Youthful Australian talent Hunter Lawrence salvaged 13th overall at last weekend’s fourth round of the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship in Leon, Mexico, after fighting off an illness that restricted his performance.

The Suzuki World MX2 rider posted an 11-14 scorecard in trying conditions, which is a result that the teenager was pleased to walk away with considering his circumstances.

“[The] first moto I didn’t have too bad of a start, and with this illness I was just trying to last the full moto,” Lawrence explained. “It wasn’t too bad, I picked up a couple of positions, made some passes and finished 11th. No crashes, so I was happy with that.

“I then came back in, tried to reboot, recover as much as possible and go out for moto two. I got a similar start as moto one, mid-pack and tried to ride as best as I could, giving everything I had – the same sort of mentality as the first race.”

Lawrence mentioned the illness sapped all his energy and strength by race two, resulting in him nursing his way to the chequered flag to conclude what was a challenging weekend for the native Queenslander.

“At the fifteen minute mark though, I was pretty already done,” he continued. “I had no energy or strength left so I ended up 14th. Not a bad weekend overall, today was good all things considered. Two motos in the top 15 with no crashes is not great but it gives me something to build on for when we get back to Europe.”

Sitting 16th in the championship standings, Lawrence will recuperate before heading to the MXGP of Trentino in Italy in just under two weeks time, which will mark the first European stop of the prestigious series.