Jett Lawrence made a super-clean race leading him to a fantastic win and come away from Anaheim 1 with a podium.
Jett Lawrence’s main-event win, with Team Honda HRC 250, was his eighth in AMA 250 Supercross, and his 15th podium. 250 victory was a promising start to his bid for a West title to go along with last year’s East crown
Anaheim, California – On a treacherous track in a packed Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Team Honda HRC enjoyed a strong start to the 2023 AMA Supercross season. For Jett Lawrence, a convincing 250 victory was a promising start to his bid for a West title to go along with last year’s East crown; for Chase Sexton, a safe third-place finish in a dramatic 450 main showed that he’s capable of minimizing errors in perilous scenarios; and for Colt Nichols, a sixth-place ride was a respectable performance in his first race aboard 450 machinery.
“It’s always nervous coming into the first one because you don’t know where everyone’s at. The big thing was how the track was going to form up for the main, and after practice, the joke was, ‘I just want to see Sunday!’ [laughs] I had a bit of a rough one in the heat race, so I just focused on the main and making sure I did what I needed to do. I’m thankful I came out of here in one piece.”
Jett Lawrence
Lawrence rode nearly flawlessly in the 250 West main event, taking the holeshot and leading every lap, but the 450 main was much more dramatic. Nichols nailed the holeshot aboard his CRF450RWE, but an early bobble caused him to be overtaken by several riders, including teammate Sexton, who sat fifth in the early going. The Illinois native’s patient riding was rewarded when he profited from mistakes by other riders, and an aggressive lap-12 pass on Malcolm Stewart put him into the lead. Sexton’s momentum slowed during the race’s latter stages, and was overtaken by Eli Tomac and Cooper Webb, though he still finished just 4.35 seconds off the winning time.
- Jett Lawrence was the only 250 West main-event rider to post a lap time that was less than a minute, his 59.667” lap nearly four-tenths of a second better than his nearest competitor.
- Lawrence has competed in the 250 East region for the past two seasons, so this was his first Angel Stadium appearance since he broke his collarbone while battling for the win on the final lap at the 2020 Anaheim 2 event.
- Lawrence’s main-event win was his eighth in AMA 250 Supercross, and his 15th podium. Sexton’s 450 podium finish was his 12th in the class, and his first at a 450 season opener.
- Next up, Team Honda HRC travels north to Oakland for AMA Supercross round 2, which is expected to be affected by the rainstorms drenching California of late.
“That was a really good Anaheim 1 for the team, with two guys on the podium, and I’m really proud of Colt Nichols for finishing sixth in his first 450 race. Jett had struggled a little bit during the day with being consistent, but in the main event he just executed and rode a super-clean race–the cleanest he had ridden all day, hitting all the rhythms incredibly clean for a fantastic win. The track was extremely rough and rutted, and Chase probably needed to adapt to the track a little bit better, but to come away from Anaheim 1 with a podium is a success in my book. I’m really stoked on the team and ready to get to the ‘normal’ races now–glad to get A1 out of the way.”
Lars Lindstrom – Team Manager
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