EDIT - **See updated table further down in the thread**
The “fastest teenager” thread prompted me to have a close at how RC, JS and JL stacked up against each other over the first four years of their respective careers.
Some quick things to note.
- Stats only include full AMA series. One off events and short series like US Open, Monster Cup, SMX, and MXoN are not included.
- RC (1) and and JL (3) both did races in the year prior to their first full season; these are not included.
- RC and JS raced quite a few more races as they both raced full 250/450SX seasons in their first four years. Also JL’s 2020 MX season was a short one.
RC was 17 years 52 days old at his first race of the 1997 season; he was 20 years 280 days at last race of his fourth season.
JS was 16 years 15 days at his first race in the 2002 season; he was 19 years 244 days at the final race of his fourth year.
JL was 16 years 150 days at his first race in 2020; he was 20 years 19 days at his final race of his fourth year.
My observations:
- RC and JL were relatively injury free - they both missed only 4 scheduled races in 4 years. By contrast JS missed 22.
- JS win percentage is way ahead - 71% vs 50% for the other two.
- JL is very good at avoiding bad results. Just three times in four years did he finish outside the top ten.
I was surprised at how similar the numbers are for Jett and Ricky, and JS was clearly a step above but crashes/injuries preventing him reaching his full potential.
Interesting.
I would have expected RCs top 10 and podium percentage to be higher.
JS win percentage is insane in his first 4 years
Nice comparison. If you have the time seeing RV in there would be cool, I don’t think he had quite the win% in 250s of the others though
I would imagine if RC raced a 3rd 125SX season instead of just the 2 he did, the win percentage would be much higher cause 1999 he did'nt do very well his first season in 250 SX.
Stewart was also racing a 125 2t against a field of almost all 4t. That has to be worth something...
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Totally agree
Pretty competitive field at the time of JS and RC up until around ‘08.
But there’s always one guy better than the rest. This is obviously Jett’s time and he will win everything for at least the next 5 years or until SX and MX have run their course.
Ricky did two years of 125SX then stepped up to 250SX for two seasons. He struggled in those two seasons and it really hurt his stats.
In 1999 he he didn’t get on the podium at all and in those two years he only got a single SX win.
How many of these same threads are needed? In my short term memory, there’s what 3 threads about nut hugging Jett? The horse is dead, rest your leg. Let’s see if he lives up to hype in 450sx before vitards anoint the crown.
I’ll add his stats in soon. I’ve looked at his career before and he is interesting because he won relatively few races for his titles. He only won 12 450 overalls in total for two titles. SX was better - 41 wins for four titles but is 7th on the overall 450SX win list behind MC, Eli, James, RC and Reed.
I may be wrong but imho I think you JL haters are in for a miserable few years
This is a comparison thread with good information.
Haters like yourself will call any thread with the name Jett in it a "nut hugging" thread.
Because it is. I admire your national pride. That being said, let’s see a 450sx season before we start comparing him to the greats of the sport.
Jett also isn’t American. It is infinitely harder coming from the bottom of the work to make it to America to race. That has to stand for something also.
Out of interest. How did you see his Rookie 450 mx season going back in may? Did he exceed your expectations?
lol you guys make it sound like he was living in the slums, riding a 03 RZ 250. He’s been on a factory ride since coming here, making good money, and has been one of the most popular riders for years. Walk the pits here at SX, he is the second most popular rider behind Danger.
I know right. Lol
“I know you’re all aware, but isn’t it amazing that the Wright Brothers built an airplane?!”
Irony - opens a thread and types out a response to tell everyone how useless the thread is.
He did what I expected in a depleted field.
Pit Row
You expected him to beat chase every single moto?? 👏👏 Unreal. I don’t think anyone saw that coming.
Those greats built their legacy by starting in 125’s and moving to the 250/450F class in the first four years, as Jett has just done.
I’m not making any predictions about how great Jett might be in the future. Right now, based on actual results after four years, you’d say RC and JL are about even and that JS was probably going to own every record there is.
Careers all progress differently but it’s reasonable to compare actual results.
No I’m from New Zealand. This part of the work is so far removed from either Europe or the US that just making it to either place to race 1 race is a huge achievement. I don’t think you guys realise how low key moto is in these countries. The road The Lawrence bros took or any other racers from obscure countries for that matter, is a much harder road than say Ryder D or Deegan.
Yeah we’ve heard the story at nauseam for the last 4 years.
Kind of an early one. Man, Jimmy Kimmy cracked me up when he says “James, have you ever made love to a woman?” He’s so stupid, but dang I was laughing at that one 😆
I was mind blown when I found out about contingency programs. I can’t imagine a world like that. We are pumped to get a 10% discount at the local bike shop. Pretty much a factory ride in nz. If we are lucky our local track opens once a week. Maybe twice in summer. Ya level of riding really goes through the roof if you can get in a ride every week. If you have time outside of your full time job that is because mx isn’t a paid gig here. And when mxon is on every year. Our riders are putting their hands up to go, and you literally can’t get further from Europe than our country. Imagine trying to qualify for Loretta’s from here. Flying over for each qualifier etc. not easy mate. For us even getting to Australia is hard. So for what the Lawrence family have achieved they get my respect whole heartedly 👏👏💪💪
If it makes you feel better I don't believe Jett is the fastest teenager ever. That was clearly Stewart. Statistically Jett is about even with RC after four years, behind Stewart and a bit better than RV. One major difference is that Jett and Ricky both won 450 titles in their fourth years, where it took Stewart another two years to get his first.
Of course history is not always a good indicator of the future so who knows where Jett might end up, but he's made as good a start of his career as just about anybody.
Updated to include RV.
You may want to educate yourself on James Stewart’s origin story.
You said the horse is dead give it a rest.
We could say the same about the depleted field comment.
Jett also won smx.
So who was missing that could have beat Jett?? Mookie? Craig? Tomac? Who knows 2020 or 21 tomac could have been showed up and he couldn't beat Ferrandis or Osborne.
2,dnf s that season, you really think osbourne is better than tomac?
No, he’s saying that sometimes Eli just doesn’t turn up (in a metaphorical sense). Eight out of ten times Eli would beat a guy like Osborne for a title but two out of ten he won’t or at the least it’s a lottery.
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