Now a two-time 450SMX champion after his commanding victory in Las Vegas at the 2024 SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX) Final on Saturday night, Team Honda HRC Progressive’s Jett Lawrence proved that he’s effectively back to his best on the updated new CRF450R. Media had the opportunity to speak to him after the chequered flag for these Five Questions.

Image: Octopi Media.

Jett, talk us through what it means to you to grab yet another championship in your amazing career.

Obviously, it means a lot for the team and family. I think sitting that outdoor season out really stung, so I put in a lot to try and get back and do good in this. I think it also makes it more special that Hunter [Lawrence] and I went 1-2, but it’s a tough one. I want Hunter to do good too, that’s the one harsh thing about this sport. He got a good start and he was right there, I couldn’t make any mistakes. But, it’s awesome for the team and I feel like Dazzy [Lawrence] would be pretty happy about those results too.

This is the first time we’ve seen you really work through adversity, does that make the championship a little more gratifying overall?

Obviously, the injury wasn’t ideal, but I think it was almost needed. I’ve had a really lucky run with injuries, last time I had one was back in 2020 with my collarbone. So, I think it was a long time coming, honestly. I got lucky with it just being my thumb, it wasn’t a very painful crash.

And tying on points with Hunter, what was that like for you?

It was cool to battle with Hunter, he’s my brother and I want to see him do good, but once you get on the track, you click into a different person. Now that it’s set in but, I feel like a bit of an arsehole… At least we can use the title that we’re robbing Feld for $1.5 million [laughs].

Image: Octopi Media.

Your move on [Eli] Tomac in the first moto, you got the run coming up out of the drag strip and into the scrub roller. Was that one of those instinctual passes, or did you know that you could make the move there?

I knew Eli was taking that outside, so coming up that time I was just hoping that he’d stay left so I could keep that line. I had a line in the sand on the third lap where I thought I could get him, but the next lap he took it. But, it was a little bit of both, I thought if I sent it I could maybe get close enough to get next to him, and I was able to make it happen that lap.

I feel like the narrative for the 450 class this year has been that people need to look at you and your brother and the technique that you both have as the sport levels up. This is probably the first time you’ve raced an Eli that is firing on all cylinders, so now that you’ve raced him and seen him at some of his best, are there things that you’ve picked up on?

I think the one thing we might look at is the paddle tyres to see if that works, [laughs]. But, it’s hard, because obviously, both bikes handle so differently. There were things in the first race that I’d try and copy Eli with if I knew he was better in a section, but it didn’t necessarily work for my bike. So, it’s hard to try and mix our techniques together, because I feel like Hunter and I have now got our technique and style around our bike, so it’s really just hard to try and form yourself to copy what someone else is doing when you’re on a different bike.