HRC factory rider, Hunter Lawrence had a disappointing night in Detroit last weekend, and despite was the fastest 450SX qualifier, winning his heat race and set the fastest lap time of the main event, before a crash and subsequent visit to the mechanics’ area resulted in an 18th-place result. Although the misfortune resulted in the Australian slipping out of the points lead, he sits just four points behind the leader.

“My day was a bit of a bittersweet one. The qualifying race went really well, and I was happy with everything—the bike, the team, myself, everything felt great. I was feeling really good in the main event and was honestly feeling so comfortable. I was really happy with where I was, and I made a push to the front and was catching Kenny and Chase. I just got caught by surprise with the crash at the end of the whoops. I was okay, but the bike took some unfortunate damage. It’s just racing, sometimes that happens, and I had to pull into the mechanics’ area. I crashed two more times just due to the front brake locking on, so that was difficult to bring home but I think we managed two points. It was a difficult situation, but we’re still in it and can’t wait to bounce back next weekend.”

Lawrence did not get his usual stellar start in the 450SX main, but he quickly advanced from fifth place out of turn 1 to third place by lap 3. Unfortunately, while challenging Chase Sexton for second just before the halfway mark, he suffered a hard crash at the end of the whoop section. Although Lawrence remounted quickly, the fall had resulted in a bent handlebar and a jammed front brake. A stop by the mechanics’ area to remove dirt from the brake lever cost him even more time, and he finished in 18th place.

Lars Lindstrom the team manager is a realist and knows that you cannot win or be on the podium every weekend and while it was a tough night for Lawrence, Lindstrom knows he will bounce back and regain the edge he had over Eli Tomac and Ken Roczen.

“We’ve had a great 450 season so far, with not a lot of difficulties, which is represented by our run of finishes inside the top four at every event so far this year up until now. It wouldn’t be very normal to have a season without some adversity, so although we gave up a lot of points tonight, we’re still in a great position for the championship. The way that Hunter has been riding gives me a lot of confidence that we’re still in the driver’s seat. Most important, he wasn’t injured and is more motivated than ever to win more races.”