Hunter Lawrence bags career first 250SX victory in Arlington

Michelle Liew

March 18, 2021

The riders and teams will remain in Arlington for a few more days, as round 12 takes place Saturday for the final round at AT&T Stadium.

Hunter Lawrence | Source: HRC

Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence scored his first-ever 250SX win in just his sixth supercross race of his career. The rider secured his triumph at the Arlington 2 round yesterday.

Lawrence started in fifth place and quickly advanced a spot. He then continued on up to third and managed to take the lead on lap six. The young Australian continued on first on his CRF250R and managed to set the fastest time of the race on the next lap. He then secured an emotional victory by over five seconds.

In 450SX racing, Ken Roczen put together a podium finish. He and teammate Chase Sexton put their CRF450R race machines in third and fourth off the start and rode relatively uneventful races, with Sexton relinquishing just one position in the latter stages of the race.

Hunter Lawrence (Team Honda HRC 250SX)- As It Happened

“Amazing day here in Arlington–couldn’t have dreamt it any better! I got off to a good start, made some good passes in the first few laps and just rode my race. I’m extremely, extremely grateful and thankful to do what I’m able to do. I can’t thank everyone that supports me enough–everyone in the team and away from the track. It’s a team effort and believing in myself and man, feels amazing. It’s awesome, and I’m stoked that we could get this one under our belts at round 4.”

Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC 450SX)- As It Happened

“Arlington 2 was a lot better than Arlington 1. We threw a little bit of something at the bike and made a change and left it in all the way through the heat race.  And after the heat race, I decided to go back to base and what I knew. That was definitely the right way to go. In the main event, we started near the front, and I just stuck in third there.

I got messed up by lappers a little bit, and unfortunately, it just wasn’t good enough for the win tonight. We settled on third and lost a little bit more points in the championship. Though as long as we’re keeping the dream alive, I’m looking forward to bouncing back next Saturday. It felt good to be back on the podium after a couple of rounds of not being there. I’m proud of my team and how we’ve been working together, and looking forward to a couple of days off and coming back on Saturday.”

Chase Sexton (Team Honda HRC 450SX)- As It Happened

“It was an okay day. Qualifying was pretty average–I got sixth, which was okay for me but I just didn’t get a really good lap in. In the heat race, I got a good start, battled for the lead near the end and almost had the win. I had a good gate pick for the main event, which was good because the ruts were pretty messed up after the gate. I got a good start in the main and put myself in a good position. But I couldn’t keep the pace after six or seven laps. I didn’t feel super comfortable and faded backwards a bit. I was a little flat but was still top-five–not a great result, but we’ll keep building. I’m looking forward to testing a little bit on Thursday and coming back for Saturday.”