at the first round here, but you can lose at the first round. So, you’ve just got to get through it and then see where we’re at and just go from there.
GateDrop: A lot of the title guys have named you as the guy to beat which sounds obvious but usually riders don’t really name their competition. You’re basically the reference point and they’re chasing you, so you have a target on your back. How does that feel for you knowing that everyone is saying you’re the guy they all want to beat?
Lawrence: It feels good because obviously it shows that I’ve been doing everything right. I mean, some people can look at it as negative or why they have a target on me but I mean, hey, I’m doing everything I possibly can do and everyone wants to be in the position I’m in right now with a number one plate. But it’s good. It’s just making sure I stay on my toes and keep doing what I do. Don’t get too comfortable, you know. You’ve got to stay on your toes and expect the unexpected most of the time.
GateDrop: You mentioned the hate talk in a press conference about a month ago. Anytime I’ve been to America, your line for autographs is huge. Obviously, you have a big name in Europe and people support you from Europe. Here and obviously Australia, you know all about that. Is it hard to get the balance? A small percentage of hate maybe affects your mind more than 90%?
Lawrence: Yeah, no, I did take that bait. No, you’re exactly right. It was so much more positive but the few negatives, I locked in on that, you know. Because I’m a person who wants to be liked by everyone. I want to make sure everyone’s happy, you know. It’s just people, they’ve tried criticizing my riding. They’ve tried criticizing how I race and they’ve failed on those. So, they’ve gone after my personality or who I am as a character and things I say, you know. So, they’re always going to criticize to try and find something, so it is what it is. Luckily, I have a great brother and he has kind of snapped me back into place. He’s like, dude, don’t worry. You have all these positives, then you focus on the such small negatives. It’s good, we’re back on track and we’re just excited for the year.
GateDrop: The positive of that to me is Haiden is coming up to the 450cc class obviously in a year or two. He’s very outspoken and he may use it. I’m American, you’re Australian. But now you’ve already experienced this hate. Do you think that will set you up for the future going forward? Do you already have anything that’s dealt with that?
Lawrence: We’ll see when it gets here, you know. You can’t predict any of that stuff. You don’t know what is going to happen. That’s life. So, we’re just going to see and react to what happens when we get there.
GateDrop: Just on your riding style, I’ve mentioned that you ride a lot like Stefan Everts but your mentality seems very like, Ricky Carmicheal, you just want to win. If you lose, you’re so angry… Did you develop all this intentionally or is this just how you ride?
Lawrence: That’s just how I am. Just learning with my riding side of things. But then my mentality, I think that’s just me as a person. I’m very competitive. I like to win. I mean, a lot of people like to win. But I just make sure I try and put those extra hours into solidate that and stuff like that. I think that’s just me and learning from other people and just trying to better myself.
GateDrop: What did you learn from Stefan Everts in Europe? I know you only raced the 85cc and the EMX250 class there with him… What did you learn from him and probably Harry as well, big champions…
Lawrence: Stefan helped with a few things, but a lot of it was actually Harry. Harry was really good and helped a lot. He was a lot more hands on. Stefan would say some things every now and then when he would disappoint, he would kind of point it out, but it was also Harry. Harry would be more hands on with us and helped a lot. They’ve helped quite a bit with my riding style and stuff like that.
GateDrop: He’s coached so many riders from Langston, Stefan and Liam through about twenty generations, you’ve obviously Johnny O’Mara here… You’ve always had the best guys ever to learn from. Has that helped you a lot?
Lawrence: It’s cool. No, 100%. I think one of my biggest things is having those guys there that I can learn off and also retaining that information and putting that in and executing. I think you can be trained by the best, but if you don’t actually soak it in and execute then it’s not really useful. So no, I have great people around me that have great contacts. I’m very fortunate. I never would have thought I would have Ricky Carmichael or James Stewart phone numbers. I never would have thought that but I have them that I can reach out to anytime. I can go golfing with James if I want to or Ricky. It’s cool and I’m grateful. Obviously O’Show is a legend himself. Being with Stefan and Harry, those guys are legends too. So, I’m very lucky to know those people and being able to hang out with them. When I was a kid, I didn’t realize but now I look back and it’s really cool.
GateDrop: You’re a bit like Jeremy McGrath. You’re the main man now, but you have the charisma to really carry the sport and maybe take it to the mainstream a bit more. Do you feel pressure with that or responsibility with that?
Lawrence: No, I’m just going to focus on myself. I’ll take it to where it takes me. I’m not waking up every morning trying to go, I’m going to make the sport better. If I do what I do and things come up on the table, I’ll just be the best that I can be. I think the sport will get to where it is, but I think for me now, I’m just focusing on myself and making sure I can just be the best that I can.
GateDrop: The first time I saw you ride was Spain, your EMX250 debut. You could tell you had the technique, but you hadn’t really grown…
Lawrence: Yeah, I was very small (laughs)
GateDrop: If someone told you then, Jett, you’re going to be the main man in the sport defending champion after a rookie Supercross title, SMX, MXoN, would you have believed them at that point?
Lawrence: I would have said, that sounds very nice, but it’s going to be hard to do. I’ve had those goals, but I don’t think I had them that much back then, they weren’t the big goals. They were more little goals of what I wanted to do but I think it would have been a shock to hear that.
GateDrop: Just finally, the MXoN… You had to pass Jeffrey, Eli, Roczen, Tim, although he got you back at the last corner. Was that a surreal moment? You’re the new guy and you’re passing all these legends… Jeffrey has the most GP wins all the time and has serious speed.
Lawrence: No, it was cool. Obviously, it was an experience to race with them. Honestly, it’s just a cool thing to see their name and go past them it’s obviously even better, but it’s just a cool experience and being able to race with those names is an honour.
GateDrop: Well, Jett, thank you and all the best.
