Honda HRC Progressive endured a challenging night at round 5 of AMA Supercross, in Tampa. The debut of 250SX East Region racing saw Chance Hymas return to action for his first race since undergoing ACL surgery last September, while Hunter Lawrence’s night was cut short after a crash in his heat race. Jett Lawrence was absent as he began rehabilitation from surgery to repair the knee he injured last weekend in Arizona. Words: HRC
The evening took a difficult turn when Hunter suffered a heavy crash in his heat race, forcing him to miss the main event. He will undergo further evaluation to determine the extent of his injuries. While Hunter was sidelined, Honda was represented in the 450SX main event by Quad Lock Honda’s Joey Savatgy and Phoenix Racing Honda’s Shane McElrath, who finished 10th and 13th, respectively.
Hymas enjoyed a solid start in the 250SX East main event and was running fourth early on, only for a red flag to come out at the 10-minute mark. Following the restart, Hymas found himself in sixth, where he ultimately finished—an encouraging result in his first race back. Fellow Red Rider Cullin Park also put in an impressive ride, running near the front for much of the race before securing a strong seventh-place result for Phoenix Racing Honda. Carson Mumford rode well to secure a 10th-place result aboard his Quad Lock Honda CRF250R, and Henry Miller followed close behind in 11th for Storm Lake Honda Buddy Brooks Racing.
Hunter Lawrence
“What started out as a great night in Tampa turned into a very short night! At the end of lap 1 in my heat race, I landed on some tough blocks and banged myself up really nicely; now I’m just focusing on getting back to 100%.”
Chance Hymas
“The first round in Tampa was a pretty good day for me overall. I struggled in qualifying, just knocking the rust off a bit. I have about a week on the bike, overall, and the team and I worked really hard all day and busted our butts. Each qualifying session got better and better. In the heat race, I was lacking a little bit of sprint speed; I haven’t done a sprint in around six months. The heat race was good, and honestly, the main event was a lot better than I expected. I had a good start and ran up front with those guys and felt good the whole race, but I was definitely out of breath a little bit. I just need some more laps under me, but overall, a solid start to the year.“
Image: AMA Supercross
