Hunter Lawrence secures second in debut premier-class outdoor season
The long, hot 2024 AMA Pro Motocross series finished this weekend at Crawfordsville, Indiana’s Ironman Raceway, and while Team Honda HRC didn’t retain their twin titles from last year, the squad enjoyed a decent season. The final race saw Hunter Lawrence notch 3-6 moto finishes to take fourth overall in the 450 class and second in the final standings—a respectable showing in his debut premier-class outdoor season. In the 250 division, a 6-2 tally earned Chance Hymas second overall and fourth on the year. Meanwhile, the other half of the team’s rider roster—Jett Lawrence and Jo Shimoda—is expected to return for the approaching SuperMotocross series. Words: HRC
The first 450 moto saw Lawrence start second and move into the lead before the first lap was in the books. After Aaron Plessinger and Chase Sexton got by, the Australian rode to a third-place result. Lawrence was third after the moto 2 start and even led momentarily, but after losing several spots over the course of the moto, he tallied a sixth-place finish for fourth overall.
Hymas was fourth across the 250 moto 1 holeshot line and made some quick early moves to take over second place on lap 1. The Idaho native pursued the leading Tom Vialle until around the midway point, when he was overtaken by several riders and ended up sixth at the finish. In moto 2, Hymas emerged from the first turn in fourth place and advanced to second moments later, with only Vialle ahead. Haiden Deegan got by on lap 4, and Hymas passed Vialle for second with six laps remaining. He held that position to the finish, for second overall.
Hunter Lawrence: “I’m super proud of how this motocross season went; I rode my heart out all summer. I can’t thank the team enough for all the support they gave me. Now, to have a weekend off before the SMX playoffs start, and hopefully lead into having the best weekend of the year in Vegas.”
Lars Lindstrom – Team Manager: “Well, another motocross season is over. Although we didn’t achieve the same results as last year, we all knew that it was going to be extremely difficult, since last year was such a dream season. We did have many positives, though, with moto wins from all four of our riders, which is something I doubt any other team can say. Hunter had an awesome rookie 450 outdoor season, and the overall win barely eluded him, but he proved that he was one of the top, elite racers in the premier class. Chance was able to elevate himself to become one of the fastest 250 racers in the series, winning his first overall, along with many podiums, and having a few overall wins just barely get away from him. We’re all extremely excited to have all four riders back for the SMX series, and hopeful to add more championships to our collection.”
Image: HRC
