Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence was flawless at the penultimate round of the 2022 AMA Supercross season in the Mile High City, topping both sessions of 250SX West qualifying and leading start-to-finish in his heat race and the main event.
The performance stretched his win streak to three races and keeps his title hopes alive heading into the finale. Lawrence’s teammate Chase Sexton nearly did likewise in the premier class, also topping his qualifying sessions and winning his heat race before a crash out of the main-event lead limited him to fourth place.
The 250SX West main saw Lawrence grab the holeshot and hold off the advances of his title rival Christian Craig until the latter rider went down on lap 6. The remaining 14 laps were relatively drama-free for the Australian, with his eventual winning margin being over four seconds. In the premier-class main event, Sexton started from the same spot as his teammate and exited turn 1 with the lead, then fought off Eli Tomac before the dry, hardpack conditions got the better of him early on.
Undaunted, the 22-year-old remounted back in the pack and began a charge that carried him to the top five just after the midway point. He moved into fourth with four laps remaining, and that’s where he would stay to the finish, just over six seconds short of extending his podium streak.
“[Christian] was pulling in on me in some spots, and then I’d get out a little bit.” said Lawrence. “It was shaping up to be good, but he ended up going down. I got a bit of a breather, and there was nothing more I could do for my championship hopes at that point; I just had to focus on winning the thing. The crowd was unreal; you could hear them every time something would happen. For Salt Lake, I’ve just got to try and make it five wins for the season, and that’s the best I can do, really.”
