HRC factory rider Jett Lawrence has once again shown how special he is and while I thought he might struggle when he gets to the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, because of lack of bike time, I have completely changed my mind and with all respect to the big three, I think they might all have their hands full.

The AMA supercross champion talks about his win, and the long season that the AMA riders have to go through, 31 rounds of very tough racing. He also talks about racing an all-time great like Tomac.

The young Australian came out after a few months not racing and won first time out. Not only that, but he also beat the current AMA motocross champion, Chase Sexton with ease and then battled an all-time AMA legend in Eli Tomac and came out on top. Special isn’t enough of a word to describe this guy. He spoke to the World media and below is what he told us.

MXLarge: Racing Eli, were you able to learn anything from racing him?

Lawrence: I think also, the key thing, they had the paddle, and I thought, especially in the sand, if I could stay close there, I might be able to gain everywhere else, because I had the knobby tyre and I think everyone else had it too. So, I thought if I could keep close and then maybe put more pressure on in the slick spots, that would help. I got to race him a little bit in supercross last year, but everyone’s riding style is different to supercross. I had two motos behind him and kind of learnt some stuff, first one not as much, because he was gone.

MXLarge: Speaking in Pheonix about Eli and his beast mode, I think a lot of people took it out of context. Tonight, you had beast mode, and you can’t even hear your bike because you have such a different style. Your take on experiencing beast mode for the first real time.

Lawrence: Back then I wasn’t good with my words, but I am better now, I have completely grown. I was dealing with my own stuff, the first one trying to get back into my flow and I lost that time at the first part. The second one was fun, we were going hard and yep, that Yamaha is really loud, and our bikes are the opposite, very quiet. Once I got around him, I still couldn’t hear my bike. Its a big thing with the engine and the air intake and that is why we are a lot quieter than that. It is cool to experience it, and I hope he sticks around, because it is cool racing somebody with so much knowledge and his speed.

MXLarge: Battling the great Eli Tomac, is that something moving forward and is that something you dreamt of, going down to the last lap and to the finish line with Eli?

Lawrence: Yep, exactly. I think, obviously, it was really a cool thing. I think for Eli, it was probably him racing Ricky Carmichael or one of those guys. You want to race the best of the time, and you want to battle with them. Right now, Eli is the biggest name and has the most championships right now in this class, so yep, it was an awesome race. The one thing about racing a champion, there is no quite, there is always fighting until the chequered flag, and it is always cool and definitely a bucket list ticked off. Whether I won it or not, just getting to battle with him, it just a really cool thing and an honour.

MXlarge: It seemed like the first one or two laps; you were a little hesitant and your pace was maybe a little bit off. Hunter was able to pass you, and Chase was right on you. In that moment, are you waiting for the race to come to you?

Lawrence: Yep, I like getting passed the first few laps (smiles). No, I am trying to go for sure, but its my first race back, you know and a different angle for me. In the past, I hadn’t had any time off, so it is a learning stage for me. The first few laps I needed to get that race pace in me and kind of get used to it, it’s been a while.

MXlarge: Everyone talks about your thumb injury, but you also hurt your shoulder at Hangtown. How is your body now?

Lawrence: Obviously my shoulder was bothering during the outdoors and surprisingly, it just needed a test and some therapy and after a week or two it was fine again, and the thumb is good.

MXlarge: How do you feel about a season going this far with two more back-to-back weeks?

Lawrence: I think the 31 rounds kind of stupid, but its nice when you have an injury and can come back. If you look at any other top sport, they are not doing this many races. I think the reason we all come back is for the pay cheque at the end. If it wasn’t for that, a lot of guys wouldn’t show up. I hope in the future we do less, because you don’t see F1 or MotoGP doing 31 rounds, so hopefully in the future we can have less and then it also makes it a special occasion, you know.

MXlarge: What are the dangers of doing 31 races?

Lawrence: I mean, Chase has done all the rounds this year and we are going to a high-speed track next week and trying to set-up a with enough g-forced for the rhythm section, but soft enough for the fast section. It can create a lot of sketchy moments, and we are at the end of our season. For people like me, Eli, guys who have had injuries, it isn’t too bad, but Chase has done every single round, so he is obviously tired after doing the whole series. Mainly cut the rounds down to make it safer and if you have done all the rounds, it just makes it safer. I think with supercross, the 17 rounds there, its great, has always been there, but we don’t need 17 rounds. Maybe cut it to 14, or 15 rounds, it makes it more exciting. The 250s are exciting, because they have to execute every round. Hopefully in the future they will cut a lot more races and the riders might stick around longer. The MXGP guys have a very long off-season and then they do I think 22 rounds or 19 or something.