It’s been a measured start to the 2026 Monster Energy Supercross Championship for Honda HRC Progressive’s Hunter Lawrence, opening the season with P4 at the Anaheim opener before pushing 450SX points-leader Eli Tomac all the way to the final lap in San Diego, where he secured P2. Hear from the Australian as he reflects on that podium performance in this Five Questions interview.

Image: Octopi Media.

It’s easy to rewatch a race and for us to point to, ‘this happened’ or ‘this didn’t happen,’ but beyond race situations, is there anything you can point to between Anaheim 1 and now that maybe lent itself to this step forward?

I definitely think feeling more comfortable on the bike. We did a lot of stuff during the week to try and help that out, where I felt like we struggled in Anaheim. All of the things I could have done better at Anaheim, Jett [quickly] reminded me in the truck after, so we’ll go back and wait and hear what he has to say about this one. So yeah, I think we had kind of an average day program, I think for me. Just… we’re still trying things. But that’s one thing I pride myself on, being able to show up in the main event when it counts. So we were close. It was a good race.

We know you to be a little bit of a slow starter and then pick it up. Was this a strategy of like, ‘Hey, I want to watch Ken [Roczen], I want to watch Eli [Tomac],’ or was this, ‘Okay, I’ve got to find my lines, I’ve got to find my rhythm, let the race come to me?’ And then part two of this question is, do you wish you could have tried to pass him somewhere else on that last lap?

Yeah, the first time I went far left in the whoops was where Kenny ended up getting me, and the previous runs before weren’t terrible, and he wasn’t really gaining on me there, I don’t think. I was just being greedy, trying to find something else a little better, and that cost me. Then that same lap, coming out of that corner where I dove in on Eli on the last lap, I just didn’t quite get that triple and that was enough. Eli was close enough. But yeah, the last lap, I thought I was really close, and then as I was coming in and the corner’s getting closer and you’re getting closer and closer, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is going to be pretty damn dirty.’ If I see this through, it would have been like what happened with Chase [Sexton] and [Mitchell] Harrison in qualifying. So yeah, in hindsight, absolutely, I would have maybe just sat there and then tried the next corner, or like Chase and [Jorge] Prado in the heat race after the big rhythm lane, those last two turns. But you tend to try not to leave it that late if you can. But yeah, I just feel like the first 15 minutes was just trying to get the first 15 minutes under my belt and stay there, as I feel like the last five is really where I can put someone away, or just little by little by little, half a bike here and there, and make that gap or whatever it is.

Image: Octopi Media.

The heat race today maybe wasn’t your best. Chase passed you and gapped you quite a bit. What was the difference between that and the main event?

Honestly, the heat race for me is the hardest race of the night because the track’s easier, you just sprint, there’s not much endurance needed for it and stuff. So that, for me, is the hardest race of the night, I feel like. And yeah, it was just a crappy heat race and I was pretty frustrated. The start, I had wheel spin once I hit the dirt, which was super random. We haven’t had that in a very long time. So yeah, it was just a frustrating one. Shake that off, and then just put all the chips in on the main.

You spoke pre-race about that you were believing in a win, you wanted to win. Through that main event, you ended up at the finish line looking at the winner just right in front of you, where last week it was a little bit different. What was that mental battle like, because 20 minutes is a long time when you’re giving it everything?

Yeah, I really love what I can do in 20 minutes, honestly. I really feel confident in what I’m able to do in 20 minutes and just hit my marks — death by a thousand cuts kind of mentality, honestly. So really, all day, I just look forward to the main. I don’t like qualifying. I don’t like the heat race. I just want that 20-minute main. Let’s see, let’s put the work in and really get out there. Honestly, last weekend I felt somewhat restricted, and we were able to progress a bit with the bike, which helped, and I think that’s shown tonight. So hopefully we can keep trending in that fashion. Yeah, the win’s there soon. It’s coming.

How much did your experience of running up front in SMX, Pro Motocross, and earlier in your career count tonight in 450SX?

Yeah, for sure there’s experience there, but it’s just so different. You miss a rhythm or something, or you just clip the top of one of the jumps, like a five-footer, and then you can’t get the next one. That’s little mistakes or little things you’ve got to grease that aren’t as focused on in motocross, obviously. But I love it. I love battling up front. It’s sick — the adrenaline, the race craft, and being up there. Like I said on the podium, I had FOMO last weekend watching Kenny and Eli out the front, and I was just like, ‘I know I can be there.’ We just had to make some steps, and I think we did. And it’s just fun. It’s just fun. Like I said, I look forward to the main all day long.