Queenslander Hunter Lawrence showed he will be a factor in the 2017 MX2 World Championship following a confidence-inspiring Team Suzuki World MXGP debut at the weekend’s Hawkstone International.

Lawrence, 17, surged to fourth overall after recording a 6-3 scorecard across the two-moto format, edging out teammate Jeremy Seewer – current world number two – in the process.

It was a sign of things to come for the highly-rated elder Lawrence brother, who moved to Europe with his family last year and will now embark on his first full season of MX2 competition. Still, he’s not getting ahead of himself as he focuses on the upcoming world championship.

“It was good, only a pre-season race just to get into the swing of things, but it wasn’t too bad,” Lawrence reflected. “We got to see how myself and my bike works in race conditions and now we’re coming out safe and uninjured and one step closer to lining up at round one in Qatar. I’m very happy with how things went.”

Red Bull KTM’s Pauls Jonas won the MX2 overall at the popular UK pre-season event, joined on the overall podium by Rockstar Energy Husqvarna teammates Thomas Kjer Olsen and Thomas Covington.

The weekend also marked a notable first showing for Team Suzuki World MXGP’s revamped 2018 model RM-Z450WS in MX1, with top-qualifier Arminas Jasikonis finishing third overall and Kevin Strijbos fifth overall on Sunday.