Youthful Australian contender Hunter Lawrence says his eighth overall placing at Assen’s penultimate round of the MX2 World Championship on Sunday serves as no justice for the level of riding he demonstrated.

The 114 Motorsport Honda rider put in an incredible ride during both motos, challenging for victory in the opening encounter before a critical mistake came at a significant cost, relegating him to sixth, while an early error in race two denied him of a satisfying overall result.

“My speed was a lot better than the last sand race in Lommel, but the results really don’t do my riding level justice. We were second in timed qualifying but I couldn’t capitalise on that because I got caught up in a first turn crash. I got back up to ninth and felt good about my riding.

“And then today, I was third in warm-up and then the first moto started off really good. I got an awesome start on my Honda CRF250R, ending up second around the second corner and then on the fourth turned I made the pass for the lead. I was leading for the first few laps and that was great but I chose a bad line and got passed and then when I pushed to try and get back past him,

“I made a mistake and that cost me. The second moto I made another stupid mistake in the second corner and another great start and that meant I had no chance of a good result overall. It’s disappointing but I’m keeping my head up for the final round where hopefully the results will be much better.”

Missing a number of rounds this year due to injury, the Queensland native sits ninth in the world rankings with just one round to go, scheduled for 30 September at Imola in Italy.