Jett Lawrence Dominates 250MX Class at Ironman, Reclaiming Points Lead
Ironman RacewayTeam Honda HRC had another solid AMA Pro Motocross performance this weekend, at Crawfordsville, Indiana’s Ironman Raceway National, where Jett Lawrence turned in a pair of flawless 250MX rides to notch a career-first 1-1 moto sweep and take his third overall victory of the season.
The 18-year-old enjoyed one of the most impressive outings of his career and regained control in the title chase with just two rounds remaining, while teammate and older brother Hunter Lawrence overcame a challenging day and took ninth overall despite feeling sick. Ken Roczen showed good speed in 450MX, finishing fourth overall (3-5), while Chase Sexton achieved strong starts and finished fifth overall via 5-4 moto results despite also suffering from illness.
Sexton and Roczen completed the first 450MX moto fourth and fifth, respectively, with Roczen having passed his teammate and secured the lead with 27 minutes to go. Toward the halfway mark of the 30-minute-plus-two-laps moto, Dylan Ferrandis overtook Roczen, and Eli Tomac eventually did the same. Moto 2 got underway with Roczen in fourth and Sexton right behind. The Red Riders engaged in a temporary battle for fourth, which Sexton ultimately secured.
When the gate dropped in the 250MX class’s first moto, Jett Lawrence started second, behind title-rival Justin Cooper. After several laps of steady pressure, the young Australian made a calculated pass for the lead. Jeremy Martin took over second but crashed out, leaving Lawrence to win by 8.3 seconds. Unfortunately, Hunter Lawrence had fallen on the opening lap, putting him outside of the top 20, but he made his way through the pack to finish 12th. The second moto saw Jett pick up where he left off, passing from second to the lead on lap 2 and extending his advantage to over nine seconds by the finish. Hunter was ninth, reclaiming third place in the 250MX title chase.
NOTES
The Ironman National featured what were undoubtedly the harshest weather conditions of the season, with high humidity and temperatures peaking at 90º F by early afternoon.
Motocross’s most promising amateur racers were invited to Ironman Raceway on Friday for MX Sports Pro Racing’s inaugural Scouting Moto Combine. The East Region portion of the new program saw a talented group of A & B class riders, including Honda rider Chase Prince from Petersburg, Tennessee, participate in a pair of 25-minute-plus-two-lap motos that mimicked the format utilized at every round of AMA Pro Motocross.
Jett Lawrence posted the fastest time in 250MX qualifying, with a 2’00.367” in the final session, while Hunter Lawrence was 11th-best at 2’03.594”. FXR/Chaparral Honda rider Carson Mumford posted the 14th-best time, and TiLube Honda rider Maxwell Sanford was 35th.
Ken Roczen was third-fastest in qualifying for the 450MX class, posting a 1’59.597” in the final session, and Chase Sexton was sixth at 2’00.553”. FXR/Chaparral Honda’s Coty Schock was ninth-best.
Upon qualifying fastest in the 250MX class, Jett Lawrence announced on the podium that if he notched the overall win for the day, he would donate his prize money to the Racers 4 Waverly fund. The fund was started after the Tennessee communities of Waverly and Hurricane Mills — home to Loretta Lynn’s Ranch — suffered severe flooding on Saturday, August 21. The program will be collectively coordinated through the Road 2 Recovery Foundation.
Team Honda HRC sponsor Renthal designed custom Racers 4 Waverly handlebar pads for the squad’s CRF race machines at the Ironman National.
All four Team Honda HRC riders donated autographed jerseys, their custom handlebar pads, and front number plates to charitable causes, including Racers 4 Waverly, the Jeremy Shuttleworth Silent Auction (to be held at 74MX in Punta Gorda, Florida, on September 4, to assist the family of Jeremy Shuttleworth, a rider who was recently taken in a racing incident), and the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, hosted by the Dirt Diggers North Motorcycle Club.
While Jett’s dominant performance was a career-first 1-1 moto sweep in AMA Pro Motocross, it was his third overall win of the season and the fourth of his young career.
Roczen remains second in the 450MX title chase, while Sexton sits fourth. Jett Lawrence reclaimed the 250MX red plate and now leads the title chase by 11 points, with Hunter third.
Jett participated in both the post-race media-corral interviews and the virtual post-race press conference Saturday evening, via Zoom.
AMA Pro Motocross now returns to California for the penultimate round — and the second of the year at Pala, California’s Fox Raceway — on Saturday, September 4.
“Indiana this weekend was just a so-so day for me and the crew; I went third and fifth for fourth overall, so nothing really to brag about. Still, even on those days you learn together with the team, throwing out ideas about the bike and what we want to try. It was a really hot one on top of that, so it made it for some really difficult race conditions. I didn't quite have the level that I had the last couple rounds. We're still healthy, so that's good. We're going wide-open into these last couple of rounds to hopefully finish out the season super strong and do the best we can for the overall championship."
“Indiana this weekend was just a so-so day for me and the crew; I went third and fifth for fourth overall, so nothing really to brag about. Still, even on those days you learn together with the team, throwing out ideas about the bike and what we want to try. It was a really hot one on top of that, so it made it for some really difficult race conditions. I didn't quite have the level that I had the last couple rounds. We're still healthy, so that's good. We're going wide-open into these last couple of rounds to hopefully finish out the season super strong and do the best we can for the overall championship."
“Round 10 at Ironman, I honestly was just glad to make it through the day. I came into this weekend really sick. I got sick on Thursday and didn't know if I was going to be able to race today, so to be able to come through and get two mediocre finishes is good. I'm looking forward to being healthy and ready to go at Pala."
“Round 10 at Ironman, I honestly was just glad to make it through the day. I came into this weekend really sick. I got sick on Thursday and didn't know if I was going to be able to race today, so to be able to come through and get two mediocre finishes is good. I'm looking forward to being healthy and ready to go at Pala."
"So today was a very good day. I ended up going 1-1 in the first qualifying and then obviously 1-1 in the race, so yeah, pretty good day. I was just having a lot of fun and was having such a good flow on the track and having a great time. I felt like it really showed in those motos. I went out and gave it my best and was finally able to get my first 1-1 in a pro motocross race, so that was awesome. Hopefully we can carry on to do the same thing in these next two rounds. I'm going to go with the same mentality I came into today with and try and execute the same races as I did today."
"So today was a very good day. I ended up going 1-1 in the first qualifying and then obviously 1-1 in the race, so yeah, pretty good day. I was just having a lot of fun and was having such a good flow on the track and having a great time. I felt like it really showed in those motos. I went out and gave it my best and was finally able to get my first 1-1 in a pro motocross race, so that was awesome. Hopefully we can carry on to do the same thing in these next two rounds. I'm going to go with the same mentality I came into today with and try and execute the same races as I did today."
"Today, I saw Jesus every lap — it was really tough. That's about it — feeling really below par. I just struggled and did what I could to bring her home. With me just putting two motos out there, we ended up bumping me back up to third in the championship, so that's a positive. The easier decision was obviously to stay home, but it was probably one of the toughest days of my career. I just pushed through it and ended up walking away super empty, so now I’m just focusing on resting up and trying to shake this [sickness] and bounce back next weekend."
"Today, I saw Jesus every lap — it was really tough. That's about it — feeling really below par. I just struggled and did what I could to bring her home. With me just putting two motos out there, we ended up bumping me back up to third in the championship, so that's a positive. The easier decision was obviously to stay home, but it was probably one of the toughest days of my career. I just pushed through it and ended up walking away super empty, so now I’m just focusing on resting up and trying to shake this [sickness] and bounce back next weekend."
