It’s now safe to say that Jett Lawrence was the fastest teenager our sport has ever seen.

No. 

I'd go with Stew. 

Please......Marty Tripes, Ron Lechein......then JBS.

Jett, is 20 years old and has yet to race an AMA big boy Supercross......

I'd say Villo in 2007 at des Nations was the fastest teenager ever in MX.  

Nah...

It's like they asked ChatGPT to write an article about the fastest teenager "ever" in moto, but with an EXTREME recency bias. 

Didnt reynard win his first national? bradshaw won a 250 supercross young.

IDK what people are so mad about. A 19 y/o had a perfect outdoor season in the premier class. That's insane. Sorry it didn't happen when we were all in our own teenage years (which, as everyone knows,THE best era of MX is always whatever era it was when one was a teenager), but I don't see how you can argue against it. He was the best in the world, in the premier class, period. He backed it up with a moto win at MXoN. Yes, other teenagers have shown absolutely blazing speed. Others have had insane races like Villo at Budds MXoN in 07 or Stew at Budds in 03. But no one did it over and over and over again like Jett, and definitely not in the premier class. Get over it folks, this is easily the most impressive year a teenager has ever had in our sport. 

Thats a big ask. A lot of badass teenagers before Jett. Hes good no doubt. But in my  knowledge, between Lechien, Bradshaw, Reynard and Stew the term may need to be the most accomplished teenager(not sure on exact stats) but Stew would have waxed him speedwise and for that matter, Carmichael would have also. Never lost an outdoor title, you think Jett would have changed that, i sure as hell dont. 

Maybe not the fastest, but definitely the smartest and most mature at that age. Barely did we see a young talent managing a race from the front like he did so far. He doesn't care if he smokes the field by 30 seconds and I think it's impressive to watch how he always finds an extra gear whenever we think someones closing in on him.
I truly believe we have never even seen Jett going 100% so far and I hope it doesn't stay like that for the next years..

In terms of just speed it's hard to argue against guys like Stew or Herlings who went all out every single moto and were only satisfied if they smoked the field by 50 seconds. What Jett does is more impressive though imo.

Honestly a slap in the face to Deegan. Shameful, even. 

I'm in two minds about this.

Is he "really" managing these 3 - 5 second gaps?  If he really does have extra speed to spare why not eek out a 10-15 second gap and manage it from there?

Managing smaller leads is fine until you have a tip over and lose the lead...an average tip over it what...6 - 8 seconds?

Depends what you mean by "fastest". If you mean the best performance in their rookie season in the premier class, hard to argue anyone is faster than Jett. Of course, James was racing Ricky and Chad, but Chase is no slouch (he took Eli to the final round the year prior), and he beat him every single moto.

Maybe you want to take win margins, and then James would probably come out on top. He killed everyone on a 125. At the same, time, not the premiere class.

We can of course play the thought experiment of 18 year old James and Jett racing on similar equipment. I would honestly take James in that bet. 

Not this again

Best? Yes. Fastest? Maybe.

I really enjoy how jett rides.... having said that I don't see him going undefeated if tomac was there.

Marty Tripes won the very first Superbowl of Motocross a week after he turned 16.

I mean that’s a bad take considering Jett had a perfect season at 19. One race means… nothing. Rv won the most prestigious race in the world against the GOAT. As a teen, on a 250.  

To me, James was the fastest. What he was doing to everyone in the 125 class was embarrassing. He also would have had a perfect season if not for a mechanical (if that’s the argument). 

Stewy without any doubt.

Jett is up there, but the raw speed of 15,16,17, 18 year old Roczen, Herlings and RC put them a head above the new kid.

Nevertheless, Lawrence is very smooth and has been very successful and will continue to be.

I don't know how this is really a debate..? 

RC4 and Bubba both struggled a lot in the premier class during their rookie seasons.

yeah bubba was a freak on a 125 and had the raw speed.. but he didn't move up to the premier class and dominate? it took 2 years for him to win a title.

who was the last Rookie to move up and have the complete package straight away? not just off race wins or 1 race showings of speed.. but to be so complete as a racer week after week..?

Jetts different and we havnt seen this in a long time. 

Fair, but james was racing against a few all time greats on the 250, and outdoors on a much lesser bike compared.

js7 was different, he brought something new.... as great as jett looks he's a refined version of what other riders have done prior, technique wise.

Grew up around the Tripes clan.

Even he was amazed by the #522 of Marty Smith. 

And beat the almost unbeatable, Jaroslav Falta, in doing so. 

We were in the stands going bat shit crazy watching him win that race.

i agree.. but ill also use that same debate for Jett.. 

Jett just went 22-0 against 8 of previous 250 and current 450 champions?

i wouldn't say safe to say, 

but its worth the discussion,  a perfect 450 outdoors as a 19 year old is pretty dam impressive, 

Jett is remarkable, and ONE of the fastest teenagers we have seen.

Certainly the fastest of 2023.

Perhaps Jett's technical efficient speed is the next new thing.

Stewart’s 17yo MX season (2003) was absolutely insane. He finished 3rd because he missed the first couple races due to a SX injury, but was on another level than anyone else on the planet when he returned. To me that’s one of the only times I would put an asterisk in the record book, and that would be to note that he won every outdoor moto he raced that year, even though he only finished 3rd in the title race.