HUNTER LAWRENCE

Despite his brother (Jett) being forced to depart from the rest of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, due to injury, Honda’s Hunter Lawrence appeared more ready than ever to contend for the title as practice began on this early July weekend. He quickly located the fastest pathways, and seemed more than proficient when floating from rut to rut on this Michigan landscape. The Australian rider was executing the racecourse to perfection, and released his clutch with a commanding leap from the line in moto-one, to obtain a position of first when exiting the initial portion(s) of racetrack. He was defending a notable charge from Aaron Plessinger, and doing it rather well. Keeping the Ohio native at bay, the battle (at the halfway point) then came to fruition between he and Chase Sexton. Sexton was now hounding his rear wheel, but Lawrence continued to deny the charge, when nearing the twenty-minute mark. However, with less than two laps to go, Lawrence would undergo a violent crash amid a Pro Section downhill — sending him to the ground as his hand slipped off the handlebars! However, he resumed action in second...not too far ahead of Justin Cooper. Though beaten and bruised, the tenacity of Lawrence was displayed to the highest extent — where he remained in second through the checkered flag, before looking to recover for the second moto. For the following round of competition, Lawrence was able to acquire a position of seventh at the green flag. He quickly advanced to sixth after Justin Cooper would undergo a mistake...but veteran Malcolm Stewart, was now the next to be overtaken. Lawrence appeared to be a bit less than optimal, though he continued to present a solid pace among the top-six positions...and eventually worked his way around Stewart (on lap six) before also overtaking Kyle Webster almost immediately thereafter. Now into fourth, he had to focus on remaining vigilant to the roughest portions of racetrack, while also keeping Dylan Ferrandis at bay...though it seemed as if Lawrence’s riding style appeared a tad bit sluggish, or nonetheless, not quite as aggressive as moto-one. He wasn’t going to let the championship slip away from his grasp that easily though, and proceeded to accelerate to the checkered flag in the fourth-place position...nearly catching Jason Anderson on the final lap (while only less than two-seconds back). In the end, the aforementioned fourth-place accolade was a salvaging performance that equated to third-place overall, proving once again, as to how tough Hunter was when competing on the motorcycle.