HRC factory rider Jett Lawrence is back. The defending AMA supercross champion played it safe early and then just took off, winning the A2 main event by around five seconds and looking in total control. The Aussie celebrated Australia day with victory and talked to the World media in the press conference and below is what he told us all.

MXLarge: It was tough out there?

Lawrence: I had to be patient as Jason was riding well and I struggled to gain or make a pass and I had to get risky in the whoops and we both got sketchy and I didn't want to rush anything and just hit my marks and we are better than A1 and just click off good podiums and really pumped.

MXlarge: You had to fight tooth and nail with Jason Anderson, and you got that one, just talk to me about that moment?

Lawrence: I was behind Jason in both my heat and the main and I got to learn his lines and obviously the main was completely different to the heat. We were pushing the pace in the heat race, because we had traction, but once we got to the main, I thought, let’s just try and find the same lines and not throw it away. It would have been worse to not get a podium after crashing, or something. I was just staying there, staying there and then one lap I couldn’t find a line and I thought I just got to balls it up in the whoops and I think we both got sketchy in that lap and then make a pass and get through the second set too. We are happy, a good rebound from A1. Just trying to get that points gap less and less. We are heading in the right direction, thankfully.

MXLarge; The track seemed very technical tonight and I believe you were the only one going over the table in the short rhythm, why the choice to make that line?

Lawrence: I didn’t really like tripling out, because I would go really high and over jump it, really easily. I thought, if it didn’t rain, I thought I could go over quad, because I thought I could get it. With the rain, I thought we would just play it safe. I hit it for a few laps, but then it wasn’t like I was making up a lot of time, so I just tried to go through the triple better. I just didn’t want to go off the big one.

MXLarge: A bit of adversity for you guys this week and also some on track adversity and maybe this weekend, when you needed to win the most in your 450 career, you were able to win. Did you learn anything about yourself as a person and as an athlete and about the people around you in what has gone on in this first three weeks of this season?

Lawrence: Honest, I just work on myself with the bike the past few weeks. Going back to Florida and having a nice re-set, seeing my dog and my two lizards and friends and family again. I was also nice to be on Florida and not have to drive too long to get to the track and just reset. Just going back and being in your own bed and stuff, just helped me be able to focus on myself. I have a very good agency, with Wasserman and my managers Jason and Travis Clark, they take care of that stuff, I don’t need to worry about it. I just race dirt bikes and get paid well to do that and I don’t need any other drama from outside. Just riding my bike and getting that better and getting myself better and keep my head down.

MXlarge: How important was this win?

Lawrence: It’s just good to know I can win a main event again, honestly. Just good to get back on track and keep that momentum going.

MXLarge: What about the whoops?

Lawrence: I am a fan of having the harder whoops, like, a lot of us, we practice and train on the whoops and you can gain a lot, but you can also lose a lot there. When you had the nine whoops, if you couldn’t skim them, you could jump through them and get out of it like and it’s a bit unfair, because they guys who worked their butt off to learn how to skim them, because its hard to skim them. And even if the whoops are big, you are still just hitting a small spot and when you steamroll them, its better to skim. Skimming whoops like Kenny, Jason, myself and Eli, we have a bit of an upper hand, because we took time to work on that. I am a fan of having more whoops. I struggled with these whoops today, got sideway a few times, but it creates good racing, and they are not simple whoops. I am a fan of them, even if they are hard for my personally.

MXLarge: Obviously round one was not what you wanted, and you battled back in round two and had that great ride with Eli. Were you worried at all coming into the season, or you figured you would get back on track?

Lawrence: I wasn’t too worried, because the first round was a bit of a bike thing and if I didn’t make that second mistake and crash, I was in front of Eli, so I could have been fifth or fourth, so we wouldn’t be having this conversation. My riding is good, I feel good on the bike, it was more helping the bike, help me out more, you know. I am human and can make mistakes and cannot be picture perfect always. We try our best, but we can still make silly mistakes, which are uncalled for and setting up a bike really good, obviously helps that a bit. We always look at ourselves and also the bike, but it isn’t always the bikes’ fault. It helps motivate me more and puts me in a challenge situation, where I just have to make sure I focus. I have to make sure I get to each race.

MXLarge: Racing Jason, you guys have had some fun on the track, is there a bit more caution behind it and setting up a pass to make sure there is no rebound?

Lawrence: It is more so, just trying to find a good place to pass, where you don’t make contact. I don’t want to come in and hit someone. We were talking last weekend with Eli, and we had really good racing. We got close multiple times and tonight, me and Jason got close, and I was looking above his helmet, and we got close, but we never touched, and I feel like, again, that is fun racing. I love racing when its close and Jason is really good at defending and staying low on the berm, where I couldn’t do anything. It is fun racing and its learning for me and that whole main it was about trying to find a rhythm and finding safe lines, because it was so greasy. I finally got close enough in the whoops, and I was just trying to make something happen and trying to pass and I was able to do it. I was just trying to be patient and not push anything, so not to make a mistake further on, you know.