Competing just minutes from their Southern California race shop, Honda HRC Progressive bounced back from last weekend’s challenging SMX Playoffs opener, with Hunter Lawrence earning second overall in the premier class.

The first 450 moto saw Lawrence get run into and tangled up in the first turn, causing him to emerge outside the top 10, but he worked his way forward to finish a respectable fourth.

In moto 2, the Australian launched his CRF450RWE to the holeshot and led to the finish, briefly trading the lead with Jorge Prado in the opening laps before quickly reclaiming the top spot and pulling clear. His 4-1 results earned him second overall.

· Hunter Lawrence set the fastest lap in combined 450 qualifying, while Quad Lock Honda riders Christian Craig and Joey Savatgy qualified 16th and 18th, respectively. Lawrence set the fastest lap in 450 moto 2.

· The SMX World Championship concludes this Saturday in Ridgedale, Missouri, with triple points up for grabs at the final round. Hunter Lawrence is tied for second in the 450 title chase, 16 points behind the leader, while Shimoda and Hymas are sixth and eighth in the 250 standings.

Hunter Lawrence: “On the start in the first moto, I got tangled up and hit from behind and pushed into Coop [Cooper Webb]. I was fortunate to not go down, and I reevaluated to get back to the highest position possible. I was just chipping away, but I wasn’t able to take out 15 seconds or whatever. In the second moto, I was just focusing on myself, hitting my marks. I saw who was in the train behind me, and then when it was like three minutes left, I was like, ‘Okay, it’s just [Jorge] Prado.’ I wasn’t aware of the points and stuff—I just wanted to have a better race than the first one. It’s been a long year, with a lot of wear and tear on the body; me and Cooper [Webb] are the only guys that have done every single race. Championship drain is a real thing, but I’m doing what I can during the week to make sure I’m ready when I show up.”

Lars Lindstrom Team Manager: “It was nice to not have to get on a plane for this weekend’s race, and it was cool having it be 12 minutes away from the shop. Anything was going to be better than last weekend regarding the racing, weather and venue, and this one was a big improvement in all three. The unfortunate thing about a track like this, which is basically a very simple supercross track with no whoops, is that it doesn’t create much separation, so if you have a bad start, you’re really going to struggle to get back up to the front. Obviously, Hunter was the fastest guy today—he proved it in qualifying and in the second moto—but getting run into and tangled up in the first turn didn’t allow him to get the result he deserved, which is probably going to be the difference-maker in this championship. Same thing goes for the 250 boys; at one point I looked and saw that the top 12 riders were all doing about the same lap time, which is a bit of a shame when you don’t get a great start. Hopefully next weekend’s track is a bit more challenging and different, and I think the entire team is looking forward to the last race of the year.”