Hunter Lawrence (Honda) beats younger brother Jett at High Point

Round 4 of the US Nationals at High Point (Pennsylvania): Australian HRC works rider Jett Lawrence was the fastest in the combined qualifying session and started from pole. His older brother Hunter was just 14 hundredths of a second slower. Jorge Prado (KTM) was 0.67 seconds behind in third place.

Combined 450 Qualifying:

1. Jett Lawrence (AUS), Honda, 1:59.977

2. Hunter Lawrence (AUS), Honda, +0.149

3. Jorge Prado (E), KTM, +0.672

4. Haiden Deegan (USA), Yamaha, +1.341

5. Mikkel Haarup (DK), Triumph, +2.281

6. R.J. Hampshire (USA), Husqvarna, +3.828

First race

Jorge Prado got off to a flying start and took the holeshot in the first race, but Hunter Lawrence kept his cool in the tight traffic of the first lap and quickly took the lead ahead of Webb and Prado. Jett Lawrence and Haiden Deegan followed. Jett also managed to overtake Prado and move into second place. By this point, Hunter had already built up a 7-second lead at the front. As the race progressed, Hunter extended his lead to 14 seconds. Hunter Lawrence won the first race by a margin of 11.6 seconds ahead of Jett and Jorge Prado.

Second race: Crashes for Dylan Ferrandis, retirement for Webb

Ducati factory rider Dylan Ferrandis, who had already suffered a heavy crash in qualifying, collided with Cornelius Toendel in the second race and was sent flying off the track again. As a result, the Frenchman, who had finished the first race in 11th place, was forced to retire from the second race. His Ducati team-mate Justin Barcia was unable to compete at High Point at all due to back problems. Yamaha factory rider Cooper Webb also had to end the second race in the pits due to a technical problem.

Good pace from Haiden Deegan

Haiden Deegan didn’t get off to a particularly good start in the second race and had to contend with the two Red Bull KTM factory riders, Aaron Plessinger and Jorge Prado, throughout the race. He eventually managed to overtake both of them, though Plessinger later regained the upper hand against Prado and finished fourth.

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Strong European performers

Overshadowed by the Coenen brothers, who attracted all the attention a week ago, it went somewhat unnoticed that the Danish Triumph factory rider Mikkel Haarup is finding his feet in the series more and more. He finished the race at High Point in 8th place and has now moved up to 9th in the standings. Swiss Yamaha rider Valentin Guillod finished 10th overall with a 14-11 result.

Hunter Lawrence kept control

Hunter Lawrence also won the second race ahead of his younger brother Jett, thereby reducing his deficit to the top of the standings from 8 to 2 points. Haiden Deegan’s deficit to third place increased at High Point from 32 to 38 points. The fifth round of the US Nationals takes place in Red Bud in two weeks’ time.

High Point 450 results

1. Hunter Lawrence (AUS), Honda, 1–1

2. Jett Lawrence (AUS), Honda, 2–2

3. Haiden Deegan (USA), Yamaha, 4–3

4. Jorge Prado (E), KTM, 3–5

5. Aaron Plessinger (USA), KTM, 6–4

6. Garrett Marchbanks (USA), Kawasaki, 5–6

7. Mikkel Haarup (DK), Triumph, 8–8

8. R.J. Hampshire (USA), Husqvarna, 10–7

9. Jordon Smith (USA), Triumph, 9–13

10. Valentin Guillod (CH), Yamaha, 14–11

Standings after Round 4 of 11

1. Jett Lawrence (AUS), Honda, 182

2. Hunter Lawrence (AUS), Honda, 180 (-2)

3. Haiden Deegan (USA), Yamaha, 144 (-38)

4. Jorge Prado (E), KTM, 122 (-60)

5. R.J. Hampshire (USA), Husqvarna, 121 (-61)

6. Garrett Marchbanks (USA), Kawasaki, 116 (-66)

7. Aaron Plessinger (USA), KTM, 102 (-80)

8. Dylan Ferrandis (F), Honda, 97 (-85)

9. Mikkel Haarup (DK), Triumph, 94 (-88)

10. Cooper Webb (USA), Yamaha, 83 (-99)