Logan Lawrence has been on a dirt bike since he was a preschooler riding around on his PW50 Yamaha in his backyard. Now the 12-year-old is on about his fifth bike, with his sights set on turning pro one day.
And if last weekend is any indication, he is well on his way.
He came second overall at the 2023 Future West Moto Outdoor Series Round 5 in Pemberton at the Green River Motocross track on June 24.
He raced in the 85cc, 12 to 16 years class.
Travis Mosser of Abbotsford came first overall, and Felix Marson, of Campbell River finished third.
Lawrence's achievement is even more noteworthy, given it was his first race of this season after an injury to his arm had him sidelined last year.
He had been riding at the Brackendale track and hitting a big jump. He asked his mom to do just one more before they headed home. On that last jump, he crashed.
The incident didn't deter him from getting back out on his bike as soon as he could, though.
"I'm really happy that I actually get to do this and happy how far I've made it after my injury," he said.
Going into the Pemberton race, he said he was aiming just to finish the race. Thus he was "stoked" to get second place.
While finishing at the top of the pack is always exciting, for Lawrence, dirt biking is also his passion.
"I make a lot of friends out on the track. I just go out there to have fun," he said, adding he likes the adrenaline rush of flying over jumps too.
His next races in the series will be in Revelstoke and Kamloops in September.
Until then, he will be practicing locally and up in Pemberton twice a week or so.
Other local racers
Other Squamish riders also found success in the Round 5 event and are listed below in alphabetical order:
- Bleiddwn Cook came eighth overall in the 50cc class for ages four to six years.
- Breanne Menei came 12th in the Ladies class.
- Derek Burgen finished ninth in the Plus 50 class.
- Jake Burgen came 20th in both the Open Beginner and Schoolboy 2.
- John Diazon finished 23rd in the Open Beginner.
- Logan Short finished fourth in the Plus 30 Vet Master class and seventh in the Open Intermediate class.
- Luca Vitale came second in the 50cc Open class and sixth in the 65cc for ages seven to nine.
- Zaiden Gilmore finished 13th in the 65cc Open.
See all the results on the Future West website.
