Jett Lawrence ended a two-race winless drought with a commanding win at the Unadilla National in the 450SMX class on Saturday, Aug. 16, at Unadilla MX in New Berlin.
It is the 28th overall victory for Lawrence, the Australian who rides a Honda. He moved into the overall point lead in the series with his win and a crash by his brother, Hunter Lawrence, who was the series leader going into the race.
Hunter Lawrence finished 38th after crashing his Honda while in third behind his brother and Spain’s Jorge Prado. He crashed while on the steep downhill portion of The Wall. He eventually resumed the race but was unable to ride at pace.
Prado finished 10.7 seconds behind Lawrence.
“I’m bummed (that Hunter crashed). I don’t want to (take the points lead) like this,” Jett Lawrence said in a media release. “He was right there. It sucks. It is what it is. I know he’s okay so that’s good, but not how I wanted the day to end up.”
“We had three weeks to work on the bike, and we knew exactly what we had to do,” said Prado, who rides a KTM. “I was convinced we were on the right path with my decisions and today proved it. This was my best performance of the year and now we’re headed in the right direction. Hopefully a win will come soon.”
Justin Cooper from Cold Spring Harbor had the top finish for a New Yorker, placing ninth on a Yamaha.
In the 250SMX class, Levi Kitchens from Washington won the Moto 1 for his third win of the season. Cole Davies from New Zealand completed a wire-to-wire performance for his seventh moto win of the season in Moto 2.
“This track was sketchy,” Davies said. “I had to get in my flow and step it up. Everyone was riding good, so it was up to me to make it happen like I did. It’s a tight championship now, so we’ll race to the end and hopefully pull it off.”
“I’ve had like 12 (come-from-behind) rides this year,” Kitchens said. “It’s been tough, but I’m trying to stay positive. I’m riding great and that’s good.”
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