For the third round in a row, Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence maintained control of the red plate in the 450MX class after another podium performance at Southwick. However, Lawrence admitted post-race that he experienced fatigue while leading the second moto that led to him losing a shot at the overall win on the day.

The 450MX rookie didn’t mince words about it either as he was quick to point out the track was gnarly, and he perhaps underestimated it. While pushing into the lead around Red Bull KTM’s Chase Sexton and his teammate Jett Lawrence, Hunter tried to sprint away at the front and that ultimately came back to bite him.

“Just fatiguing,” said Lawrence. “I mean, the track is so gnarly and it’s not like a traditional kind of sand track. There’s a weird kind of way you have to ride the track and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I was going for it, you know, I passed both the boys, and I was trying to break out and I had like five or six pretty big moments. My inside leg was stuck in my rear wheel after the finish line. I hit a water sprinkler. It’s just fatigue.”

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Lawrence appeared frustrated while admitting as much that he wasn’t able to convert on the victory and the championship continues to tighten up. If he were able to go on and win the moto, it would have been his first career overall victory as well.

But the championship fight continues to loom large in the 450MX class as Hunter Lawrence is now only three points ahead of both Sexton and Jett Lawrence who are now tied for P2 in the standings. While Hunter continues to impress in his rookie season on a 450 in AMA Pro Motocross, he also continues to stand his ground that the championship is not on his mind.

“The points lead, I couldn’t care less out there, and when you’re 27 minutes into the moto, I think no one really cares about that,” said Lawrence. “You’re hurting. I’m trying to race forward, and I mean, if you’d seen how many moments I had, it’s safe to say I was pushing and giving it my all. I just did everything I could and just came up a little short.”

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Fortunately for Lawrence, there is actually a big positive to take away from leaving Southwick as the points leader. In his last two seasons of racing in the 250MX class, Southwick was actually one of his weaker rounds as he finished P7 and P13 overall in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

In both cases, Lawrence had entered those days as the championship leader of the 250MX series and left both times without the red plate. Walking into the tent at RedBud next weekend will then be a welcomed sight for Lawrence to still see his all-red Honda from plates to fender.

“I came up a little short, but it’s a huge positive to leave here with the red plate after losing it here the last two years,” said Lawrence. “Now we can keep getting better this week.”

Image: Octopi Media.

While Jett Lawrence has continued to click off overall wins and now Sexton was able to get back to his winning ways with a second moto victory at The Wick, Hunter Lawrence certainly has seen the leash of his championship lead chewed all the way up. There is no more wiggle room for his points lead any longer and the onus is now on him to respond through the middle half of the championship.

The next stop at RedBud is one of the few places on the schedule that Hunter has never won an overall at in prior years on a 250, but that might not matter. Jett Lawrence continues to deal with an ailing shoulder issue and Chase Sexton has had repeated struggles of late with first moto success.

Hunter Lawrence has continued to hang his hat on consistency as he still is the only rider to finish inside of the top five in every moto this season. Through 10 motos, he’s only finished off the podium in a single moto and that consistency could work wonders if Sexton or Jett have another slip up.