Jett Lawrence said it was “cool” to go against the legend Eli Tomac for the win at round one of the SMX series at Charlotte, with Eli in much better form than he was in supercross and taking the first moto win and pushing Jett to the end of moto two. It was brilliant generational moment to see two all-time guys do battle at the opposite end of their careers.
It’s cool to experience it (racing against Tomac) and I hope it stays around, Beast Mode, because it’s fun racing someone with such knowledge and speed, obviously, too.”
“I think in Eli’s standpoint, I think it’s like he wanted to race with Ricky Carmichael or one of those guys, you wanna race the best at the time and you want to battle with them. And obviously right now, Eli’s probably the biggest name that has the most championships for sure right now in this class. So, yeah, it was an awesome race. I mean, the one cool thing is with racing against another great and a champion is that there’s no quit, there’s always fighting until the checkered flag. So, I think it’s always cool. And it’s definitely a bucket list that’s kind of checked off whether if I want it or not, I think, just to get to battle with them. I think it’s just a really cool thing and an honour.”
The only other all-time legend Jett could race but hasn’t yet, is Jeffrey Herlings, and, if they both stay injury free, Jett will get to battle the winningest GP rider of all time at Matterley Basin in the MXoN. Let’s hope Herlings gets a start around Jett to see them go bar to bar! It’s rare spectacle that won’t happen much with them racing in two different series – and injury has prevented it happening so far. But, if it happens this October enjoy it, it could be the only time two of the best ever get to race each other.
To underline just how highly rated Lawrence is, especially after his SMX win straight off injury, his team manager Lars Lindstrom said: “Even though it’s been a long and grueling season, this race felt a little bit like Anaheim 1. There were a lot of top American Honda management there, along with many more Honda Associates from the Southeast, and it was awesome to get such an amazing win in front of them! I’m pretty sure I saw Jett get into a UFO after he left, proving that he is in fact an alien—what a performance for his first race back, and we couldn’t be prouder of him!”
