Source: Supplied.

Australia’s Hunter Lawrence is ready to embark on his new MX2 World Championship challenge this weekend in Qatar with the Suzuki World MX2 squad managed by Stefan Everts.

Following a strong pre-season with the factory-backed Suzuki outfit, the 17-year-old rookie will embrace the upcoming challenges as he makes the jump from the EMX250 category to the hotly-contested MX2 ranks.

“I’m super excited for Qatar, it’s something I’ve been training for, for a long time now and I’m really looking forward to it,” said Lawrence. “Obviously it’ll be difficult racing in the night time, that’ll be new and all the travel, with the jet lag if I get that or not.”

Following a whirlwind journey from Australia’s junior ranks to an factory MX2 seat, the Queenslander is thankful to turn his passion into a promising career.

“Really I’m just so happy to be able to be doing what I love as a job, to be a professional motocross racer and I’m so thankful for this opportunity given to me by Suzuki,” he explained. “I’m just so looking forward to kicking this season off and just focusing on myself, how I know how to ride and learning as much as possible.”

Lawrence enters the MX2 class following one season in the EMX250 category where he claimed a dominant victory at the German grand prix in 2016 before bowing out of the championship early due to injury.