Slaw
In the blink of an eye, Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence saw his points lead evaporate inside Ford Field on Saturday night.
Entering round 11 in Detroit, Hunter had all the momentum. He was nine points clear of Eli Tomac, was coming off back-to-back wins, and his worst finish of the season was a fourth (twice). Everything was coming up roses for the points leader.
Then disaster struck.
Following a ninth place start, Hunter had climbed all the way back to third and was closing in on Chase Sexton when he made a costly mistake in the whoops and went down hard.
At first glance, it seemed like his night—and maybe his season—was over. But Hunter was able to get back up and after a trip to the mechanics area to fix front wheel damage (the front wheel continued to lock up after his crash) he managed to finish 18th on the night.
The crash eventually ended up being a 13-point swing in the championship as Tomac finished fifth on the night. In a team statement Hunter said that the crash “caught him by surprise.”
“My day was a bit of a bittersweet one,” he said. “The qualifying race went really well, and I was happy with everything—the bike, the team, myself, everything felt great. I was feeling really good in the main event and was honestly feeling so comfortable. I was really happy with where I was, and I made a push to the front and was catching Kenny and Chase. I just got caught by surprise with the crash at the end of the whoops. I was okay, but the bike took some unfortunate damage. It’s just racing, sometimes that happens, and I had to pull into the mechanics’ area. I crashed two more times just due to the front brake locking on, so that was difficult to bring home but I think we managed two points. It was a difficult situation, but we’re still in it and can’t wait to bounce back next weekend.”
As the series heads to St. Louis this Saturday for round 12, Hunter is now facing a four point deficit in the standings as Tomac has retaken the points lead.
Photos: Octopi Media
