HUNTER LAWRENCE

Austraila’s Hunter Lawrence was guaranteed to give his best effort as action began in Crawfordsville. The athlete aboard the number ninety-six machine was a staple at the front of the pack, and projected countless phenomenal lap-times in qualification en route to gathering a second-place gate pick for the opening moto of the afternoon. Once shifting into gear, he bombarded the competition with an array of speed and slashed through the newfound wooded area of racetrack with superb vision. He had made his way into the lead, with Aaron Plessinger just behind him. Though overtaken by the KTM rider after two and a half minutes of action, just before the wooded area, he would then proceed to focus his efforts on keeping Chase Sexton at bay. But the Illinois native was too much for him to try and contain, therefore after being surpassed by the number four machine, Lawrence began to settle in the bronze-medal registry...but he couldn’t help but notice, Eli Tomac lurking in the background. Despite the Colorado native managing to corral a multitude of strong lines together in an attempt to try and gain time on Lawrence, Hunter’s late-moto charge and offensive output of speed were enough to keep the athlete aboard the number three machine at bay through the checkered flag — where the Australian obtained a score of third as he returned to the Honda pit area. For the second moto, Lawrence contended for the early lead — but would fade to fourth after a few, subtle mistakes in the opening sections of the racetrack. As time progressed, Hunter’s speed was still world-renowned, but it wasn’t quite presented on the same sort of trajectory as opponents like Justin Cooper and Jason Anderson. Both the Yamaha rider and Kawasaki competitor were executing their series of pathways at a bit higher output of momentum than the Australian, but he (Lawrence) would do his best to keep them at bay. A multitude of inside lines were then carved through by the Honda athlete, but even with stellar defense, the eventual pass (by Justin Cooper) would be made on the tenth circuit...and not long thereafter, so too would Jason Anderson make his way by. However, rather than be discouraged, Lawrence knew that a notable overall score was at stake — which was an undoubted motivated factor for him to keep Christian Craig behind him. As all eventually concluded in Indiana, it was Cooper’s score (of sixth) in the final moto that led him to fourth overall in the 450MX standings.