For the second week in a row, Hunter Lawrence challenged for an AMA Supercross 450 main-event win, this time at the series’ third round, back at Anaheim, California’s Angel Stadium. The Honda HRC Progressive rider ultimately finished a hard-fought second, but his late-race speed suggests that earning his first win is only a matter of time. Lawrence also narrowed the gap in the points battle, as the Australian now sits just eight points out of the lead—two fewer than last week.

The 450 main saw Lawrence exit turn 1 in third place, and he quickly moved up a spot. He was pushed back to third, then fourth by Chase Sexton and Eli Tomac, respectively, but a signature second-half charge carried him past Tomac and Jason Anderson. Running in second, Lawrence closed the distance to the leading Sexton. His progress was slowed by a couple of lapped riders, and he eventually finished just over a second behind.

In 450 heat race 1, Lawrence started third and held the position for the majority of the race, successfully fending off pressure from Ken Roczen. A late crash by Aaron Plessinger moved the Honda HRC Progressive rider up to a second-place finish.

In just the three races run so far this season, Hunter has already doubled his tally of career 450SX podium finishes, from two to four.

Thanks to his consistent efforts, Hunter now sits second in the 450SX standings, eight points behind the leading Eli Tomac.

Hunter Lawrence

“It was a good day—the battle with Eli [Tomac] was cool! I was behind Chase [Sexton] and Jason [Anderson], and I know that the first 10 minutes of these races are always such a super-intense, high pace, so I was just trying to stay in the hunt. I know I have the legs to go the distance, so I was just trying to give myself the best shot, stay in it in the beginning and move forward. I believed that I could get there, I knew I had some good lines and was feeling good. I was trying to up the intensity towards the closing stage, and I looked up and there was like six minutes left; I was like, ‘Alright, let’s empty the tank.’ I would’ve liked to see how the last two laps unfolded had there not been traffic with the two lapped riders. It’s been my best start of the season for Supercross, which is what I wanted to do. We’ve still got so many races to go. It’s been some really good racing.”

Lars Lindstrom - Team Manager

“It was a bittersweet night for the team, after a great start to the season. It’s always extra frustrating when the riders are injured by something that wasn’t within their control, but that’s how it goes in racing sometimes. We are hoping that Chance’s shoulder injury is non-surgical, and that he’ll be able to get back to racing ASAP. Hunter has been absolutely lights-out, surpassing everyone’s expectations, and we couldn’t be prouder and happier for him. Our main goal is to make sure that we’re able to help him get the most out of the bike and himself to get that first supercross win, and to get the best result possible, every single weekend.”