Australian Jett Lawrence became the first back-to-back round winner of the year in the 2024 AMA Supercross Championships with his win in Birmingham, Alabama, at the weekend.
However, his elder brother and Honda team-mate Hunter Lawrence missed this ninth round of the series with a fractured left scapula, following his main-event crash at the previous round at Daytona.
The AMA Supercross Championship visited Birmingham, Alabama’s Protective Stadium for the first time, and for the second week in a row, riders faced treacherous track conditions due to inclement weather leading up to the race.
The soft and rutted track didn’t stop Team Honda HRC rider Jett Lawrence from becoming the season’s first four-time winner and first back-to-back winner in the 450SX division.
Meanwhile, French KTM rider Tom Vialle battled in an eventful 250SX East main event to celebrate victory in the small bike category.
In the 450SX main-event start, Jett Lawrence snuck up the inside of turn 1 to grab a narrow holeshot.
From there, the 20-year-old rode a near-perfect race, maintaining a gap of 4 to 5 seconds for the entirety of the main event. Despite several charges from title-rival Cooper Webb, Lawrence maintained his composure and crossed the checkers with a 2.445-second advantage.
The win added another three points to his championship lead, now 13 up on Yamaha’s Webb.
With heavy rain coming down on Friday, the DirtWurx crew managed to save the track by covering it with tarps during the worst of the rain. The riders and teams were pleasantly surprised at how well the track fared, but by the time the main events started, it was showing signs of wear, with deep ruts in the rhythm sections and corners, presenting challenges for the riders.
With the track covered, organisers had cancelled Friday’s planned media-day activities.
Next up, AMA Supercross heads to Indianapolis, where round 10 will take place this Saturday.
Photo courtesy Honda
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450SX Results
- Jett Lawrence (Hon)
- Cooper Webb (Yam)
- Ken Roczen (Suz)
- Chase Sexton (KTM)
- Justin Cooper (Yam)
- Jason Anderson (Kaw)
- Eli Tomac (Yam)
- Aaron Plessinger (KTM)
- Justin Barcia (Gas)
- Malcolm Stewart (Hus)
450SX Championship Points (after 9 of 17 rounds)
- Jett Lawrence: 185
- Cooper Webb: 172
- Chase Sexton: 165
- Eli Tomac: 159
- Ken Roczen: 153
- Jason Anderson: 147
- Aaron Plessinger: 146
- Justin Cooper: 108
- Dylan Ferrandis: 107
- Justin Barcia: 95
250SX East Region Results
- Tom Vialle (KTM)
- Cameron McAdoo (Kaw)
- Seth Hammaker (Kaw)
- Pierce Brown (Gas)
- Jeremy Martin (Yam)
- Jalek Swoll (Tri)
- Daxton Bennick (Yam)
- Coty Schock (Yam)
- Haiden Deegan (Yam)
- Chance Hymas (Hon)
250SX East Region Championship Points (after 4 of 9 rounds)
- Tom Vialle: 74
- Cameron McAdoo: 73
- Pierce Brown: 69
- Haiden Deegan: 62
- Coty Schock: 62
- Seth Hammaker: 59
- Daxton Bennick: 59
- Max Anstie: 53
- Henry Miller: 48
- Jalek Swoll: 47