Just two weeks after the end of the U.S. race season, Team Honda HRC Progressive riders Jett and Hunter Lawrence, along with Honda Australia rider Kyle Webster, scored the victory for Team Australia in the 2024 Motocross of Nations this weekend at England’s Matterley Basin.
Informally referred to as the “Olympics of Motocross,” the prestigious annual event pits three-rider national teams against one another, and this 70th edition marked the first time that Team Australia came out on top. Fresh off completing a regular season that saw him take the AMA Supercross and SuperMotocross crowns in the U.S., Jett Lawrence campaigned the Open class at the MXoN aboard a 2025 CRF450RWE, while Hunter Lawrence raced another ’25 CRF450RWE in the MXGP class. Webster (the newly crowned Australian 450 Motocross Champion) competed in the MX2 class on a ’24 CRF250R.
The event’s unique format comprises three races, with a pair of classes competing together in each. In race 1 (for MXGP and MX2), Hunter finished eighth, with Webster taking 11th. Jett came out on top of race 2 (for Open and MX2), while Webster finished 19th. Race 3 (for Open and MXGP) saw Jett finish a close second, two spots ahead of Hunter.
The success of all-Honda Team Australia was part of a general trend of Honda dominance. Team HRC rider and five-time World Champion Tim Gajser earned individual overall-victory honors while racing for Team Slovenia aboard a CRF450RWE, barely edging out Jett Lawrence in the final race following an epic battle. (Between them, Jett and Gajser won all three motos.) Also worth noting was Team HRC rider Ruben Fernandez, who finished second to Jett in the middle moto, racing for Team Spain aboard yet another CRF450RWE.
As is required by the rules, Team Australia’s rider lineup was all from Down Under, but the support team was a truly international operation, with personnel from Honda’s extended global family contributing. Europe-based Team HRC provided much of the infrastructure. The squad was managed by Australian Michael Byrne, who spends much of his year working closely with the Lawrence brothers’ regular Honda HRC Progressive effort, and a number of crew members from that U.S.-based team were on hand setting up the Team Australia bikes, including that of Webster.
“What an incredible race, and what an incredible result!” said Honda HRC Progressive Manager Lars Lindstrom. “The Lawrence family continues to put together a long list of remarkable accomplishments, and this one puts an exclamation point on what was already an unbelievable year. I also want to recognize Kyle Webster, with whom we worked closely over the past month or so. We also collaborated very well with Motorcycling Australia [the Australian governing body for motorcycle racing], as well as Honda Australia and Honda Europe, and I think those relationships were a big part of our success. Now it’s time for a short, well-deserved break before we start ramping up for the 2025 season.”
