With his brother, Jett Lawrence, winning the 450cc title, Honda’s Hunter Lawrence would carry a similar sense of motivation and enthusiasm into that of the 250cc classification for that of round nine. Winning was in the air, around the Honda semi — and Hunter wanted to embody that after claiming the pole position in practice. He certainly had the target upon his back as the gate(s) fell for moto-one, though a position of (around ninth) was a bit less than what he’d hoped for...but the quick-witted maneuvering of the Australian would quickly promote him to seventh, and then into the top-five after only a few minutes had passed. His speed was strong enough to occupy a top-five residency after battling with both, Jo Shimoda and Haiden Deegan for a good while — with the three of them nearly scraping planting on the furthest side of the racetrack away from the starting gate! But it seemed as though Hunter wanted the position, just a bit more than his opponents; with multiple instances of “out-charging” being showcased with his ability to keep the throttle pinned for milliseconds longer in duration. After the halfway point, it was then a process of keeping Deegan behind him, while tracking-down Seth Hammaker and Maximus Vohland. And that situation would come to a climactic point of sorts, in the corner before the finish-line with just under ten minutes to go — when Lawrence’s brilliant run through the middle of the corner, would nearly clip the outer grip of Hammaker (while making the pass) and simultaneously suppress the charge of Deegan, who was attempting to move forward around the outside! Lawrence seemed to ignore all variables that weren’t in line with his advancement to the front, which enabled him to pass Vohland shortly thereafter with all four of the athletes compact and in the same realm of speed. The pass on the KTM rider was conducted within the furthest corner away from the starting gate, where the Australian would round the bend amongst the shortest groove (to the inside) and close the door on the Californian who had drifted out. They then proceeded into the section where Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart had collided well over a decade ago, where Lawrence’s persistence on the throttle was unwavering with the finish-line in sight. Though at that point, Levi Kitchen’s lead was too large to overcome — leaving Hunter finalized in second, as racer’s soon exited the course. The second-place finish in moto-one was spectacular in regard to the overall point standing(s), where Lawrence’s initiation to the second round (via sixth-place) was hard-earned after two delay’s (of both weather and rider injury) would create a lapse in focus for many in the 250cc division. Though Lawrence remained engaged in the action on the racetrack as matters began, while passing three riders (including that of Seth Hammaker, Ryder DiFrancesco, and Levi Kitchen) in the first three laps! It was then a critical juncture in regard to passing Jo Shimoda as quickly as possible, but the Kawasaki rider was riding spectacularly in his own right...which led to a fierce duel amongst the straightaway on the furthest portion of the track (when compared to the starting gate), with just over twenty-minutes remaining on the clcok. It was a drag race between the two competitors, with both scrubbing the initial double and upshifting through the ruts thereafter in order to see who could emerge from the left-handed corner with the leading designation...and it would be Lawrence’s whose sweeping from outside to inside would be the definitive factory in securing the runner-up residency, with Justin Cooper continuing to break away from the field at the front of the pack. And throughout the over twenty-minute segment that followed, Lawrence remained composed in the second-place residency — with Cooper unable to be obtained, to inherit the first-place position. But the consistency of Lawrence was what prevailed over all, with moto finishes of (second and second) being the strongest point accumulation of anyone...to claim another overall victory, and extend his points lead!