Features 8 Mar 2022

Five Questions: Jett Lawrence

Daytona 250SX winner on victory and moving past drama.

After a challenging Triple Crown at Arlington, Australia’s Jett Lawrence was admittedly gutted and eager to put the night behind him. Fast-forward one week and the 18-year-old delivered a dominant performance to win the prestigious Daytona Supercross in 250SX and take control of the points lead. With Saturday night’s victory making it two from three in season 2022, the likeable Team Honda HRC rider discusses a variety of topics surrounding his rebound at Daytona International Speedway in this Five Questions feature.

Image: Octopi Media.

What does it feel like to win Daytona? 

It’s a cool experience, I think even without winning it the first time here, I think it’s a great experience to have just with the fans being there. It feels as close as we can get to feeling like a NASCAR race, almost. It’s in the same area, we might not be going as fast [Laughs], but it’s definitely damn close. It was a really cool experience, I mean, always a kid, I can say I’ve been dreaming of at least riding this Daytona track. I think today just really topped it off with a win, so I’m pretty pumped.

How would you rate your burnout after the race? 

I’d give it a three, it was terrible [laughs] – I almost snapped some guy’s femur through the gate. I thought it was a lot more solid, I went into it and the thing moved back a couple of feet. Yeah, I need to work on those if I ever do another one.

Was it easier to navigate yourself through some lap traffic, as well as being able to select your favourite line all the way around?

It definitely made my life a lot easier, for an easier night. Stilez [Robertson] was there for a very long time, it felt like it was for more than ten minutes. I could see him out of the corner of my eyes at each U-turn so I knew he was there, and it was good because it was keeping me focused. Those lappers, it was tight, especially on that far other side, the more tighter sections, it was a lot harder to get around them, because we’re using all the track just because it’s so tight. Like what Cameron said, you would cut out early and then they would be in the main line but then you were on the outside the next time, so I kind of got a little bit screwed a couple times. Got stuck behind some lappers, but most of the time they were pretty okay and got out of the way, otherwise, I would start yelling at them [laughs]. But it was definitely a nice, calm weekend. A lot better than last weekend, at least I can go to sleep easier tonight.

Image: Supplied.

Are you feeling any effects of Arlington’s crash?

No, I definitely got very lucky with that crash and landed in some soft stuff. I mean hit my chest pretty hard, at that point but it was more like it hurt two laps after the crash. I felt it a little bit later that night, next day I was a little sore, but all this week I’ve been perfectly fine. Breathing-wise I’ve been okay and didn’t really get too affected, to be honest. My riding, it didn’t really put in a dent in that, riding has been feeling really good, the bike has been feeling very forgiving and wanting to go fast, which is always nice. Felt safe on the bike, so I don’t think it really affected me much last weekend from this weekend.

What do you do to put that all of the drama from last week behind you?

I don’t know. I mean it’s hard to put away, you could say, but at the end of the day you just have to be the bigger man and just kind of put that behind. People keep bringing it up, just get over [it]… it was last weekend’s, we’re onto this weekend. It’s Daytona.

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