450MX
Somehow, Jett Lawrence keeps
finding a way to get it done.
After pulling off the track early
during the morning qualifying
session due to his ongoing
sore shoulder, it looked like the
reigning champ might be up
against the ropes in the physi
-
cally demanding conditions. But
come the gate drop of race one,
Jett did what Jett does, as he
dominated all 16 laps from start
to finish, making things look
easy in the deep sand. Race
two, however, wasn't so simple.
Lawrence had to endure a
30-minute fight against his
brother, Hunter, and season-
long rival Chase Sexton before
getting passed and settling in
for a second-place result. The
bridesmaid position in race two
still earned him the overall win,
his third in a row. More impor
-
tantly, Lawrence is now tied
with Sexton for second in the
championship, just three down
from the top spot, which is held
by Hunter.
"I think your body is pretty
aware that that [the injured
shoulder] is the weakest spot,
so it over-compensates on
the other half," Lawrence said.
"I was just using my legs so
much more, and obviously,
they're not used to it yet: Just
got used more than normal and
got extra tired."
Sexton rallied for a moto win
and finished second overall
for the second race in a row.
The Red Bull KTM rider fin
-
ished a quiet third in race one
but saved his real fight for
moto two. Sexton made some
VOLUME ISSUE JULY , P63
32 JUSTIN COOPER
4TH (5-6) 450MX
Justin Cooper, who came into the
Southwick race not quite 100 percent,
was fourth overall with 5-6 scores.
"I had a big crash on Monday this
week," he revealed. "I did a super-
man and just whiskeyed off the bike,
but somehow came away not too
bad from that and just rested up until
today. It was gnarly out here today.
The track was definitely the worst I've
seen it. It doesn't help leaving after
the 250s were out, and I wasn't used
to it. Man, I tried though. I put in some
effort out there, but my back started
spasming about halfway through
the second moto, and I had to get
through it. Fourth on the day was
good, but I want to get back up on the
box though—that's the goal."
17 JOEY SAVATGY
5TH (5-6) 250MX
Joey Savatgy matched his season-
best moto result with a fifth. "It was
a tough day," he said. "This place is
always hard on the body and bike! I
crashed out of fourth with a few cor-
ners to go in moto two and ended up
sixth. I am trying not to beat myself up
too much and stay positive. We had
much better starts this weekend and
were much closer to the front."
MYOWNRACE
Jett Lawrence (1)
battled with Chase
Sexton (4) and finished
second to the KTM
rider in moto two but
still came away with
the overall win.
