Hunter On Lappers: “It’s what we have to deal with as racers”

Lawrence survived a challenging track and some close calls with lapped riders to win at Arlington.

Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence finally scored his first career 450SX victory on Saturday night in Arlington. After a spirited battle with Ken Roczen, Lawrence built a gap and cruised to the victory. The win wasn’t drama free, as a close call could’ve cost Lawrence a win and potential podium. With just over six minutes to go, Lawrence looked as if he was going to pass Roczen by blitzing the whoops, as the Suzuki rider jumped through the section. However, Lawrence had to check up due to Jordon Smith running on the right side of the section, allowing Roczen to get back in front. There were a few other close calls, with racers holding up the leaders or forcing them to take alternate rhythms at points.

While lapped traffic is a common issue in Supercross, many people voice their displeasure with riders getting in the way. Lawrence took no issue with some of the tight moments and commented about lapped riders in the media scrum following the main event.

“I mean, it’s just what we have to deal with as racers. All of us have had the short end of the stick multiple times when you’re leading and you get into lappers first. They kind of get caught by surprise or sometimes, they’ll get out of the way and then they don’t know about the second and third guy. It’s kind of one of those things that you can be so prepared for it, but sometimes it doesn’t work out because they’re doing their own race. Honestly, I thought they were pretty okay for how many laps we did.”

With his Arlington victory, Lawrence became the 70th different rider to win a premier class main event. Lawrence will carry the red plate once again heading into Daytona, sitting four points clear of Eli Tomac.