Hunter Lawrence (Honda): Now injured in both wrists

At the season finale at the Ironman Raceway, Hunter Lawrence (Honda) collided with Haiden Deegan (Yamaha) on the first lap of the first race. Deegan crashed right in front of him on a right-hand bend. Hunter was unable to swerve out of the way and also went down. Although the crash looked harmless, Hunter injured his ‘good’ left wrist in the process. He had been complaining of problems with his right wrist since the Detroit Supercross in March this year. So, since Ironman, his left wrist has now been added to the list of injuries.

Lapped in Columbus

At the first SMX Playoff in the mud at Columbus, the Australian struggled with the conditions. He crashed several times and was even lapped twice by the leaders. “Unfortunately, my right wrist – which I’d injured in Supercross – was causing me problems again, but overall I was in pain in both hands. We had X-rays, MRIs and so on carried out. After Ironman, my hand was the size of a baseball bat and my wrist was as thick as my forearm.”

Lost the lead

Hunter finished the second race in 8th place, this time ‘only’ a lap down. With a 21-8 result, he ended the day in 15th place, picking up just 7 points. He dropped back to 6th place in the standings, 10 points behind the leaders. However, that’s not the end of the world at this stage, as the potential points haul will double and triple in the next two play-off rounds. Hunter doesn’t have much time to recover. The second play-off continues this coming Saturday at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

SMX Championship Standings after Play-off 1 of 3

1. Jorge Prado (E), KTM, 42 points

2. Haiden Deegan (USA), Yamaha, 40, (-2)

3. Cooper Webb (USA), Yamaha, 38, (-4)

4. Ken Roczen (D), Suzuki, 34, (-8)

5. Dylan Ferrandis (F), Ducati, 33, (-9)

6. Hunter Lawrence (AUS), Honda, 32, (-10)

7. Garrett Marchbanks (USA), Kawasaki, 28, (-14)

8. Aaron Plessinger (USA), KTM, 22, (-20)

9. Eli Tomac (USA), KTM, 22, (-20)

10. Jordon Smith (USA), Triumph, 21, (-21)