HUNTER LAWRENCE - GRIT 233 250SMX

HUNTER LAWRENCE | GRIT-233 | 250 SMX

Seeking to return to his winning ways of both, the Supercross series and previous AMA Pro Motocross Championship, Honda's Hunter Lawrence would yearn to rebound following his performance on the East Coast last Saturday. Though showing remarkable speed, mistakes and crashes would deter his results from what "they could've been" prior to the final checkered waving for the opening round. Nevertheless, the number ninety-six would put his all into the countless laps of practice, flying from the significant elevation change(s) that this track would offer prior to embarking on moto-one. As racers then funneled through and swept amongst the opening corner(s), it would be Lawrence who battled with all of his might to combat the early race lead of Haiden Deegan. He was aware of when to strike when watching the Californian fly through the raceway, undoubtedly impressed with his speed, but not so much in the sense that his self-belief would be hampered. Therefore with persistence and no hesitation in regard to making a move when opportunity presented itself, Lawrence would see that Haiden Deegan made a mistake with around six minutes remaining on the clock; just before the finish-line, where a miscue in the inside lane would force the Yamaha rider to roll the double! Lawrence immediately took advantage and proceeded to put as much distance between he, Deegan, and the rest of the pack...but it would actually be the number thirty of Jo Shimoda who was the toughest to deal with! The Kawasaki would put forth a valiant charge when nearing the checkered flag, but with resiliency, it was the number ninety-six who stood tall amongst the line of fire...taking the win before moving into round two! The second race of the evening embodied serious intensity, where attrition through the first laps (and into the halfway point) would be a must if a competitor wanted to garner a substantial overall. And as always, Lawrence was in legitimate contention for the overall; with a contender of the earliest moments (i.e. Justin Cooper) being forced to combat his disastrous first crash where he fell off of the start! Though the number ninety-six remained rather stealth-like when following just behind the Yamaha rider...despite Jo Shimoda sneaking to the inside of the sand section, where he proceeded to be established in front of the Honda machine! It was then a process of retaining the third-place position while staying within striking distance of both Cooper and Shimoda who were ahead; and with attrition (again) it was Lawrence who hounded the rear wheel of Cooper for roughly ten minutes, before making his way into second while clearing the newfound ant-hill amongst the longest roller section! Powering-down the backside, it was then a process of reaching forward to claim first, over Jo Shimoda. But Shimoda appeared to have the fastest lines on the racetrack within his arsenal of skills, until around four laps were left, when the Kawasaki rider underwent slight bike malfunctions! At that point, Hunter would have nowhere to go but forward and proceeded to race around the Kawasaki rider with tremendous expertise...which was sustained until the checkered flag was thrown and a brilliant one-one performance would categorize him as the overall winner!

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