Australian details Unadilla and second 450MX crown.
Jett Lawrence cemented his place in the AMA Pro Motocross history books once again, securing a second 450MX crown in style with a dominant 1-1 sweep at Unadilla’s penultimate round of the season. In this Conversation feature, the Australian reflects on his title-winning day.
Image: Octopi Media.
Jett, the last eight months for you have been a massive challenge. Going back to the emotion you showed after winning at Pala, to now wrapping up the title early – what was the defining moment of the summer for you?
I think the biggest one is round one, just the lead up into it, overcoming the knee – which heaps of other people have done, but it was my first one. I originally got told four months, so I wasn’t meant to make the first round at all. So, to make it back for that, I was already stoked, and to go and win it, it’s probably one of my best race weekends. Just with the uknown of whether we’d be able to race, to then going and winning, I think that’s my favorite.
What does this upcoming week look like for you? Do you start on your SMX set-up, or is it really important to keep this moment and focus on going 1-1 at Budds Creek?
It might sound crazy, but I’m going to go back and do exactly what I did this week and just go ride my bike again. It’s great wrapping it up a round early, but you don’t fully get to enjoy it because you’ve got racing the next weekend. So, we’ll go back – I might do a little bit of SMX, I’m not sure yet. We’ll see if the rain holds out in Florida.
Image: Octopi Media.
You had a pretty big lead on the last lap, at what point did you start celebrating the championship?
Once I went over the line, you never celebrate before the finish line. I’ve seen videos of it ending bad when people have celebrated before the finish line, so I try to wait until I’m over the line. We don’t want to get bad karma and tuck the front on the easiest turn, [laughs].
How did you find the track today compared to previous years you’ve raced here?
I think they were expecting rain, and they didn’t really rip it as deep as usual, so it was a little suckier at the beginning, because the middle was really wet from them watering. We had to go far left and far right of the track, but Unadilla has definitely been a lot more fun in previous years, today was so harsh on the body because of the edges, especially on your back. I wish it was more like a typical Unadilla, but we’ll still take it.
Image: Octopi Media.
You’ve won a fair amount of titles now, I remember watching you win the first 250 ones and the excitement and emotion were on display in the moment. Now, you seem very even keel through it, so when does it really sink in, or when do you get to actually process what you’ve just done?
When that bonus hits, [laughs]. Nah, I think the more that I’ve won, I’ve kind of liked the grind and the training program in between each race. The training and cycling and getting ready for each race weekend. I’m super pumped that I won the championship, but I feel like once you get the job done that you were trying to do, your body goes into that relaxation mode. Like after the race today I was tired as, like I’ve never felt that at any other rounds, because it’s like the job is done now. So, it’s coolm, I’m definitely grateful for the team behind me that has helped me, Hunter [Lawrence] – obviously I get to train with him every day. HRC, Red Bull, Alpinestars, 100%, Santos Studios, Jaxxon Chains – everyone that supports me in doing what I love, I think that’s what makes the championship special.
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