Hunter Lawrence has won the opening round of the 2018 Italian International Motocross Championship in Riola Sardo, Sardinia.
The Honda rider put in a flawless performance on the demanding Sardinian circuit, climbing through the field after being buried in the pack off the start to claim victory against tough MX2 competition.
The second Supercampione moto involved competition against the larger 450cc motorcycles. Lawrence had an issue during the race which forced him to pull into the pits, he would eventually finish 33rd.
“Riola sardo was nice, cool to start the season off with a W,” said Lawrence. “[We] got to play around with some things on the bike and try some new stuff, big shoutout to my maddog mechanic @reece_boal and the team! Thank you guys and everyone else who supports me!”
Lawrence leads the MX2 championship point standings ahead of Red Bull Factory KTM’s Pauls Jonass and Honda’s Calvin Vlaanderen with three rounds to go.
The Queenslander is riding for Team Honda 114 Motorsports in 2018 before he heads to the U.S in 2019 where he will ride for GEICO Honda team in the AMA Supercross Championship and Pro Motocross Championship through 2020 and 2021.
The Italian International Motocross Championship is used by many FIM Motocross World Championship competitors as warm up before MXGP kicks off in March.
MX2
1. Hunter Lawrence (Honda)
2. Pauls Jonass (KTM)
3. Calvin Vlaanderen (Honda)
4. Alvin Ostlund (Yamaha)
5. Michele Cervellin (Honda)
