In the 2023 edition of the MotoOnline AUS Awards, we name the leading performers and storylines of the season past in a reflection of domestic and international competition. These are done purely for editorial purposes, pieced together from an Australian perspective via what we witnessed during the year both locally and abroad.

Image: Foremost Media.

National Rider of the Year – Dean Ferris:
What a year it was for Dean Ferris. Just last year he was cruising the Aussie outback with his family after retiring from professional competition, but the racing bug is hard to shake, and Ferris turned up to the opening round of the Penrite ProMX Championship aboard a Brisbane Motorcycles-backed YZ450F and looked dangerous from the outset. After a see-saw battle with Boost Mobile Honda Racing’s Jed Beaton, Ferris really found his mojo in the back half of the season, eventually settling in for a comfortable 2-2 result at the series finale at Coolum to clinch an emotionally-charged fourth national MX1 championship. He then went on to help Australia achieve its best-ever second-place result at the Motocross of Nations (MXoN) alongside Hunter and Jett Lawrence. Next, Ferris will be returning to the CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Team for 2024 alongside Beaton and we’re eager to see if he can make it title number five.

International Rider of the Year – Jett Lawrence:
There’s no denying that Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence was the standard of 2023. Everything he touched turned to gold as he rewrote the history books in a number of ways. A commanding 250SX West championship win was just the beginning, as he then stepped up to the 450MX class for the Pro Motocross Championship and left the rest of the field in his roost. It’s not the first time a perfect season has been achieved, but it’s the first time it’s ever been done by a rookie. Lawrence then went on to win the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX), courtesy of a dominant performance at the Los Angeles SMX Finals. On top of that, the younger of the Lawrence brothers won a moto at MXoN, then emerged as the King of the Paris Supercross with four race wins from his six outings. The only box left to tick for the supremely talented Honda rider is the 450SX championship, in which he’ll enter for the first time in 2024.

Off-Road Rider of the Year – Josh Green:
After 15 years as a pro, Josh Green finally secured the one trophy that had previously eluded him, winning the Australian Off-Road Championship outright. The ShopYamaha Off-Road Racing rider had won multiple class titles, the Hattah Desert Race and the Australian Four-Day Enduro, so it always seemed like it was a matter of time, but 2023 saw him finally put it all together. Green put in a consistent performance all year on the way to victory, and to ensure he goes out on top, he announced his retirement from full-time racing last month. He’ll still line up for the occasional event, but for now, the 33-year-old plans to explore different avenues that revolve around dirt bikes.

Rookie of the Year – Kayden Minear:
After a successful 2022 campaign in the MX3 class, Western Australian teenager Kayden Minear signed to race MX2 for KTM Racing Team, and it didn’t take him long to find his feet. The highlight of the talented 16-year-old’s year came at a mud-soaked third round at Wodonga, where he negotiated the treacherous conditions to finish a remarkable runner-up overall in just his third start in the class. Minear remained consistent throughout the rest of the year, racking up valuable points at each round on his way to sixth overall in the MX2 championship. Hopes of finding success during the AUSX championship were short-lived, after Minear crashed out during qualifying at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. A broken humorous saw him sidelined for the rest of the series, but he’s already back on the bike and training for the 2024 ProMX championship.

Personality of the Year – Hunter Lawrence:
There’s something refreshingly honest about the way Team Honda HRC’s Hunter Lawrence presents himself. He’s never one to hide behind a mask or the cookie-cutter responses that some riders give to media questions or his fans – with Hunter, what you see is what you get. He’s not afraid to call a spade a spade when it’s required, but at the other end of the spectrum, when he’s genuinely happy he’s not afraid to let his emotions show. Hunter’s growing a legion of fans as part of the Lawrence empire, and it’s in no small part to his witty, original quips and one-liners, his banter with his younger brother Jett, great social media presence and his consistent transparency off the bike.

Series of the Year – SMX World Championship:
2023 proved to be a marquee year for the sport in the US, with the Supercross promoter, Feld Entertainment, and the Pro Motocross promoter, MX Sports, banding together to introduce the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship, complete with a three-round SMX Finals system. It wasn’t without its sceptics and it did take a while for the formats and details to come to light, but for the most part, the new streamlined package and playoffs were a big success. With the final rider line-ups determined from points earned through the year, the playoffs gave racers a real incentive to return from injuries, rather than just writing off their seasons. The prize pool was also incredibly lucrative, with the 450 champion (Jett Lawrence) pocketing a massive $1-million, and 250 winner Haiden Deegan a cool $500,000 for his efforts. The hybrid tracks were unique, but it’ll be the final round, which saw racing return to the iconic LA Coliseum, that fans will remember most.

Most Anticipated Motocross Model – 2024 Triumph TF 250-X:
It’s a huge deal whenever a new manufacturer enters the dirt bike market, but the anticipation that Triumph Motorcycles has built around its all-new TF 250-X has been something else. With the likes of Ricky Carmichael playing critical roles in the development of this all-new design, the British manufacturer did a fine – but very extended – job of rolling out information over the past six months including an in-person teaser at the SMX Finals, before taking the covers off altogether last month. The new TF 250-X boasts an all-new powertrain inside a unique aluminium chassis, a claimed best-in-class power-to-weight ratio, and has taken no shortcuts with the components. And the best thing, they’re going racing as soon as next year!

Top Team – Honda Racing Australia:
With the exception of the elusive Australian MX1 hampionship, 2023 was another winning year for Yarrive Konsky’s Honda Racing team. Wilson Todd and Brodie Connolly finished 1-3 in the MX2 series outdoors, Jed Beaton completed his return to the domestic circuit with a runner-up position in the 450 class title hunt, with his teammate Kyle Webster closing out the season with a double-moto win on his way to fifth overall. It was the three-round Australian Supercross Championship where the Honda Racing camp really shone though, with Max Anstie defending his SX2 crown in dominant fashion, and Dean Wilson clinching the SX1 title from five-time champion and teammate, Justin Brayton. Plus, US import Parker Ross comfortably claimed the SX3 championship.

Best Event – Motocross of Nations at Ernee:
Some of the best Motocross of Nations weekends of the modern era have taken place on the picturesque, rolling track of Ernee, France. More than 100,000 passionate fans clog the hillsides armed with chainsaws, air-horns, flares and flags, while the world’s best racers go deep into the pain cave for national pride. 2023 saw the same incredible scenes we’d witnessed in past events, as the talent-packed French team (Maxime Renaux, Romain Febvre and Tom Vialle) carried out a memorable triumph, while Australia (Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence and Dean Ferris) achieved its best-ever MXoN result – a remarkable second overall – from a fired-up Italian team. Ernee and its fans certainly know how to put on a spectacular event.

Image: Octopi Media.

Hottest Topic – Drama strikes WSX:
After launching a two-round pilot season last year, all eyes were on the all-new FIM World Supercross Championship to see if it could deliver on its promises as a lucrative competitor to the well-established AMA Supercross and Pro Motocross championships. Unfortunately, it hasn’t lived up to the lofty expectations it set itself. Upheavals around the board table and the investors backing the series saw the German, Singapore and Canadian rounds cancelled, with the French GP substituted for a round at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. The British and Melbourne GPs still ran as planned though, as the dramatic action (thanks in no small part to MotoConcepts Honda’s Vince Friese) across the three rounds proved the series has potential. Let’s see where SX Global takes it next.

Greatest Disappointment – Serco Yamaha closure:
After 22 years as one of the most competitive teams in Australian motocross and supercross, Serco Motorsport closed its doors at the end of the 2023 AUSX championship, after the team lost its official Yamaha backing. It had been a move that was widely known before AUSX began, but that didn’t make last month’s official announcement any less disappointing. Serco began in 2001 and won championships with Cameron Taylor, Jake Moss, Brenden Harrison, Luke Styke, Luke Clout, Jackson Richardson and Wilson Todd. Needless to say, the sport will be sorry to see the Queensland-based operation go following two decades in the mix.

Most Surprising Moment – Luke Clout’s rebound:
One of the year’s most feel-good stories came right at the end of 2023, when CDR Yamaha Monster Energy’s Luke Clout captured an emphatic win at the final round of the AUSX championship at Marvel Stadium. While it’s never been any real surprise to see Clout win, the past two years have been a real battle, suffering a near-constant string of injuries after badly breaking his leg at the Mackay ProMX round last year. At Melbourne though, the 2021 ProMX champion put it all behind him to claim an emotive wire-to-wire victory in the SX1 main event, which also saw him jump up to P2 in the series standings. The following evening Clout again put in a strong performance at the final round of WSX, when he logged impressively consistent 2-4-3 finishes in the SX2 class for third overall on the night, and P3 in the final points. It was a timely way to sign off his time with CDR, with Clout expected to appear under the Empire Kawasaki awning in 2024.

Social Standout – AUSX championship:
It might’ve only been three rounds, but the social media team behind this year’s AUSX championship really raised the bar as far as content creation and generation goes. From the Bench Racers series that was released on both 7Plus and YouTube, to the race highlights, in-depth interviews with the riders, and rapid-fire posts across Instagram and Facebook during each round, the team pushed out an impressive amount of quality content in a relatively short timespan.

Special mention – The champions:
This year saw some new faces stand atop the championship podiums in both the Monster Energy Supercross and the FIM Motocross World Championship. For Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton, this year’s 450SX title-chase was a classic example of refusing to give up. It looked like defending champion Eli Tomac (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) had the championship clinched, before he ruptured his Achilles with just two rounds to go. Sexton, who’d been fast all season, but had also had to overcome his own bouts of bad luck, inherited the points lead and claimed his first-career premier class crown. In MXGP, Spanish sensation Jorge Prado (Red Bull GasGas) asserted his authority on the 450 class early, and managed to win the championship by a comfortable 67 points. In MX2, Andrea Adamo (Red Bull KTM) was also a force to be reckoned with for most of the season as he got the better of Jago Geerts (Monster Energy Yamaha) early to finish the season with the same 67-point buffer to his credit.