The past five decades have been a tumultuous time for Australian motocross fans. There have been plenty of euphoric highs but there have also been plenty of disappointments and lows. One of the sorest points has been regularly coming desperately close to tasting the winner’s champagne at the Motocross of Nations, but always having to settle for a podium-at-best result. It’s fair to say that lifting the Chamberlain trophy has been the most elusive of prizes for Australia. In the event’s history that stretches way back to the post-war era of 1947, Australia has never won the title.
The past few years have seen glimmers of promise as Hunter and Jett established themselves as the new force to be reckoned with in the States. In 2022 they teamed up with MXGP regular Mitch Evans and finished third at the Redbud MXoN, and signalled they believed they could push for the win in future years.
As the MXoN circus headed to Ernee, France last year, ProMX Champ and seasoned MXGP racer Dean Ferris stepped up alongside the Lawrences. The Aussies achieved their best-ever result – a runner-up spot – sending ripples of excitement through the country. Could Australia maintain this current trajectory? Could that elusive win be on the cards for 2024?
The answer was an emphatic HELL YES. With 2024 ProMX Champion Kyle Webster joining the Lawrences for an all-Honda HRC-backed assault, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place this year and the boys brought the trophy home. There’s a shitload more to this story though, and it all begins about a month prior to the actual event.
The preparation
Fresh off winning the 2024 Penrite ProMX Championship in the wildest of circumstances (check out issue #541 for the full breakdown), Kyle Webster jetted to the US to stay with the Lawrences and train at their Florida compound for a month.
As well as training somewhere different in the brutal humidity of early autumn, it was an opportunity to get some valuable bike-time on a new Honda CRF250R that HRC Honda provided, with special bells and whistles attached. It’d been a few years since Webster had ridden a 250, so it was valuable seat-time, although he was still recovering from tearing ligaments in his hand at the final ProMX round just weeks prior.
While Webster was cutting laps on the moto track, Hunter and Jett were primarily focused on the three-round, big-money SuperMotocross Playoffs, so they actually spent minimal time training together over the first couple of weeks. Once they’d wrapped up first and second in the SMX Playoffs –taking home more than $2 million in prizemoney – the focus changed to representing Australia at the MXoN.
“We were still doing SMX stuff and training on the supercross track, so we only rode with Kyle on outdoors for a couple of days before we flew out,” explains Jett. “A gnarly hurricane smashed us straight after SMX, so our bike-time before the Nations was really limited. It definitely wasn’t ideal, but somehow it worked out”.
At the same time, Honda HRC provided Webster with Chance Hymas’s practice bike to train on, and Webster was blown away by how good it was.
“For a 250, that thing was fast,” he says. “The suspension and set-up was just top-notch. It was so good I didn’t change a single thing on it. I also gained a few ideas for settings that I can use on my race bikes in Australia next year, so I’m excited to try them out.”
The time to head to London arrived and the boys touched down on Wednesday morning. Having lived in London for part of his life, Kyle spent the first day catching up with family while the Lawrences headed straight to their accommodation near the sweeping Matterley Basin track.Thursday consisted of some light training for the boys, and generally biding their time before the intensity and schedule began ramping up.
The build-up
Like the flick of a switch, the Motocross of Nations burst into life on Friday. There were media interviews, the team press conference, and some limited – but welcome – bike time with some start practice.
Finishing the day is the traditional Parade of Nations, and even though all the Aussie racers had experienced the parade before (Webster was part of Team Australia in 2019), it’s still a surreal event.
“The atmosphere was just nuts,” recalls Webster. “Everyone was so hyped up for it. There were plenty of chainsaws and people going wild, and it was surprising how many Aussies were there. There were so many Australian flags and green-and-gold colours getting around, which was really cool to see.”
Jett was also blown away by the amount of Aussies present at Matterley Basin, and it was a noticeable increase from the two previous MXoNs.
“I think that made it even cooler for us this year. There are obviously a lot of Australians who live in the UK, and lots travelled over for the race, but to see all the Aussie flags and the huge number of Aussies who attended the event this year made our victory there that much better.”
While Webster had experienced the crowds before, it was his first time seeing what life is like for the Lawrences and the intense focus that’s put on them.
“Everywhere you go with them is crazy. It felt like I was in a big fishbowl all weekend, with everyone trying to look into the tent, shouting their names, it’s pretty intense. It’s amazing to see how popular they are and what they’ve done for the sport, but it also made me appreciate how it can be quite hard for them to juggle everything on race weekends.
Compared to fans in the US, Jett maintains that the crowds and their disregard for the Lawrence’s personal space was an eye-opener.
“We’d been told the fans at Matterley Basin are wild, but it was more hectic than what we’d expected. They’d just lift the ropes and go wherever they wanted. We had a lot of fans walk under our tent, and we had a camper in a private area that’s off-limits, but they’d just waltz on in.”
“I don’t need security or anything in America as everyone’s really polite, but in the UK, I should’ve had a security guard to get from my camper to the truck,” Jett admits. “I had to get on a pitbike because if I’d walked or stopped, I would’ve got mobbed and it would’ve taken forever.”
Let’s do this
Saturday brought qualifying and the first time the racers could hit the track in anger.
In the first MXGP qualifying race, Hunter got himself into a good position early and settled into third for most of the moto, before losing a spot to France’s former World Champion Romain Febvre.
Next up was Webster in MX2 and he started strongly inside the top five, making a couple of passes on the opening lap to find himself in P2 before a couple of early crashes in the deep, soft ruts set him back into the middle of the pack. From there it was a case of trying to stay out of trouble.
“The track was already ridden-in and it was crazy how wet it was underneath and how deep the ruts were already,” he recalls. “A lot of the jumps were on turns into ruts, so it took a while to learn how to deal with it. Three quarters of the way through the moto I slid out on a jump and crashed again. If nothing else, that race got the nerves out of the way and I had a feeling Sunday would be better.”
After Webster’s P13 result, Jett put in a great moto in the MX Open field, finding his way past Spain’s Ruben Fernandez early to secure the lead and cruise to an easy win. With the two best results securing the third-place qualifying position, Australia had set the tone early that they were playing for keeps.
Crunch-time
Sunday dawned a dreary, drizzly day, but the track was handling the moisture and the crowd was in in full song.
The first moto on the gate after the B-final saw the MXGP and MX2 riders Hunter and Webster hit the track. While Lawrence didn’t get a great jump off the gate and found himself back in 19th early on, Webster charged into P8 early, leading the MX2 field and battling with the top 450 guys. As Lawrence worked his way forward through the pack, Webster found himself battling with MX2 World Champion Kay de Wolfe and the two traded positions a couple of times before the Dutchman dropped him. The drizzle played havoc with the racers’ goggles, and Hunter pulled into the pits for a goggle change in the latter stages before continuing his march up the field to finish P8.
Webster managed to stay on track, but ditched his goggles on the closing laps after the distorted view saw him get cross-rutted.
“When that happened, it was time for the goggles to go,” he laughs. “Apart from that it was a good race, finishing 11th and the second MX2 rider. I was right in the mix the whole race and when I finished I realised I was right behind Ken Roczen, which was pretty cool.”
As the MX2 rider, Webster had to line up for back-to-back motos, this time with the MX Open class paired up with Jett Lawrence.
Having already won his qualifying race, all eyes were on Lawrence to see if he could replicate his antics. He could: after rounding the first turn in fourth, the young Aussie quickly picked off the guys in front, got around Fernandez for the lead and made things look easy as he coasted to an eight-second win, although he’d extended that lead to 15 seconds at one point.
“I found a good flow around the track, even though we’d gone too stiff with the fork and it was bouncing around a lot,” Jett recalls. “But for how rutted the track was, I still had a lot of fun balancing and landing in the ruts. The biggest challenge was with my vision. The drizzly rain was a struggle and I didn’t have any tear-offs left at the end of that race, so I reined things in on the last laps to try and minimise any mistakes, put down consistent laps and stay in control to the end. It wasn’t worth pushing and risking everything.”
It was a much tougher race for Webster. After jumping into the top eight off the start and getting towed along by riders in front of him, roost from a 450 broke the roll-off system on his goggles.
“I was trying to wipe the goggles with my fingers, but my hands were wet and I was just smearing everything,” he explains. “I tossed the goggles pretty early and I pulled in for a goggle-change, but the new ones fogged up instantly.”
After making mistakes due to a lack of vision, Webster chucked his new goggles and spent the rest of the race getting roosted with rocks on his way to 19th; the worst result of the weekend and the one that would get scratched from the final points.
All to play for
The final moto saw an all-star line-up as the MXGP and MX Open classes got behind the gates, and it’d prove to be the defining moto of the entire weekend. Australia was still perched in third in the points behind the Netherlands and the USA, but with both Lawrence brothers in the mix, victory was there for the taking.
In some last-minute team orders, Hunter and Jett switched gates to put Hunter to the inside.
“We wanted to give HJ the best shot at a better start, as we knew I could come through the pack and eventually make my way to the front,” Jett elaborates. “The Nations is all about getting good results for every rider, and yeah, it was a bit of a gamble, but after discussing the tactics with Byrner [Michael Byrne], we thought it was the best call to make.”
It was a master-stroke, Hunter surged into P3 behind Eli Tomac and reigning World MXGP Champion Jorge Prado through the first turn, with multi-time World Champion, Tim Gajser, chewing at Hunter’s rear wheel.
Jett meanwhile, was pushed wide and found himself in 14th through the opening turns.
“Off the start I was that far back I thought ‘oh well, let’s see how far I can go’,” Jett recalls. “I got up to ninth or 10th on the first lap and I stayed pretty calm for the whole race. I was riding well within my limits – I honestly felt I was riding at about 65-70% effort – and had an easy flow going where I didn’t have to sprint much, and only had to push occasionally to get a pass made.”
Gajser pushed his way past Hunter and engaged in a desperate battle for the lead with Tomac midway through the race. Jett also continued his march forward, passing Hunter for P3 and securing the provisional lead for Australia. From that point, anything more would be a bonus, but Jett continued his smooth, calculated approach, slicing three seconds out of Tomac in one lap as the track continued to get tougher to negotiate, and passing the American legend with relative ease.
Suddenly, Gajser was right in front of him and the win was there for the taking. With three laps remaining and no tear-offs left, Jett planned and executed an incredible pass to take the lead without copping any roost from the Latvian, and tried to build a gap. Gajser hung tough and the two Honda riders battled hammer and tongs for the remainder of the race while negotiating the chopped-up circuit, lappers and trying to outsmart each other.
It came to a head in the final two turns when Gajser made an aggressive pass for the lead.
“I didn’t think he was that close, but I heard him coming and he was obviously committed to that pass,” Jett explains. “I had to check up, because if I’d stayed committed we would’ve both crashed. He was obviously racing for the win to try and say the GP riders are the best in the world, but at the same time, if you’d started us equal on the first lap, it would’ve been a very different outcome and I would’ve been further out front.At the end of the day the Aussies won the full thing and that’s more important than needing to take the glory of that last moto win.”
The Lawrences would cross the line in P2 and P3, doing more than enough to secure a historic first win for Australia. Even then, Jett had no idea what the final result was until Hunter coasted up next to him and told him Australia had won. It was an incredible moment that Jett says he’ll remember for a long time.
“We just reacted to how we felt at the time – there was a lot of screaming and shouting,” he laughs. “I was so pumped, as Hunter and I have talked about winning the Nations for Australia for years. To achieve that is really special.”
Having already completed his two races, Kyle sat on the sidelines shitting bricks as he watched the Lawrences work their magic.
“Man, I’ve never been so nervous watching a race,” he laughs. “It was such a weird feeling not being in my gear and just watching from the sidelines. When Jett and Tim were battling each other I honestly couldn’t watch – I had to turn and walk away, and when Tim made that last pass and the crowd was screaming I thought he’d put Jett on the ground.
“We knew where the boys had to come, but until everyone crosses the finish-line you don’t know for sure. It was an incredible moment, though, and I was so, so happy when they got the job done.”
Party time
With the racing done and dusted, all that remained was to stand on the podium, lift the Australian flag high in front of tens of thousands of raucous fans and hear the national anthem play.
Jett has a small admission to make: “Having been in Europe and America for so long, it had been so long since I’d heard Advance Australia Fair, I honestly forgot part of the anthem while singing it on the podium,” he chuckles. “Despite that, it’s still ingrained in you, and when I thought about the reason behind why it was playing – that we’d finally won the Nations – it was a huge honour.”
Kyle says you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, despite suddenly being hit with stomach cramps that would hinder him for the next couple of days.
“The whole thing was very surreal,” he recalls. “I had a lot of friends in the crowd and there were all these Aussie fans at the front who were in full voice. I couldn’t stop smiling up there. Even though part of me wanted to just double over in pain from the cramps, I made sure I stood tall, looked around and tried to capture that moment.”
Reflecting on the incredible achievement and history-making performance, Jett is quick to acknowledge that winning the Motocross of Nations was the highlight of the year for him.
“Winning the 450SX Supercross Championship and the SMX Playoffs for the second time were awesome, but I felt I had a better chance of winning that than I did the MXoN,” he elaborates.
“The Nations is a lot harder to win, and there’s definitely a fair amount of Lady Luck involved; to have a chance of winning you need all three guys to have at least five good race results, and even then it’s not guaranteed.”
For Kyle, being part of a history-making team ranks as the highlight of his career.
“I don’t really know how I’ll ever top that, and it was a perfect way to round out a great year for me. I think what makes it special is the people there who’d been trying so hard to make it happen for so long.”
“It’s not just about you on the track – it’s a huge team effort and everyone played a big part in helping make this possible. There’re the fundraisers, the auctions, the guys like Stephen Gall who were really instrumental in pulling everything together, the team personnel and mechanics, all doing everything humanly possible to give us three racers the best chance of winning. It’s very humbling to be part of such a historic day.”
On the sidelines with Stephen Gall.
Watching Australia take the win at the 2024 FIM Motocross of Nations was a long-awaited dream come true.
To support our team and bring Aussies closer to the race, we organised a VIP tour that was a massive hit, with 41 of us dressed in green and gold, amongst the crowd. The package had everything: accommodation, transfers, the best vantage point, a big-screen TV, food, drinks — everything you could want. The cost of the VIP Diamond Package alone was 900 Pounds! Another 30 Aussies booked their own way into the VIP area too. MXGP organisers set us up in the same section, making sure we were the loudest and most visible crowd in the VIP area — a sea of Aussies united to back our riders, right up close.
The fundraising effort raised about $55,000 AUD. Brett Konsky bought two jerseys from last year’s MXoN, shelling out $8,000 for the team’s coffers. The president of the Maitland Club, Matt Hickson, also stepped up by covering Kyle’s insurance to train in the US, which cost about $3,000 USD and of course Motorcycling Australia are massive financial contributors too.
All 80 of us Aussies were buzzing, full of excitement but keeping it cool. I had the MXGP website open live on my phone so I could watch the race, and we were all sharing phones to keep up with the race.
When we finally took the win, there were tears in my eyes and I wasn’t alone. So many of us had waited a lifetime for this. The euphoria was unreal: there were shoeys from blokes’ boots, and Queen’s “We Are the Champions” blasting as everyone erupted into celebration.
We celebrated with the team, and Kyle even stayed to chat with everyone. As someone who’s raced and achieved a lot, I can honestly say this was my proudest moment. After everything I’ve put into motocross, training Australian racers and writing articles for ADB, this win means everything. To think how far we’ve come — from scratching hard in 1984 to now seeing motocross in Australia dominate the world — I couldn’t be prouder to be part of this incredible journey. Thanks to our legend riders for making this dream come true!
FINAL RESULTS
1 Australia Hunter Lawrence, Jett Lawrence, Kyle Webster 26
2 USA Eli Tomac, Aaron Plessinger, Cooper Webb 29
3 Netherlands Jeffrey Herlings, Kay de Wolfe, Glenn Coldenhoff 36
4 Spain Jorge Prado, Ruben Fernandez, Oriol Oliver 45
5 France Romain Febvre, Maxime Reneaux, Tom Vialle 50
