Having injured his thumb in a small practice crash back in July, Team Honda HRC rider Jett Lawrence underwent a procedure, which resulted in him sitting out the remainder of the AMA Pro Motocross series.

The fall took place at the “Dog Pound” (the Lawrence family’s private training facility in Florida). Later the same day, Jett underwent X-ray and MRI scans, and it was determined that he had a torn ulnar collateral ligament, or UCL. (Technical diagnosis: proximal thumb avulsion fracture at the insertion of the UCL, a sprain of that same ligament, and an avulsive ligamentous tear of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) volar plate from its metacarpal attachment).

This weekend sees the return of the defending SMX champion and the AMA supercross champion, not to mention a two-time AMA motocross champion. Jett Lawrence will make his return at the opening round of the Supermotocross series, with also one eye on the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations in a month’s time. To say he is excited, would be an understatement.

“Chase is looking really good, and I could lose a lot,” Lawrence said. “I could lose SMX, but I’m already going to lose SMX if I [go] there thinking that, so I need to make sure I think confidently. I’ve been working hard, I feel strong and fit, we just need to get the bike side there again. I always try and set my standard up high. I’ve been telling my dad and [the team] that I want to come back, and I want to win every single SMX. Is that going to happen? If the stars align, maybe. I’m just so glad to be back on the bike and have a regular schedule again,” he added. “It’s nice to be back on the bike and riding this new ’25 Honda, it’s been awesome. Hunter’s been doing good on it, and I’m going to be doing some testing on it. Hopefully we go into SMX going crazy.”

“It was obviously a bummer (that he got injured), but it’s part of our sport,” Lawrence said. “It was honestly a pretty small crash, but it is what it is. I’ve been pretty lucky with injuries in my career so far, so I guess it’s just my turn. I was happy with the progress we’ve made in the championship since my setback at Hangtown, and I was excited to try and keep my championship.”

Team manager, Lars Lindstrom has no question that Lawrence will return and be a huge success, be it in this weekend’s opener of the SMX championship, at the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, or in 2025 for the AMA supercross and AMA motocross championships.

“Until the injury, Jett had won the last seven championships he’s competed in, he’s still so young and has a lot of success ahead of him. Physically he’s a freak of nature and a specimen, so to keep it that way, allowing him to heal to 100 percent was the goal.”

So, now, we move onto this weekend with the question of where Jett Lawrence is when it comes to speed and of course, the question, how will the new AMA 450 motocross champion, Chase Sexton react if the Aussie is quick.