CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Jett Lawrence has become the third rider to complete a perfect motocross season.
The 20-year-old Aussie won both 450cc motos at Ironman Raceway Saturday in the AMA Motocross Championship finale, ending the season a perfect 22 for 22.
Lawrence joins Ricky Carmichael (2002 and 2004), and James Stewart (2008) as the only riders to win every race of a motocross season.
“It doesn’t feel real,” Lawrence said. “I started off so nervous hitting the gate (in moto 2), I don’t know how I led the first lap. Now we’re undefeated. To all the people who doubted me, here we are now.”
Lawrence grabbed the holeshot in the opening moto at Ironman and staved off a mid-race challenge by Chase Sexton before pulling away to win by 5.8 seconds.
A flinch at the gate cost Lawrence the holeshot in the second moto, but he still managed to slide into second exiting the first turn. A crash by leader Dylan Ferrandis allowed Lawrence to move to the front and he again faced a challenge from Sexton as the leaders navigated lapped riders.
Sexton made a final push on the final lap, but Lawrence held him off to wrap up the perfect season by 1.7 seconds.
Lawrence’s older brother Hunter clinched the 250cc title, becoming the first siblings in motocross history to win both championships in the same season. Their dominance allowed Honda to become the first manufacturer to win every major title in AMA Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross in the same season.
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