Team GEICO Honda has announced the long-term signing of highly-touted amateur talent Jett Lawrence, the younger brother of MXGP MX2 contender, Hunter Lawrence.
Both Australians will join the GEICO Honda squad in the US in 2019, Hunter as a full-time pro, and Jett for a year of amateur competition, with a likely pro debut in 2020.
Hunter Lawrence’s deal with GEICO was announced in October, but the GEICO Honda team had also been in negotiations with Jett, the 2014 85cc Junior World Champion, and multi-time 85cc champion in Australia. Jett, age 14, will race the EMX250 class in Europe in 2018 for Suzuki before moving to the US to join the legendary Factory Connection Honda amateur squad, a division of GEICO Honda.
“We’ve done our research and talked to a lot of people in both Australia and Europe, and they all believe Jett is the real deal,” says GEICO Honda Team Manager Dan Betley. “We’re looking forward to having both Hunter and Jett learn the ropes of US racing with us starting in 2019.”
Jett Lawrence’s success on mini cycles led several teams on both sides of the Atlantic to try to lock up his services for the future ā he’s easily one of the most-heralded amateur riders in the ranks. He will race US amateur events in 2019, and the team will then gauge his progress to determine a graduation date to the pros.
The Factory Connection Honda amateur team has become one of the most successful in the sport, winning titles with Trey Canard, Justin Barcia, and Eli Tomac before all three moved to the GEICO Honda pro team and continued to deliver championships. Current GEICO Honda pro team riders RJ Hampshire and Chase Sexton also competed with the team as amateurs and each scored the coveted AMA Nicky Hayden Motocross Horizon Award.
