Jett Lawrence has given a statement via the Honda press release on the hit from Justin Barcia – but says he understands it was not deliberate.
Jett said: “It’s just a sucky situation. I just cut down under Hunter, and obviously Barcia was defending his line from someone else on the inside of him—just wrong place, wrong time. He kind of hit my arm pretty good; I got a gnarly Charlie horse. He hit some nerve in my arm, where I kind of lost feeling and strength in my hands. That’s why I was trying to get up and get going early, but I physically couldn’t—I had no strength. It is what it is. Thankfully we had a bit of a buffer on second. We’ve got a break, we’ll come back stronger. We’ve got five races to go.”
Jett Lawrence down hard 😱
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) March 31, 2024
🎥 Monster Energy 450 Race 3 LIVE fueled by @SchnuckMarkets #SupercrossLIVE #SMX pic.twitter.com/gz9DyKBgC2
Barcia has given his own statement saying: “Anyone who knows dirt bikes knows it was a racing incident and not intentional. Such a bummer, I came in super hot and Jett cut down and it was wrong place, wrong time situation. I spoke to Jett after the race, he completely understood what happened.”
Justin Barcia clarifies the incident between him and the number 18 from Saturday night. 🗣️
— Supercross LIVE! (@SupercrossLIVE) April 1, 2024
(Via @JustinBarcia) #SupercrossLIVE #SMX pic.twitter.com/b7YaFEpd4H
Meanwhile Hunter said of his first ever 450 podium: “This was an awesome pat on the back for all the hard work. It was a wild night of events, but we’ll take the result; I’m very happy with what we got. My riding’s been getting better, so hopefully this kicks in a little bit more momentum for the last couple of rounds. We’d love to get a conventional podium, with no penalties for anyone, so that’s next on the list.”
Team manager Lars Linsdtrom said: “When we were coming to St. Louis, I was expecting to have some famous St. Louis ribs; I wasn’t aware that there are incredible T-bones also! I wasn’t a big fan of them though—I could’ve done without. It was a crazy night, but all in all, coming away without serious injuries, a season-best second-place finish for Jo, and a career-first podium for Hunter was something to be happy about. We’ll take this next weekend off to recover and come back ready to finish the season off even stronger.”
Get our view on the move here:
Image: Honda
