Jett Lawrence wins Unadilla 450 Moto 1 on a rough track

By
Dan Beaver,

By
Dan Beaver

Published August 16, 2025 02:11 PM

NEW BERLIN, New York: Jett Lawrence was fastest in qualification and had his sights set on wrapping up the 450 championship early. He dominated Moto 1 of the Unadilla National to extend his points lead to 50 over his older brother Hunter Lawrence.

Jett can clinch the title if he finishes ahead of Hunter in Moto 2, which would mark his second championship in three seasons in the 450 division.

“It really catches you out,” Jett told Peacock’s Katie Osborne. “You can’t really send it and bank off everything. You have to be patient and aggressive in a few places. You had to pick your spots where you could go fast.”

On his way to the top of the podium, Jett rode off course briefly, but immediately regained his rhythm.

Hunter kept Jett in sight for much of the moto and narrowed the gap to under two seconds in the middle stage of the race before Jett picked up his pace.

“It was like, give and take today,” Hunter told Jason Thomas. “There are some sections where you have to twinkle toe and be kind of light. The first 10 minutes, I was just trying to find a line that worked and stay out of the roost and dust. You go through a big cloud of dust and wait for the vision to come back.”

Eli Tomac overcame illness last week to stand on the overall podium, struggling in the first Ironman race. He was in a better condition this week and finished third in Unadilla’s Moto 1.

“I was happy with the moto there, other than I needed to be a little better with my start, but my riding was really good,” Tomac said. “My second qualifier was a total mess, so I was happy to clean it up, and I was in the mix there until the final four or five laps.

RJ Hampshire led early before tipping over midway through the race. He salvaged fourth.

Ken Roczen put in the ride of the weekend. Returning from an ankle injury, he rounded out the top five.

Moto 1 Results

Jorge Prado earned the holeshot over RJ Hampshire.
Hampshire moved around Prado and brought Hunter with him.
After a modest start, Jett moved into third late on Lap 1.
Jett took the lead from Hampshire on Lap 2.
Jett rode off course on Lap 3 and briefly handed the lead to Hampshire.
Hampshire crashed and gave up two positions on Lap 5.

In Race Notes

Prado earned the holeshot in an intense battle with Hampshire.

Jett got a modest start but moved into the top three by the end of Lap 1.

Roczen moved into fourth with Tomac rounding out the top five.

Jett passed Hunter and Hampshire on Lap 2 and took the lead.

Jett bobbled on Lap 3 in the split lane and handed the lead to Hampshire briefly.

Tomac got around Roczen for fourth and set his sights on Hunter and Hampshire.

The pressure pushed Hampshire into a mistake on Lap 5. He went down, but remounted in fourth.

Tomac moved up to third.

On Lap 8, Jett had a comfortable margin of three seconds over Hunter and seemed to be managing the pace.

Tomac was 1.3 seconds further back.

With two minutes remaining, Jett stretched the lead to five seconds. The gap between second and third also widened, with Hunter leading Tomac by four seconds.

Jett won by 7.777 seconds over Hunter.

Tomac rounded out the podium.