With double points on the line, Australian Hunter Lawrence shot into SuperMotocross Championship (SMX) contention by securing victory at the second playoff in Texas, earning the red plate ahead of the finals in Las Vegas. In this Conversation, the Team Honda HRC entry answers questions from the media following his breakthrough win.

Image: Octopi Media.

Were you surprised to get that win or has this been coming for a long time?

It was a good day – I don’t think I surprised myself – I’ve been knocking on the door long enough now all throughout the summer. It was just a good day. The track was funnily enough – honestly, it was just a good training day for these conditions. We’ve not ridden something like this since Europe, so it’s cool to ride something a little bit different – obviously, in hindsight it’s cool – in the moment you’re probably not like ‘Oh man this is so sick’.

The expectations for yourself must be so high where you’ve probably had one of the best rookie seasons in recent years – is there a bit of relief expecting to get a win in your first year?

Not really. If Jett didn’t have the year he had last year, then it would be a pretty good rookie year, but I don’t really get into that stuff or worry about it because I know what during the week was like for the guy that went a perfect season last year – I was right there. It’s the same as me during the week this year not going a perfect season. The work never stops – I think I can really relax and look back on it probably after [MXoN] when the year is really said and done, but there’s no rest for the wicked.

Image: Octopi Media.

You needed to win, but the double points helped you to take the points lead…

It’s funny, the red plate in this SuperMotocross series doesn’t really – I don’t think – mean as much as the supercross or motocross series because you have the double and the triple points – it’s winner-takes-all next weekend. Whereas with outdoors, you could have a nine-point lead and finish behind the guy and still win. It’s Vegas – it’s what this series is created to do.

When you came off the track, it was kind of a funny moment where it looked like said ‘Did I win?’ Were you unsure you had the overall?

Normally with outdoors, I knew I would have the overall, but I wasn’t sure with the points system because it’s olympic scoring. I didn’t want to do a big song and dance celebration and find out I didn’t actually win – then you look like a bit of a clown. I just kind of contained it, got back and made sure of it.