Jett Lawrence Will Become the Latest, Most-Copied Rider

Jett Lawrence Will Become the Latest ,Most-Copied Rider

Opinion Piece

By Billy Rainford

Australian rider Jett Lawrence is the latest, most copied rider in the world of Supercross and Motocross in a long list before him.

As far back as our sport goes, there has been a rider who has changed the game forever. My introduction to the sport was way back when Europeans were still dominating at the races around the world. Everyone rode with that straight back style with elbows pinned to their sides. If you go back and search something from the mid-to-late 70’s, you’ll see what I mean. They were fast and nobody knew any better.

When the Americans started taking over at the Trophy Des Nations and Motocross of Nations, the MXGP riders didn’t know what to do about it, so they adapted to what could only be described as the “American style” of riding.

Bob Hannah (and others) in the late 70’s, then David Bailey, Mark Barnett, Johnny O‘Mara, Ricky Johnson, and Ron Lechien had styles that forced everyone to change what they thought they knew about going fast.

When Supercross overtook Motocross as far as in-person spectating and TV coverage, Jeremy McGrath showed us that smooth was fast.

When Ricky Carmichael showed up and forced everyone to start taking training more seriously, it was a change that happened off the bike, but still changed the sport.

Most of you reading this are old enough to remember what James Stewart did to the sport next. Watching him rip a 125 wide open while “Bubba Scrubbing” underneath riders as he passed or lapped them was something that every other rider then and since has studied and copied.

As a slow vet rider these days, I don’t even know what to do with the angled lines that go up the faces of many jumps these days. Let’s just say my scrub/whip/oppo game could use improvement…

And now we have Jett Lawrence.

Jett is the latest rider to be in the midst of changing the game. Everyone is studying his style in an attempt to dissect what it is that makes him so special. His track awareness is next level and that’s something that is more natural than learned, but you can still look at what he’s doing on the tracks and learn from it.

When a rider is in the same frame as Chase Sexton and Chase isn’t the smoothest rider on screen, you know that rider is something special.

Most will point to his ability to jump his way over and through braking bumps to save time and energy into and through corners, but that’s not all he’s doing.

Most riders are doing the same rhythms on a track, and that’s sort of been the case since James Stewart left racing. The comical line now is to ask if something is “Stewable.” James would do things on a track that nobody would have even thought about until he made it possible. If you didn’t see James race, be sure to search him on YouTube.

It’s not that Jett is doing different rhythms than the rest, it’s what he does into and out of corners that is making the difference, if you ask me.

As a photographer, I can tell you which riders are tough to get good photos of on a consistent basis. Most riders will have poor body position in at least some of the shots you take of them. It’s just not the case with Jett! I can go through all of my photos of him and not one of them will be throwaways due to poor positioning.

He’s seeing lines and bumps differently than the rest of the field and it shows in his results. I’m not talking about the big rhythms, I mean the small ones. You know, the ones nobody thought mattered before Jett came along. He cuts through tracks like a surgeon with a scalpel!

Riders who want to improve have simply got to be studying tapes of Jett racing to see what he’s doing and then try to copy it. If they don’t, he’ll keep racking up wins and eventually records. The sooner other riders adapt to his style, the sooner he gets beaten are at least challenged on a consistent basis. Until then, sit back and enjoy Jett standing out as the best rider in the world.

Technique change doesn’t come all that often in our sport, but, when it does, you just have to enjoy the ride and study the hell out of it or get left behind.

Mark my words, top riders will start looking more and more like #18 over the next couple years, or at least until Haiden Deegan starts doing something completely different…