Image: Octopi Media.

250SX West runaway leader Jett Lawrence has moved to share his opinion on the last corner incident with RJ Hampshire, saying ‘it ended up not working out the best’ for the Husqvarna rider, after the risk ultimately outweighed the award.

Lawrence, 19, was attempting to make a move on leader Max Anstie (Fire Power Honda) in the closing stages, but instead soon came under a late attack from Hampshire in the rain-soaked conditions.

Hampshire, in third, indicated he saw an opening and went for it, in a last corner attempt to snatch second position. The number 24 tried a move up the inside and tucked the front on entry, bringing himself and the red plate-holder down in the process.

Team Honda HRC’s Lawrence was able to remount and retain second position, while Hampshire struggled to get going before taking the checkered flag in P13.

“I was right behind Max [Anstie] and was like, ‘okay, I could have a good chance here’, and I tried cutting down early and the rear just kept going around a bit,” Lawrence explained. “I looked back and saw RJ, was like, ‘alright, he is pretty far back’ and I was in the turn and I just saw this wave of water coming and spraying me and then a front wheel.

“I had no time to react or do anything, so luckily I crashed on top of him so I could kind of ride my bike over and luckily it kept on running. Somehow we finished on the podium still and got second – I thought I would have got off the podium because of that.

“It’s a funny thing, he took a risk of maybe getting two points and [ended up] losing 20, it’s a bit of a risk play there and it ended up not working out the best for him, but we’re happy that we were able to make it through. I heard my bike was smoking pretty early, so it’s not the best. We got a little loose a couple of times, but we are just happy we got over the finish line.”

With two races remaining in the 250SX West class of 2023 Monster Energy Supercross, Lawrence now leads Hampshire by 36 points with the region set to return to action in Denver on 6 May.