While round 6 of AMA Supercross in Seattle didn’t go the way Hunter Lawrence had planned, the Honda HRC Progressive rider mitigated the impact from what could have been a more detrimental day, as he ultimately finished in fourth place—good enough for him to hold a one-point lead in the title chase as the series travels to Arlington, Texas.

“It was a bittersweet main event. I feel like my riding was really good, but I spun off the gate. I’m not sure 100% why that happened, but after that I was making my way through the pack. At the 10-minute mark, I figured the track out and really got going; I was able to do a lot of the rhythms deep into the main.

"Then I made my attempted pass on Kenny [Roczen] for third, and we got together. I certainly didn’t intend on taking him out—it was just a crappy racing incident, but not how I wanted the night to go, especially after how I felt. In my perfect world, I would’ve jumped to the inside, got that lane, and then tried to catch Cooper Webb.

"Obviously, it’s cool to still have the red plate—we definitely salvaged some points. With a good start, I feel like it could’ve been a completely different night; I had what it takes to get the win.”

The 450SX main event saw Lawrence spin his rear tire off the start and exit turn 1 in an uncharacteristic seventh place. He quickly made a pass before making a mistake on the tricky track and losing a spot on lap 3. Ten laps in, the Australian found his rhythm and mounted a charge. He sat in fifth at the race’s midway point and moved up to fourth with eight laps remaining.

From there, Lawrence quickly closed the gap to Ken Roczen and made an aggressive move for a podium position in the sand section, an area of the track where he had made some great passes in the previous laps. Unfortunately, the lines came together and he made contact with Roczen, sending both riders to the ground.

Lawrence remounted, with only Justin Cooper getting by. With limited time remaining, Lawrence had to settle for fourth. Quad Lock Honda’s Joey Savatgy finished a respectable eighth.

Lars Lindstrom the Team Manager for the HRC team knows that with so many rounds remaining, holding the red plate now isn’t important, but the continued consistent performances does impress the boss.

“Coming into this weekend, we didn’t have high hopes that the weather would cooperate with us—February in Seattle isn’t exactly predictable! Luckily, Saturday was rain-free, and the track crew did a great job building the track in record time because of the Seahawks championship party on Wednesday. Even with the rain on Friday, they were able to have the track in incredible shape, and the design was great, allowing multiple options all around the track.

"With the soft dirt, the ruts that formed quickly made racing the track really tough, but that’s what separates the good riders from the great riders. I think we prepared well for the race, with good strategy to help Hunter in the main event, but spinning on the starting grate wasn’t in that plan. Even with that, I’m proud of how Hunter was able to slice through the pack to get to the front, proving once again that even without a great start, he’s one of the elite riders and deserves to be in the championship fight.”