The FIM MX World Championship has been shaken up by the boys from down under with our home-grown bullets Hunter Lawrence and Jed Beaton finishing on the podium at the final round in France.
World Suzuki’s Hunter Lawrence started his weekend in the best way possible when he qualified fastest in the MX2 Class. Lawrence then went on to place fourth in the opening moto and backed that up with his first ever MX2 class moto win in the second race. His results were good enough for second overall.
“I came into today really happy because I had first gate pick after winning qualifying yesterday. In the first moto it was quite wet, as a lot of rain fell so it was really muddy and slippery. It was really difficult conditions. I got a decent start though, and made some passes to come up to fifth and then fourth quite quickly. However, I couldn’t make a dent in the guys in front and finished fourth. In the second moto I went for the start, put it all in, and my RM-Z250 came out well on the inside and I held on to come out in the lead. I just then put my head down, put in my own laps and increased my lead and was really happy with how it all went. I’m really happy for the win and to end the season on a high note. I was pumped because Thomas Covington was closing in at the end because I was just trying to get it over the line at that stage. Leading a race is a whole different ball game from coming through the pack but I enjoyed it and now I get to look forward to the Motocross of Nations.”
Honda Racing’s Jed Beaton took an incredible third place overall on the new CRF250RW. Beaton placed third in the opening moto and fourth in the second.
Jed was happy when saying “My Saturday went pretty good, I had a good qualifying race which meant I had a good gate pick and that helped a lot. My starts this weekend were a lot better too. I was a bit lucky with Seewer crashing on the last lap of the second race as that enabled me to get third overall. I wasn’t originally going to race in MX2 this weekend but thankfully Carglass Honda released me and allowed me to take up the opportunity and I am really grateful for that. To get third overall in my fourth ever MX2 race is a really awesome feeling, it was awesome to see the team so pumped about it and they have been so good at setting the bike up for me as I only raced it for the first time in Assen last weekend.”
For both riders, it was a great way to finish the series and for Lawrence, it’s a big confidence booster for the upcoming MXoN. We’ll be keeping a close eye on these two in 2018!