Hunter Lawrence – Class Act in Defeat

It was hard not to feel sorry for Hunter Lawrence after his heart-breaking defeat in Salt Lake City when the front end tucked while running second, just behind title rival Ken Roczen, in what was a dream 1-2 winner-takes-all battle with the title combatants.

Lawrence got up and kept going in seventh in case anything happened the German but Roczen kept it all under control to win his first 450 AMA Supercross title at the expense of the gritty Australian.

Lawrence had looked the favourite all day, going faster than Roczen in practice and winning his heat race against Roczen with Ken the one crashing while chasing Hunter for the lead. But it all changed in the main event with Hunter the one going down while chasing Roczen. A brutal way to end a superb season for the factory HRC Honda rider.

But Hunter dealt with the gut wrenching moment with class, underlying why he is such a great person as well as a great rider, and, in true Aussie style, was completely honest and unfiltered about the night saying to Jason Thomas on the NBC broadcast: “Just asking a little too much of the front end coming into the corners but, oh well, congrats to Kenny, well earned. He was the better man tonight in the main so congratulations to him and the team, it was fun battling with him and yeah, get ready for outdoors.“

Hunter then added on Instagram: “Not too many years ago I wished of leaving the races healthy, then I dreamed of how good it would be to be on the podium each weekend, that dream then shifted to wanting and believing I could be a winner… fast forward to now being disappointed in battling for the 450 Supercross championship.. so many great moments, ups and downs. I wasn’t scared to fail and I always gave it my all. I learnt so much and am grateful for the beginning of 2026🙏🏼Thankyou to all my team who has supported me, I love working with you guys and congrats to Kenny and his team.”

The Aussie will surely have more chances at this title, this was his first completed season in 450 Supercross and, at only 26, should be even better and learn from this experience heading into 2027. As Ken Roczen showed, keep believing, never give up and it can happen – even into your thirties!