Suzuki World MX2 rider Hunter Lawrence kicked off his MX2 career with an 11th overall at the opening round at Losail International Circuit in Qatar today and his 18-6 moto score.
Unfortunately, a couple of mistakes in the first moto dropped him down the proceedings but in the second moto he followed Seewer through the pack, learning every lap and finishing a very impressive sixth place. “First moto I was feeling good. I didn’t get the best start, top 15-20 something like that and I was coming through the pack pretty good and I was happy with how I was going. Then I made a mistake on my part with another rider, a rookie mistake. Got back up, finished 18th which isn’t the best but this is the world championship and it’s not going to be easy. I came back in, put it behind myself and looked forward to going out there and doing it again.
“Second race I got a better start, around 12-13, made some passes and found myself inside the top 10, coming through to finishing sixth behind Jeremy. It felt like we had a good rhythm going as a Suzuki train, so that was pretty cool. Really though, I’m just happy to have got it out of the way, the first round can have a lot of carnage so I’m happy to be walking away with no injuries and to have made good progress,” said the Australian youngster about his debut in the MX2 class.
Suzuki World MX2 teammate Jeremy Seewer started off his hunt for the MX2 World Championship with a sixth overall with 12-5 moto scores.
Bad starts really hindered his chance to get involved with any battles for the lead so he had just settle for trying to accumulate as many points as he could, in what we will be a long championship. The RM-Z250 rider had this to say about his evening: “It’s not what we wanted to do today of course, but I’m happy to be in one piece. It’s a long season so all is not lost but I’m really disappointed. First moto I had a bad start and I crashed in a slippery spot on the first lap, my fault, and then I just couldn’t make it happen to make it through the pack. I have to say, it is very difficult here to come back from a mistake, it’s mainly one line. The second moto I lost the distance to the top few guys with my bad start but once I was through, I could go their same speed. I think the speed is there, we just have to improve a few things to get up there.”
MX2 Moto 1:
1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 35:24.348;
2. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:01.759;
3. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), +0:20.039;
4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:23.565;
5. Samuele Bernardini (ITA, TM), +0:32.017;
18. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Suzuki World MX2), +1:06.300.
MX2 Moto 2:
1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 35:32.077;
2. Benoit Paturel (FRA, Yamaha), +0:01.015;
3. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), +0:03.245;
4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, Husqvarna), +0:07.884;
5. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), +0:12.395;
6. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Suzuki World MX2), +0:19.322;
MX2 Overall/ Points Standings:
1. Pauls Jonass (LAT, KTM), 50 points;
2. Benoit Paturel (FRA, YAM), 44 p.;
3. Julien Lieber (BEL, KTM), 40 p.;
4. Thomas Kjer Olsen (DEN, HUS), 36 p.;
5. Michele Cervellin (ITA, HON), 28 p.;
6. Jeremy Seewer (SUI, Suzuki World MX2), 25 p.;
7. Vsevolod Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 24 p.;
8. Jorge Prado Garcia (ESP, KTM), 24 p.;
9. Darian Sanayei (USA, KAW), 20 p.;
10. Alvin Östlund (SWE, YAM), 19 p.;
11. Hunter Lawrence (AUS, Suzuki World MX2),