From the moment practice began on Saturday, it was evident that Hunter Lawrence would exclaim authority with his racing performance that was set to take place in the hours thereafter. The Australian rider would reiterate that his speed was top-notch amongst this stacked division of 250cc riders, and though his reaction time from the starting gate was a bit delayed (for moto number-one), Lawrence’s aspirations were anything but subdued. He would immediately begin to enact a game-plan that sent him powering into podium territory, making a pass on Levi Kitchen and then Seth Hammaker, with a brilliant charge upon landing from the finish-line jump. His chassis would dance throughout the rollers thereafter, but there was little that could deter Lawrence from letting off the throttle as he then zeroed-in on Maximus Vohland. And it was only a lap thereafter where Lawrence would repeat the same maneuver, on Vohland — via explosive charging through the latter stage(s) of the whoops, and a launch from atop the finish-line takeoff, that was as far as anyone could imagine! The rear wheel would continue to spin upon returning to the ground, which propelled him closer and closer to Justin Cooper as he then occupied third. The Yamaha rider was a marker of sorts, that Lawrence used to gauge his speed —and after a thorough pursuit, (which led to lap twelve) Hunter saw an opportunity to move around the New York native in a sly plan of attack. It was in the initial left-handed bend that preceded the wooded area before the finish-line, where Lawrence noticed Cooper beginning to drift wide...and before beginning the twelfth lap, the Honda athlete would explosively move into the inside-half of the racetrack; making the pass on Cooper stick with authority, while occupying the second-place residency! And with Haiden Deegan distancing himself ahead, the gap between he and Lawrence would be too much to overcome; forcing Lawrence to occupy second, as action ceased. The following moto of competition, would have Hunter residing in sixth to begin this contest as well; but Lawrence’s urgency was evident as he combatted countless contenders in the opening laps. He had worked his way into fourth after passing RJ Hampshire and Seth Hammaker, where he was seeking to make the pass on Haiden Deegan as well. However, when entering into the last-left handed bend before the finish-line (while traveling on the outside of the track) Hunter’s weight distribution seemed to favor the front-end too much, while Haiden stayed to the inside. This would cause Hunter to crash, (sliding out) and that of Seth Hammaker to move back by. From the fifth to eighth lap(s) though, it was a process of reeling in the Pennsylvania native once again; which was eventually completed while he then sought to overtake Levi Kitchen. The trio of Yamaha riders (Deegan, Cooper, and Kitchen) were all riding extremely well though, and Hunter’s injuries of the past seemed to become a factor in his charge to the front of the field as time began to expire. Though hoping to move around the number forty-three, Lawrence was forced to reside fourth as the dust settled in Washington — propelling him to third overall to conclude the day, yet still three points ahead and in command of the championship standing(s) over Haiden Deegan.