A strong set of motos pushes the elder Lawrence to the top.
Image: Octopi Media.
Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence landed on the top step of the podium for the first time in his 450 class career as he went 1-3 on Saturday’s second round of the SMX Playoffs. The result pushed Lawrence into the lead of the Playoffs heading into the finale next week.
A close fight in the first moto between Hunter Lawrence, his Honda teammate Jett Lawrence, and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Eli Tomac saw Hunter sneak into the lead to take the victory. Jett Lawrence stalled while leading and allowed both riders by and he was livid after the second moto with his mistake.
Hunter Lawrence followed his brother Jett home in the second moto to go 1-3 versus Jett’s 3-2 as he didn’t need to beat Jett to win the overall. Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton had a bad start in the first moto and ended up fourth but fired into the lead in moto two and dominated to a 4-1 result. He fell one point short of the overall win and was left to settle with P2 on the day.
Jett Lawrence would end up third with his 3-2 scores just ahead of Eli Tomac who put 2-5 scores on the board. Rounding out the top five was Tomac’s Star Racing teammate Cooper Webb who had a much better 5-4 day this week than he did last week at Charlotte.
Behind them, it was Progressive Ecstar Suzuki’s Ken Roczen in sixth, Red Bull KTM’s Aaron Plessinger in seventh, Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson in eighth, Phoenix Racing Honda’s Dylan Ferrandis in ninth, and Twisted Tea Suzuki’s Colt Nichols in 10th.
Hunter Lawrence now leads by one point over Sexton and nine points over Jett Lawrence heading into Las Vegas. If any of those three take the win next week, they will be champion thanks to the triple points on offer at the finale.