The 2023 Pro Motocross Championship was one for the history books as the 450MX and 250MX titles were won by Team Honda HRC brothers Jett and Hunter Lawrence, but there were also a number of standout rides and results along the way. With this year’s outdoor series now complete, MotoOnline looks back at the Top 10 performances from throughout the season.

1. Lawrence makes history with perfect season as 450MX rookie:
What a year it was for Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence! After wrapping up the 250SX West title in Monster Energy Supercross, all eyes were on the number 18 as he made his long-awaited step up to the premier class for the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship, and it didn’t take long for him to impress. Lawrence dominated on debut, taking a seriously impressive 1-1 victory in the season-opener at Fox Raceway. After clean-sweeping the first round, people started asking the question, ‘can he go undefeated?’… Whether people actually believed it was a possibility or not is up for debate, but sure enough, Lawrence would rewrite the history books by becoming the third rider ever to go undefeated in the outdoor championship, joining Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart, and he became the first-ever rookie to complete the perfect season. Lawrence was tested at times, but always seemed to look like he was in complete control of every situation that was thrown at him.

2. Hunter backs up his 250SX title in Pro Motocross:
Despite coming into the season-opener at Fox Raceway with injured ribs from a practice crash, Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence kicked off his 250MX title hunt in spectacular fashion by taking the overall wins at the first four rounds of the series, quickly opening up a buffer in the championship points. RedBud was a turning point in the season for the quarter-liter category though. Lawrence went on to win the opening moto of the day, but a first turn crash in race two left him sidelined for the remainder of the moto, meaning he’d score zero points in that outing. It somewhat started to snowball from there, as a bike malfunction at the very next round at Southwick in the opening moto saw him score zero points for the second-consecutive race, quickly erasing the points gap that he’d accumulated by winning the opening four rounds. Leaving Southwick, Lawrence lost the points lead to rookie Haiden Deegan (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) for the first time heading into Spring Creek, but would bounce back from a tough two rounds in spectacular fashion, fighting his way through the pack and past all of his competitors, including championship leader Deegan, to take a convincing moto one win. Moto two was looking much the same for Lawrence, as he took the holeshot and darted away to a nine-second lead over Justin Cooper, but a small crash late in the race would see him relinquish the lead to Cooper and have to settle for second. Those 1-2 moto scores still earned him the overall win and the red plate back. Deegan would bounce back though, taking a commanding 1-1 at Washougal, but it wasn’t enough to take back the red plate from Lawrence. From there, experience would reign supreme as the number 96 went on to take important overall wins at Unadilla and Budds Creek, before a conservative performance in the series finale at Ironman – where he went 5-9 for P5 overall – was enough for Lawrence to wrap up his first-career 250MX title, adding to the 250SX East championship that he won earlier this year.

3. ‘DangerBoy’ dominates at Washougal:
Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Deegan was a revelation in the 250MX category in 2023, becoming the first of only two riders this season to clean-sweep a round with 1-1 in the motos. The first race of the day saw Deegan get out to an early lead after grabbing the holeshot and he wouldn’t look back from there, going on to take the opening moto victory by 2.762s over title favorite Lawrence. But, it was moto two that really stood out, as Deegan got off to a top-five start, he quickly made his way into third behind teammates Levi Kitchen and Cooper. Deegan made the moves past Kitchen reasonably quickly and hunted down his experienced teammate Cooper to make the pass and pull out to a 7.974s lead in the late stages of the race, a statement ride from the teenager.

4. Consistent Cooper there until the end:
After Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Cooper missed round four at High Point due to a crash in the morning’s qualifying session, many probably thought that it was season over for the 32, keeping in mind that series leader Lawrence was yet to lose a round at this stage of the series. Cooper returned at RedBud and immediately featured on the podium, and continued to do so at every round besides the series finale at Ironman. That consistency saw the long time YZ250F rider move his way past teammates and up into P2 in the standings, finishing only 20 points behind Lawrence. A commendable effort seeing as though he dropped 45 points at High Point to the eventual championship winner Lawrence, who finished that round with 3-1 in the motos.

5. Roczen podiums in outdoor cameo appearance:
It was a pleasant surprise to see two-time 450MX champion Ken Roczen line up for round four of the season at High Point. Many were eager to see if the addition of Roczen would mean Lawrence’s win streak would come to an end, and it almost did. It was the first time this season that someone had been able make a pass and essentially battle with Lawrence. The Suzuki rider got out to a fifth place start while Lawrence took the holeshot, but it was a mistake halfway through the race by Lawrence that opened the door for Roczen to come through and take the lead. It looked like the streak might be over at that point, but a charging Lawrence fought his way back up to the rear wheel of Roczen and made the pass stick. The number 94 kept Lawrence in sight, but a last lap crash brought an end to the battle for the win and saw Roczen struggle to fire up his RM-Z, ultimately costing him positions and falling back to finish in seventh. Moto two saw Roczen jump out to the holeshot with Lawrence in fifth. Roczen tried to run and hide, but it wasn’t long before Lawrence made his way through the pack and onto the rear wheel of the Suzuki. Despite his best effort to keep Lawrence at bay, the championship leader from Australia made his way through to the lead and went on to take another 1-1 scorecard.

6. So close for Sexton:
Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton nearly ended his rookie teammate Lawrence’s perfect streak on more than one occasion, but there’s one race that stands out above the rest. After a tough opening moto at Budds Creek that saw the 23 finish in a lowly P9, Sexton was fired up coming into moto two, but it was Lawrence that jumped out to the early lead, with Sexton outside of the top-five. After making multiple passes, quickly, Sexton closed the gap to race leader Lawrence and looked set to make the move, it looked like this was where the streak really came to an end. Unfortunately, a small tip over for Sexton saw him on the backfoot once again and it looked like the race was over, but another charge from the recently-crowned Monster Energy Supercross 450SX champion saw him cross the line at the end of the race a mere 0.771s behind Lawrence. If it wasn’t for that crash, it’s fascinating to think about how that race might’ve ended.

7. Shimoda makes it happen at the last round:
Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Jo Shimoda was undoubtedly one of the strongest riders in the 250MX field last season, but coming off the back of some injuries early in 2023, it has been a slow build back to the the front of the pack for the number 30. Shimoda logged four overall round podiums in the 2023 Pro Motcross Championship, but it was the last round of the season where the Japanese rider shone the brightest. After posting the fifth fastest time in 250MX qualifying, Shimoda jumped out to a top five start in the opening moto, quickly made his way to the lead, and never looked back as he went on to win his first moto of the season. Moto two was almost a repeat of moto one, another decent start for Shimoda, quick passes and solid riding through to the checkered flag saw the Kawasaki rider become only the second 250MX competitor this season to finish a round with a perfect 1-1 scorecard. And, importantly, he ensured Kawasaki won a race this year since the brand hadn’t won beforehand in the Supercross season or outdoors.

8. Privateer standout Masterpool on the move:
After starting the season-opener at Fox Raceway in the 250MX category, Ty Masterpool snuck under the radar as he arrived for the second round of the season at Hangtown on a KX450. The number 81 quickly started to catch attention as he rode to extremely solid 7-7 results in both motos to finish the day P6 overall. Moving onto Thunder Valley, there was interest surrounding Masterpool to see if he could back up the impressive Hangtown result, and straight away it was apparent that he was well suited to the 450, as he finished moto one in P5. Moto two saw Masterpool down in the first turn, but a spirited charge through the pack to pass factory riders, Adam Cianciarulo (Monster Energy Kawasaki), Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) and Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) saw the Kawasaki privateer fight his way all the way through to third place, eventually succumbing to Dylan Ferrandis on the final lap to finish in P4. The 5-4 moto scores resulted in sixth overall for the round.

9. AC sneaks in for High Point podium:
It’s been a tough few years for Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo as he’s visibly struggled to return to the blistering form that saw him as a contender for race wins in previous years, but we did see the fan favorite feature on the overall podium at the High Point round. AC finished the day with a consistent scorecard, finishing both motos in P4, joining Lawrence and Roczen on the podium to finish the day in P3 overall.

10. Fighting spirit of Ferrandis at Unadilla:
It was well documented throughout this season that former 450MX champion Dylan Ferrandis was battling some bike set-up issues with the new generation YZ450F, but one race where it all seemed to click for the Frenchman was at Unadilla’s opening moto. Ferrandis started in around P6 on the opening lap, while the unbeaten Lawrence got out to the early lead. After just two laps of racing, Ferrandis had fallen to seven and a half seconds behind Lawrence and it was looking like it was going to be another dominant ride from Honda-mounted Lawrence. But, to the surprise of many, Ferrandis seemed to unlock something with three laps remaining, reeling the points leader in and finishing the race only 1.690s behind as the checkered flag came out. Despite coming up short of the moto win, it looked like it was going to be a turning point for Ferrandis and Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing.