5 minutes with Hunter Lawrence

Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Hunter Lawrence has been a breath of fresh air in the European Championship’s premier class EMX250 with his out-going personality, down-to-earth nature and all or nothing riding style.

He and his family made the shift from down under, Australia, to The Netherlands earlier this year so that Hunter and his little brother Jett, could have the best shot at taking over the world with their incredible dirt-bike racing talent. As a super confident 16 year old with a flamboyant style and personality, Hunter fast became a fan favorite in the EMX250 class.

The young Aussie was definitely one of the fastest riders in the class and more often than not set the fastest lap time, but always made life difficult for himself with silly mistakes or bad starts that forced him to come through traffic in almost every race. Hunter proved what he was capable of at Teutschenthal, Germany, when he dominated both races for his first EMX250 overall victory, an incredible achievement for a rookie in such a difficult class. He leapt to second place in the championship standings with a pretty comfortable buffer over third.

Unfortunately, the young talent took to Facebook today announcing he won’t be racing the rest of the championship due to a knee injury, so I decided to give him a call and spin him a yarn. Here’s how it went…

It's not cool to read that you won't be racing the rest of the EMX250 series, what happened?

In the first moto in Spain I had two crashes, which have resulted in me needing to have surgery on my right knee.

How long are you out for?

I am not 110% sure on the time frame I will be out yet, but the doctor said 3-4 months roughly.

How’s your European experience been so far?

The European experience has been awesome. We have learnt so much on the bike and off the bike about the business side of things and just to do with the sport. Also I have really enjoyed the European experience we have had already. I cant wait to see what else the future holds and what else we can learn.

Everyone knows moving to the otherside of the world is not easy, but what has been the most difficult thing for you?

The most difficult part would be the language barrier in the start and adapting to the weather, but it’s not so bad now.

You've had an awesome year, the results are good yet they don't necessarily reflect how fast you were riding, but what has been your best moment?

Winning Germany was awesome. It was the coolest thing to see the Aussie flag up on the middle flagpole, up the top! Definitely haven’t seen it there in a long time so was pretty cool and just a good reward for me and my crew. 

Rumor has it, you want to go to MX2 next year, so is that still the goal?

I am aiming for MX2 next year that’s why I have chosen to get the surgery as soon as possible so we are 100% fit, healthy, and ready for MX2 next year. It is the main goal.

Are you going to head over to the FULLBACK MXGP of Great Britain and watch Chad Reed?

Not sure if I will go to Great Britain as I’m not sure what the physio plans are yet and stuff like that to do with my injury but for sure I would love to go watch and support him, being Aussie and all, obviously would be cool.

Have you got a favourite rider in MXGP or MX2?

In MXGP, I would have to say I love how Paulin rides, and also Gajser and Desalle! MX2 I would have to say Ferrandis.

The European Championship is a lot different to any championship in Australia in terms of set up and how it’s run, how do you find it?

The European Championship is awesome, we get to race all GP tracks and on the same days as the GP guys, so it’s cool. I’m glad I got to do half the series and I am in second place in the championship coming out of Talavera, Spain. I have learned so much race craft and learned a lot about racing different guys and stuff.

If you could give any advice to any Kiwi’s or Aussie’s looking to come over to Europe, what would it be?

Just come with a positive attitude and be willing to have bad days, because when its raining and it’s 0 degrees and you are training at Lommel, its harsh! 

Cheers 'Hu-Law'! On behalf of the crew at MXGP we wish you a fast and full recovery. Look forward to seeing you out mixing it up in MX2 next year!