The Team Honda HRC duo of Jett and Hunter Lawrence were back on the top step in their respective classes over the weekend, as Chicagoland Speedway played host to playoff number two of the SuperMotocross World Championship. Both riders were available to the media after the races for this Debrief feature.

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Image: Octopi Media.

In the pre-race press conference you said you were annoyed, pissed off and motivated to win this race. You came out and did it in the first moto, was that redemption?

It was definitely lighting the fire for sure. After last weekend, when you do so bad, people only know you for your last race. So I didn’t want to do another weekend like that, definitely the motivation from that helped a lot. Working on our starts was a very big thing and it ended up proving to be with getting off to a more regular start. But like you said, the loss last weekend hurt, a lot, and motivated me a lot more to try and come out here swinging.

Word in the pits was that this was a more motocross style track than last week. Did that factor in?

I feel like the more motocross it is, the better it is for me. I’ve been riding motocross my whole life, whereas supercross I started back in the end of 2019. So supercross is still fairly new to me, where most of the guys I’m competing with have done it for years. It’s still new, I’m getting there, it’s a good learning curve for me. But it definitely helped with the track being a little more motocross layout this week. I definitely felt a little bit more at home and it definitely made it a lot easier for suspension, just to go with an outdoor setting and stiffen it up a bit.

In that last moto, letting Kenny [Roczen] go. At what point in the moto did you start doing the math a little bit and seeing where those guys were so you could do that?

I think it was the two laps when Kenny was really on me, when he kind of closed the gap. I was riding but my mind was somewhere else, trying to do maths. But, I kind of took two laps aqnd was just thinking and making sure that if I did let him past, it wouldn’t affect my overall, but turns out it wouldn’t have meant anything if I didn’t let him past. So that’s my great maths, but there was two laps where I was thinking it, then I was like, ‘I’m pretty sure I’m good,’ then that back section I just let him past and kind of just rode around behind. I got to see how he races, si it was also a good thing for me, cause I can only learn so much if I’m in front of the guy. So it was nice to see what kenny’s lines were and see how he races on a bit of a tighter track. I got to see it on outdoors, but I haven’t seen it in more of a supercross kind of layout.

Considering you’re the new 450 outdoor champion, what was your take on track, the high speed, speedway atmosphere and just that environment?

I think in all honesty, it just made the suspension decision easier. Obviously last weekend we struggled with suspension cause it was the first time. But we had a supercross rhythm lane, whereas this week there was rollers and a few doubles, so it definitely made it a lot easier coming into this one and seeing the track, we already had a two settings during the week that we tried. So we were ready to go racing on either one depending on how the track was. It just made it easier. But who knows, [next week] could be a lot more like supercross, but I feel like whatever it is, I’ll adapt to it and I’m definitely feeling a lot more confident on my bike. So I’m looking forward to it.

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Image: Octopi Media.

Last week was not the way you wanted to start off this championship. You talked about getting better starts, working on that this week and keeping it on two wheels. You certainly did that, in addition to those things, what helped you get up on the top step here at Chicagoland Speedway?

Yeah, the starts obviously helped a lot. It was a bit of a unique situation in the second moto with Jo [Shimoda] and what was going on with his bike. That was definitely a unique one and one of the key moments.

Were you happy with the track and how it played out? I’d imagine you were with what you just pulled off.

Yeah, it was different. It was very high speed, there was a lot of sections where you couldn’t really see, like the vision was really tricky. The dirt was so dark and there were some areas out the back that didn’t have much light. So it was pretty sketchy, especially how high speed we were going. But it’s supermotocross.

I know you obviosuly have next weekend and the Motocross of Nations. I’d imagine that leaves vvery little time for a break before next year. Can you talk about what you have planned?

Yeah just the last round and nations, that’s pretty much all that’s planned. It’s one of those things, obviously time off would be cool, but when you get the opportunity to go and race for your country, it’s kind of just, suck up your feelings cause no one cares, go out there and put on a show and race for your country. Then yeah, maybe a week or so off before we move onto the 450 stuff.

You were not able to get a 1-1 in any of the motos outdoors this year, but you did here tonight. Is this the most satisfied you’ve felt leaving a race this season?

No, cause you could go 2-1 and it’s the same points. So it didn’t really matter. Everyone up here has just as good of a chance of winning the whole deal next weekend, so it’s cool, but it doesn’t really kind of mean anything the first two rounds, as long as you’re in the top five, you’ve got a pretty decent shot.

With the way these tracks have been and heading into LA next weekend, which is more supercross according to the track map. Are you enjoying this? And if so, would you like to see them mix it up like they used to, where there’s a national in the middle of the supercross season and you are going back-and-forth just to change things up?

I don’t know. I don’t think I’d like a national in the middle of a supercross season. [These tracks] are definitely unique, no one knows what to expect, everyone says the same thing. It just kind of is what it is.