As Jett Lawrence continues his perfect season of Pro Motocross finishes, signs remain that the field is beginning to close the competitive gap. At Washougal, Dylan Ferrandis and Aaron Plessinger led the opening laps of both motos and Chase Sexton closed in on Lawrence in the middle to late stages of those races.
Ultimately the NBC Sports SuperMotocross Power Rankings looks at the results, however, and when the checkers waved over Round 8 of the Motocross season, Round 25 of SuperMotocross, Lawrence accumulated another pair of moto wins and remains undefeated through 16 rounds.
Even Lawrence does not know how much he has remaining in his personal reserves at the end of a race because he has not been challenged to the finish line since Sexton pressured him throughout Moto 2 of the season opener at Fox Raceway.
With a sweep of second-place in both Washougal motos, Sexton kept his perfect season of podium finishes alive. He was third in the RedBud Nationals in Moto 2, but every other result has been as the runner-up to his teammate Lawrence. It doesn’t matter who it is, if the same rider is beating you week in and week out, the hunger to win intensifies.
MORE: Jett Lawrence comes from behind at Washougal
Ferrandis is still trying to determine how to close the gap on the Honda riders. Returning from injuries sustained in Supercross, Ferrandis swept the podium in the first two rounds in four motos and has not finished worse than seventh. On a few occasions, his effort was hindered by slow starts, but even when he’s been ahead of Lawrence and Sexton he has not been able to keep them at bay.
Plessinger has also been plagued by inconsistency during the season. For the third time in 2023, he failed to finish in the top five in a moto at Washougal when he crossed under the checkers seventh. In Moto 1. He rebounded to pace the field for the first three laps of Moto 2, which is the furthest into a moto anyone has denied Lawrence the lead since a guest appearance by Ken Roczen in Round 21 at High Point. With three Motocross rounds remaining and a 70-point lead over the next active rider in SuperMotocross points, the second seeding is relatively safe.
Slotting into fifth-place in the SuperMotocross Power Rankings, Garrett Marchbanks remains the hottest privateer in the field. He bounded up the SMX World Championship points standings by three positions to 17th last week despite three riders, (Shane McElrath, Colt Nichols and Josh Hill), returning to action in the last two rounds. The goal when he joined the 450 class was simply to crack the top 20 and earn an automatic invitation to the SMX playoffs features. A top-15 seeding is now in reach.
Rider (SMX points rank) 1. Jett Lawrence 2. Chase Sexton 3. Dylan Ferrandis 4. Aaron Plessinger 5. Garrett Marchbanks 6. Chris Canning 7. Adam Cianciarulo 8. Jason Anderson 9. Ty Masterpool 10. Colt Nichols 11. Fredrik Noren 12. Gert Krestnikov 13. Phil Nicoletti 14. Grant Harlan 15. Jose Butron 16. Kyle Chisholm 17. Lars van Berkel 18. Shane McElrath 19. Bryce Shelly 20. Luca Marsalisi | Power Average 93.33 90.92 87.93 84.47 80.60 79.00 78.00 75.00 73.60 72.33 71.93 69.00 67.67 67.38 66.27 63.33 59.17 54.50 54.17 52.67 | Last Week (gain/loss) 1 (0) 2 (0) 3 (0) 4 (0) 5 (0) 6 (0) 7 (0) 11 (3) 8 (-1) NA 10 (-1) 13 (1) 14 (1) 9 (-5) 15 (0) 16 (0) 17 (0) 27 (9) 22 (3) 19 (-1) |
250 Rankings
Sitting on the overall podium at RedBud, Justin Cooper sounded like he was all but ready to concede the championship after getting hurt and failing to mount up for either moto the previous week. He’d lost too many points by missing the round. But he did not concede and since that weekend has stood on the podium in all but one moto. He won the second moto at Spring Creek two rounds ago and led late in Moto 2 at Washougal before getting overtaken by Haiden Deegan. Suddenly there is an identifiable path to the 250 Motocross championship if Cooper gets a little help from the points leaders.
Deegan became the first 250 rider to sweep a weekend when he took the checkers in both motos at Washougal. One week after Hunter Lawrence made a statement that he was in control of the season by finishing first and second in the two Spring Creek motos, Deegan’s response was even louder, and it is heating up the rivalry between the two riders. If the rookie can withstand the pressure, he is going to take the points’ battle to the end.
RJ Hampshire had a consistent weekend at Washougal with a pair of top-fives in the motos and a fourth-place finish overall. His season has not always shown that same consistency and Thunder Valley in Round 20 of SuperMotocross was a low point, but other than that ninth-place overall result, he has swept the top-five when the motos have been added together.
Jo Shimoda is quietly putting together a great season. Since returning from a practice injury during the Supercross season, he has swept the top 10. Most of these have been top-five overall finishes and last week’s seventh was only the fourth time in 2023 that he failed to finish that well in 12 rounds. Shimoda needs better starts if he wants to contend for podiums.
Finishing fifth in front of his hometown crowd at Washougal, Levi Kitchen scored his fourth top-five in the last six Motocross rounds. A moto win and second-place overall finish at Red Bud four rounds ago highlights what this rider can do when he’s at his peak. Now he needs to level out his valleys.
Last week’s fourth in Moto 2 was the first time all season that Lawrence failed to stand on the podium in a race in which he saw the checkers. Is Lawrence losing control of the season? Deegan would like to think so after shaving 10 points off his lead last week. He is now only three points behind Lawrence. That is the difference between finishing first and second in a single moto, but Lawrence has been much more consistent overall – with the notable exceptions of a crash in Moto 2 at RedBud and mechanical issue in Moto 1 at Southwick.
This Week Rider (SMX points rank) 1. Justin Cooper 2. Haiden Deegan 3. RJ Hampshire 4. Jo Shimoda 5. Levi Kitchen 6. Tom Vialle 7. Max Vohland 8. Hunter Lawrence 9. Seth Hammaker 10. Carson Mumford 11. Mitchell Harrison 12. Pierce Brown 13. Ryder DiFrancesco 13. Daxton Bennick 15. Jalek Swoll 16. Jordon Smith 17. Austin Forkner 18. Talon Hawkins 19. Caden Braswell 20. Preston Kilroy | Power Average 89.75 86.47 86.33 84.67 81.93 78.85 78.40 78.13 75.50 74.33 69.67 68.50 68.00 68.00 67.53 66.67 66.50 65.40 61.60 61.00 | Last Week (gain/loss) 1 (0) 4 (2) 3 (0) 2 (-2) 5 (0) 8 (2) 7 (0) 6 (-2) 9 (0) NA 12 (1) 16 (4) 13 (0) 15 (2) 14 (-1) 11 (-5) 10 (-7) 17 (-1) 19 (0) 21 (1) |
* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner in Supercross and overall winner in Motocross. It awards 90 points for each Moto, Heat and Triple Crown win. The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of starters in the field until the last place rider in each event receives three points, (five in fields of 22 riders). The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days.
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 24 SPRING CREEK: Chase Sexton closes competitive gap
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 23 SOUTHWICK: Halfway home and Jett Lawrence is still undefeated
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 21 HIGH POINT: Lawrence brothers still perfect in overall finishes
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 20 THUNDER VALLEY: Lawrence brothers dominance continues
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 19 HANGTOWN: Jett Lawrence pulls away from the field
POWER RANKINGS AFTER MX OPENER AT FOX RACEWAY: Jett Lawrence debuts in first place
POWER RANKINGS AFTER SX FINALE AT SALT LAKE CITY: Chase Sexton ends with win
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 15 AT NASHVILLE: Eli Tomac back on top
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 14 AT NEW JERSEY: The top 20 settle in
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 13 AT ATLANTA: Justin Barcia leapfrogs the Big 3
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 12 AT GLENDALE: Eli Tomac gains momentum
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 11 AT SEATTLE: Cooper Webb, Eli Tomac overtake Chase Sexton
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 10 AT DETROIT: Chase Sexton narrowly leads Webb
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 8 AT DAYTONA: Chase Sexton unseats Eli Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 7 AT ARLINGTON: Jason Anderson narrowly trails Eli Tomac
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 6 AT OAKLAND: Perfect night keeps Eli Tomac first
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 5 AT TAMPA: Chase Sexton, Cooper Webb close in
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 4 AT HOUSTON: Eli Tomac rebounds from A2 crash, retakes lead
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 3 AT ANAHEIM 2: Consistency makes Ken Roczen king
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 2 AT SAN DIEGO: Ken Roczen moves up, Chase Sexton falls
POWER RANKINGS AFTER WEEK 1 AT ANAHEIM 1: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence gain an early advantage