Image: Octopi Media.

History continues to unfold in the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship as Jett Lawrence turned the High Point National into proof that he can overcome significant competition and crashes on a rain-affected track and still leave with his perfect win record intact.

The Team Honda HRC sensation’s day is reflected on the official results as 1-1 moto scores, but that far from tells the story of the daylong headache Ken Roczen provided in his one-off outdoors appearance with Progressive Insurance Ecstar Suzuki.

Additionally, heavy rain in the days leading into the Pennsylvania event heightened the difficulty of the High Point Raceway track, perhaps contibuting to the heavy crash Lawrence suffered while leading the opening 450MX moto.

At that point, Roczen and Muc-Off FXR ClubMX Yamaha representative Garrett Marchbanks got by, but Lawrence caught and passed both to extend his season record to 7-0 — though he gave up the distinction of leading every lap of the year.

Struggling to change his line while approaching a lapper on the muddy track late in the first moto, Roczen hit the ground and lost considerable time as he worked to kickstart his machine while on a hill. Marchbanks’ second-place start and strong moto paid off as Roczen dropped from the front and the ClubMX rider returned to the second position. Marchbanks finished there, 26.205s back from Lawrence.

Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM) was next, followed by two Kawasaki KX450 bikes: the Monster Energy Kawasaki-prepared ride for Adam Cianciarulo and Ty Masterpool’s privateer entry, which was smoking in the closing minutes after a fall.

Dylan Ferrandis (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) reached sixth after an unideal start and led Roczen, Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM), Derek Drake (BarX Suzuki), and Romain Pape in completing the top 10.

Looking to exit the season’s fourth round with his perfect record intact, Lawrence faced another severe challenge en route to his eighth moto victory of 2023 in the day’s concluding moto.

Roczen led early with Cianciarulo trailing him and Lawrence working to quickly catch both. Lawrence cut into Roczen’s lead until the 11th of the race’s 16 laps, at which point he returned his No. 18 Honda CRF450R to its familiar position of first and closed out another 1-1 moto result.

Roczen settled for second in the moto and also was second overall after his seventh-place result in the opening moto. Ferrandis overcame Cianciarulo for third, but fell short of the overall podium with 6-3 moto scores. By finishing fourth in both High Point motos, Cianciarulo earned his first podium outdoors thus far in 2023.

Plessinger, Webb, Masterpool, Marchbanks, Grant Harlan, and Freddie Noren (Twisted Tea HEP Suzuki) comprised the bottom half of the top 10 in the event’s final moto.

Lawrence has amassed the maximum possible sum of 200 points through four rounds, and heads to the fifth event — the FMF Redbud National on Saturday, July 1 — with a 49-point advantage over former series champion Ferrandis. KTM’s Webb and Plessinger are third and fourth in the standings, 53 and 62 points back, respectively.

Detailed results