Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128385
Fresh off an excellent finish at his first prafessional National at round three in Southwick, Massachusetts, Jason Lawerence caught everyone's attention. Throughout his Amateur career, he has, in a sense, flown under the radar. Last year, he won some Amateur championships and tumed a lot of heads in the process. This year, he came into Southwick just wanting to show everyone he had the speed. In the first moto, he ran well inside the top 10 and was eighth when the checkered flag came out. The second moto did not go his way. While again running inside the top 10, he suffered a mechanical breakdown, forcing him to drop out of the race. In the next round in Budds Creek, Maryland, Lawrence tumed in yet another impressive finish. He also signed on with the Motoworldracing.com/Suzuki team for the remainder of the season. en: First off, can you tell us a little about where you are from? jasonlawerence: I live in New Jersey, I've lived in New Jersey my whole life. I don't know, I just started riding there. I live with my mom, my stepdad and my little brother. I just ride around there. There are a bunch of pits and stuff. Then I just started racing Amateur Nationals, and now I'm here [Pro Nationals]. en: How many Amateur National Championships do you have? jasonlawerence: I don't know. I have three Loretta's championships, a couple GNC championships, a bunch of Texas championships and stuff. Probably like 10 or something. I'm not coming into it like [Mike] Alessi with like 80 or whatever he had. en: What was It like coming Into your first National in Southwick and running with some of the top guys? jasonlawerence: It was pretty good I didn't really know what to expect - I've never raced against those guys. I did good in my qualifier, I did really good in the first moto, and I was doing really good in my second moto and just had some bike problems. But the week was awesome. en: Are you planning on doing the entire National series? jasonlawerence: Yeah, from here on out with Motoworld [Suzuki]. en: What were your expectations coming into the Nationals? en: So you will be pitting out of the Motoworld.eom/Suzukl truck? jasonlawerence: I just wanted to show people that I have the speed and get top10. I'm kind of going for top-five now, but top-10 would still be good. jasonlawerence: Yeah, I am right now, actually. My agent Scott Sepkovic, he's also the Monster [Energy] guy. So I've been staying in there with Sean Hamblin Ryan Villopoto: Turning Pro youngster after he took convincing wins in both the Schoolboy class and the 12Scc Pro class at the Mammoth Mountain Motocross. en: What have you been up to lately? en: Is winning the 125 Pro class at Mammoth special to you? ryanvillopoto: Well, I've been training a lot just riding my road bike. I've just hired a trainer. Randy Lawrence is going to start help me train. I'm just trying to get over some of my injuries; I had surgery on my wrist and just hurt my shoulder. So, hopefully I can get over some of these injuries pretty fast. If you have been watching the Amateur ranks closely for a few years now, you probably noticed Ryan Villopoto's name at the top of the leaderboard on a regular basis. Now, after jumping up to the big bikes, Villopoto has been turning in some impressive finishes, causing everyone to wonder if he is the next big thing. With Loretta Lynn's and other Amateur National events just around the corner, Villopoto is preparing for his last year as an Amateur. He plans on competing full time next year on the AMA circuit. We recently caught up with the speedy against some pretty fast guys. I was hoping Ueremy] McGrath was going to race 125, but he didn't. He's going to race the 250 class. ryanvillopoto: It wasn't. It was just another race, but you actually get cash now racing Pro. en: What do you do for training to prepare for the Pro class? Do you train any differently? ryanvillopoto: I've been riding two 40minute motos and just riding my road bike. But I'm going to start doing a lot more with Randy [Lawrence], because he is going to help me out a lot. So it should be a lot harder. en: Is the Mammoth Motocross your first race in the Pro class? ryanvillopoto: I've done actually a few races racing Pro, but this has been my first big one where I have had to· race en: When do you think you are going to be making your debut on the AMA National tour? ryanvillopoto: I might ride the last three [National Motocrosses], but we don't know what we are going to do yet. Then maybe supercross - I don't know. en: What teams have you been talking to for a possible ride? ryanvillopoto: I'm talking to Mitch [Payton] right now for Pro Circuit. Hopefully I can get up on that one. It's a really good team, so they're the best bikes. So if I do get on that one, it should be really good. en: Mitch has been helping you out for your entire career. right? ryanvillopoto: Yeah pretty much. He helped me out on Yamaha's, and now... He kind of really stepped it up when I got on Kawasakis, and now even on big bikes, it's even better. en: There is a lot of talk about the KXF4S0. Are you going to be getting one soon? ryanvlllopoto: I don't know what's going to happen with that. I don't know if... I want to get one, I want to ride one, because the 250 is not that - it's good and all, it's just hard to be competitive on it against the 450s. en: What was it like riding a 125 in the Schoolboy class at Mammoth? ryanvillopoto: It was fun. It was different, because I have never really ridden a 125 that much. I rode it for probably - it had an hour on it before I came here [Mammoth], or before I even started riding it and getting ready for this. Then I only rode it once before this, and then we had the motor at Pro Circuit. So I only got to ride it like three times before this race.