If you happened to catch the television coverage of the 71st edition of the Motocross of Nations, then you couldn’t help but notice the performance of Hunter Lawrence, who handily won the MX2 class and also copped the Ricky Carmichael Award as the best new rider at the race, which took place at Matterley Basin in Great Britain yesterday. Apparently, neither could GEICO Honda.
Actually, it seems that Honda has been interested in acquiring the services of Hunter Lawrence for a while, and today it was announced that GEICO Honda has signed the Australian to a long-term deal. That much isn’t unique, but what is unique is that Lawrence will be contracted to the team but will not race for it in the USA until 2019. In the meantime, plans for him to leave move to the Team Honda 114 Motorsports team to contest the FIM MX2 World Championship in 2018 before making the move to the USA to contest the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series and the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in 2019. GEICO Honda will offer technical support to 114 Motorsports.
We may be forgetting someone, but we can’t recall a time when a non-American rider was signed by what is essentially an American team to race an overseas series. Of course, one could make the argument that Honda is an international corporation, and that would be correct, but GEICO Honda is focused on the American series.
Here is the press release from GEICO Honda:
Corona, California (October 2, 2017)–Team GEICO Honda announces the long-term signing of one of the brightest talents in international motocross, Australian Hunter Lawrence, in a three-year deal that will begin in the 2019 season of 250SX and 250MX racing in the United States, and continue through 2020 and 2021. In 2018, Lawrence will continue to chase the MXGP World Championship in the MX2 Classification with a move to Team Honda 114 Motorsports. The move also includes a new technical partnership between Team Honda 114 Motorsports and the GEICO Honda team in the U.S.
Lawrence ended his rookie MX2 season by winning the final MX2 moto of the year, and took podium finishes in two of the last three races. He finished the season with a brilliant performance at the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations, taking the individual MX2 class overall.
“To join GEICO Honda and their list of riders past and present is an honor,” says Lawrence. “My family gave up a lot to get me to this point so the decision to sign with GEICO was a big one for us. They felt like family from the minute we started talking and are giving me support next year with 114 Motorsports Honda to win a World Title. Then I will make the move to the U.S. full time in 2019.”
“We’ve been talking to Hunter and his family for some time, even well before his strong performance at the USGP in Florida,” says GEICO Honda Team Manager Dan Betley. “His talent is obvious, and in the second half of his rookie season in MX2 you could really see him spread his wings and start running up front. Hunter and his family expressed the desire to stay in the GPs for one more season with the goal of winning the World Championship, following in the footsteps of other Australians like Chad Reed, who spent time winning races and battling for a title in the GPs before coming over here. We have watched Hunter ride and feel he will be more than ready by the time he comes here in 2019, and while we haven’t seen him ride supercross yet, we believe he has the talent and skills to excel there, too, and with this deal, also plenty of time to prepare.”
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