It’s been a compelling start to the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross Championship, with three primary title-contenders emerging in 450SX, the Lawrence brothers leading their respective 250 regions and Levi Kitchen capturing a career-first victory at Anaheim 2. In this edition of Rated, MotoOnline takes a closer look at the form of riders who have won main events so far this year.

Rider: Eli Tomac
Rating: 9/10
Rundown: It’s been a commanding start to the year for Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Tomac, who has been able to rebound each time his back has been against the wall to hold a seven-point advantage after six rounds. Beginning with a first-ever Anaheim 1 victory, the defending champion has gone on to win four from six so far, overcoming Sexton’s speed in Houston, standing tall at San Diego and capitalizing in Oakland to tie Ricky Carmichael on the all-time 450SX win list with 48. The first real blemish in his 2023 campaign came in the Triple Crown at Anaheim 2, salvaging sixth overall after a sizeable crash during the third race. ‘An off night for his riding’ saw him P5 at the fifth race of the season in Tampa, but for a great majority of the races so far Tomac has shown great solid speed, composure and experience, making him hard to bet against in this year’s title race.

Rider: Cooper Webb
Rating: 8/10
Rundown: This season has marked the resurgence of Cooper Webb after a challenging title 450SX defense in 2022. While he equalled his result from A1 last year with a P2 to commence this year’s campaign at Angel Stadium, the general feeling was that Webb was much more comfortable with the 450 SX-F platform following a strong pre-season. This showed when he finished second to Tomac the following Saturday in San Diego, just 1.148s from the lead come race-end. Relatively quiet rounds results-wise saw him 4-5 at Anaheim 2 and Tampa, before putting his stamp on being a title threat this year when he made a long-awaited return to the top step in Tampa. He backed that up with a spirited charge in Oakland, showing immense pace in the closing stages to move within less than a second of Tomac when the checkered flag fell. Webb has indicated that he is being a little too conservative in the opening parts of the race, Oakland’s main underlining this has he lost valuable time to title rivals Sexton and Tomac during the first half. If he can improve in this area and maintain his advantage come the end of the races, he could begin to quickly reel in the seven-point deficit he too faces to Tomac.

Rider: Chase Sexton
Rating: 8/10
Rundown: It’s easy to point the finger right now at Sexton and say that he has reverted to old habits of making costly mistakes at the most crucial moments, and while he has made errors, to his credit he has been able to limit the points lost from them. After the form he showed in Pro Motocross last year, it was a somewhat ‘underwhelming’ opening two rounds for the number 23, finishing third at A1 followed by fifth at San Diego after a heavy crash prior to the main. He turned the tables at Anaheim 2, taking the Triple Crown victory, before unleashing his immense speed at Houston a week later in the build-up to the final, overcoming Tomac to take a convincing 7.871s heat race win. It was a different story in the main, however, with Sexton struggling with line selection through the sand and ultimately finishing second to the red plate-holder. Costly crashes late in the race while leading at Tampa and Oakland saw Sexton miss out on what looked set to be two victories, still managing 2-3 in those events. Despite the criticism he has drawn for making those errors, Sexton has managed to land on the podium more times to date in 450SX this year than any of his rivals, positioning himself just seven points from Tomac entering Arlington this Saturday.

Rider: Jett Lawrence
Rating: 9/10
Rundown: Lawrence outlined a 250SX motive for Supercross this year to refine his mistakes before making the step full-time to a 450 from Pro Motocross 2023, and for the most part, the 19-year-old has been able to do so in the western regional races contested so far. Taking three from four round wins to date, the only real hiccup for Lawrence came at Anaheim 2’s Triple Crown, where the Australian fell in the first two finals, ultimately rebounding to take the win in race three and secure second overall, missing out on the victory by a single point. Following the latest win in Oakland and points lead of 20 in 250SX West, he will begin testing for the SMX playoff/final series on a CRF450R during the 250SX West break, but he has indicated that he still has no plans to compete in a 450SX round this year.

Rider: Hunter Lawrence
Rating: 9/10
Rundown: Points-wise it’s been a perfect start to 250SX East for Lawrence, taking two from two main event victories in the season to date as he chases an elusive first AMA title. Lawrence made his championship intentions clear at Houston, leading the majority of the race to take a convincing 7.403s victory to open the eastern regional championship. His win in Tampa the following Saturday was quite the contrast in that he had to deliver an immense charge through the field to taste top-step success, ultimately passing Nate Thrasher (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) in the last corner in what was a spectacular conclusion to the bout. Lawrence has shown just how hungry he is for to achieve the title, demonstrating, speed, composure and racecraft that will make him tough to beat. He holds an eight-point lead ahead of Fire Power Honda’s Max Anstie entering Arlington’s third round of the series.

Rider: Levi Kitchen
Rating: 7/10
Rundown: It’s been a really up-and-down season for Kitchen, from race-ending injury scares to a breakthrough 250SX victory, it has been a mixed bag for the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing rider. ‘The Chef’ started his season with P7 at Anaheim 1, before a heavy multi-rider crash at the start of the main at San Diego ruled him out at Snapdragon Stadium. Consistent 4-2-2 finishes during the Triple Crown at Anaheim 2 scored Kitchen a career first 250SX round win, with the number 43 now fourth in points following P5 last Saturday in Oakland. With crucial points lost in the mishap at San Diego, Kitchen will need to string a consistent run of results together if he is to feature in the top three come season-end, but the result at A2 is evidence that he rebound and put it all together.