AUSSIE JETT LAWRENCE WINS REMIER TITLES IN USA| Bikesportnz

Australian Jett Lawrence clinched the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championships title at the final round at the weekend.

At the final race of the long 2023 season, Australian rider Lawrence (pictured) authored yet another inspired chapter in what has been an incredible year for Team Honda HRC.

He put together a 1-1 moto performance at the SuperMotocross Championships’ third and final round inside the Los Angeles Coliseum, earning the series’ first-ever 450 Championship and the $1 million prize that went along with it.

It was the third major title (two of them in the premier 450cc class) of the year for Lawrence (who also took the 250SX West Region supercross and 450 motocross championships), and the sixth for his Honda team (counting Chase Sexton’s 450SX crown and Hunter Lawrence’s 250SX East and 250MX titles).

The weekend didn’t end as well for those two, who saw their title hopes dashed by inopportune crashes.

Hunter Lawrence was banged up in a Friday 250 free-practice fall, then aggravated his back when he landed wrong from a jump during Saturday qualifying, causing him to withdraw from the motos; just-turned 24-year-old Sexton rode to a third-place finish in 450 moto 1 and led much of the way in moto 2, but a hard fall ended his evening early.

That didn’t change the facts that both riders had stellar seasons and contributed greatly to the team’s historic success.

Neither Chase Sexton nor Jett Lawrence had a stellar start to the first 450 moto, but they were up to third and fourth when the red flag came out on lap five.

Following the single-file restart, Lawrence moved by his team-mate for third, then they both dispatched Kawasaki’s Jason Anderson to sit second and third behind title-rival Ken Roczen (Germany, Suzuki).

On lap eight, Lawrence made an incredible pass through the rhythm section for the lead before fending off a counterattack and then riding to a 1.5-second winning margin.

Sexton grabbed the moto 2 holeshot, with Lawrence about fifth and immediately up to third, then second while still on the first lap.

As it stood, Jett Lawrence would take the overall win and championship, but Sexton nonetheless rode hard, establishing a 4.3-second advantage.

Unfortunately, a violent crash in the sand section took him out of the race at about the midway point, moving Lawrence into the lead, with Roczen close behind.

Lawrence held off the German’s advances throughout the second half of the race, finally getting a small cushion near the end when he was able to better navigate lapped traffic.

At the finish, the 20-year-old Lawrence won by 1.6 seconds, putting an exclamation mark on one of the most incredible seasons in history.

Jett Lawrence’s Los Angeles victory marked the 40th AMA win of his professional career, making him one of just 17 riders to have reached this mark—a remarkable feat for a rider who is just 20 years old.

With the 2023 season now complete, the riders can enjoy a bit of long-delayed rest time, although there’s still work to be done before Jett and Hunter Lawrence race for Team Australia in the Motocross of Nations at Ernée, in France, on October 7-8.

Photo courtesy Honda

Find BikesportNZ.com on FACEBOOK here