Image: Octopi Media.

Reigning two-time Motocross of Nations (MXoN) champions Team Australia will defend its title without Hunter and Jett Lawrence in 2026, it has been confirmed with the brothers opting to pause their off-season commitments this year.

The Lawrences – alongside Australian national champion Kyle Webster – lifted the Chamberlain Trophy together in 2024 and 2025, but won’t be attending the Ernee, France, event on the first weekend of October.

It was suggested late last year that the Lawrences wouldn’t be continuing their extensive international schedule into 2026, which last season included the Nations, Paris Supercross, and the AUSX Open in order to reset and also focus on developing the all-new 2027 model CRF450R.

“We’re electing to take this year kind of off, especially for the team,” Hunter Lawrence confirmed on the PulpMX Show last night. “It’s been six, seven years that we’ve… I mean, our off-seasons have been two weeks at the most, so our team needs it. We feel like we need it.

“And it’s not forever, but just for this year. You know, that’s no Paris Supercross or AUSX Open – it’s just, it’s no overseas events. It’s not, like I said, forever. We’ll be back at it next year. But yeah, I think it’s fair to our team – hopefully everyone can take the month of October off. That would be huge.”

With the 2026 Monster Energy Motocross of Nations date to be held on the same weekend as the AUSX Supercross Championship in Townsville – a series which Webster is also contracted to contest with Honda Racing despite prioritising MXoN in previous years – it is unclear which riders will be drafted into Team Australia for this year.

Both Webster and current Australian MX1 points-leader Jed Beaton could still instead favour MXoN over AUSX in a move that would allow Webster to potentially wear the number one plate in the MXGP class, while the MX2 seat would likely be awarded to the likes of US-based Kayden Minear or EMX250 revelation Jake Cannon.