The 2023 New Zealand Motocross Championship season was the 49th New Zealand Motocross Championship season.
The series had four rounds across the country, running from early February to late March. This was the first championship since 2021, as the previous year's competition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hamish Harwood was the reigning champion in the MX1 category, after taking his fifth national title in 2021. However, he would eventually finish as runner-up to Maximus Purvis, who took his first MX1 national title. In the MX2 class, Cody Cooper won his tenth senior national title overall, after dropping back into the class for 2023.
The third round of the championship was originally scheduled to take place at the Hawke's Bay track. Following Cyclone Gabrielle, the round had to be cancelled with the final round at Taupō being converted into a double-header in its place.
Race calendar and results
MX1 Round Date Location Race 1 Winner Race 2 Winner Race 3 Winner Round Winner 1 12 February Balclutha Hamish Harwood Hamish Harwood Maximus Purvis Hamish Harwood 2 26 February Rotorua Cody Cooper Maximus Purvis Maximus Purvis Maximus Purvis 3 25 March Taupō Maximus Purvis Hamish Harwood Maximus Purvis Maximus Purvis 4 26 March Maximus Purvis Maximus Purvis No Third Race Maximus Purvis
MX2 Round Date Location Race 1 Winner Race 2 Winner Race 3 Winner Round Winner 1 12 February Balclutha Cody Cooper Cody Cooper Cody Cooper Cody Cooper 2 26 February Rotorua Cody Cooper Hayden Smith Cody Cooper Cody Cooper 3 25 March Taupō Cody Cooper Hayden Smith Cody Cooper Cody Cooper 4 26 March James Scott Hayden Smith No Third Race Hayden Smith
Circuit locations
MX1
Participants
TeamConstructorNoRiderRounds Filco Farm & Sport Kawasaki 0 Jared Guthrie All CML KTM KTM 1 Hamish Harwood All Honda Motul Racing New Zealand Honda 5 Tyler Steiner All 94 Kayne Lamont All M Michael Kratzer All CML Gas Gas Gas Gas 16 Hayden Smith All Honda Hub Honda 18 Zak Hetherington 2 NMC KTM 23 Nic D'Arcy All Pumps & Filters/Raglan Roast Factory Yamaha Yamaha 24 Liam Hutton All Bike Torque Taumaranui Gas Gas 35 Bradley Watling All Altherm JCR Yamaha Yamaha 44 Maximus Purvis All Pro Earthworks Kawasaki 49 Josh de Reus All Murray Thorn Motorcycles Yamaha 52 Ethan Waters All Artisans Roofing KTM 64 Isaiah McGoldrick 1 Kea Trailers/Whitespowersport Kawasaki 66 Seton Head 1–2 Powerzone Motorcycles Kawasaki 67 Madison Latta All Mahana Earthworks Yamaha 81 Hayden Wilkinson All Bridgestone Kawasaki Race Team Kawasaki 121 Cody Cooper All 146 Micah McGoldrick 1 Yamaha 149 Max Singleton 3–4 Hydro Power KTM 151 Jayden McAloon 3–4 Mac Media Yamaha 157 Logan Maddren 2 Yamaha 158 Kaleb Livesey 2–4 Holeshot MX Yamaha 164 Reece McBride 1 Team Tortoise Racing Honda 262 Blake Ditchfield 1 Whyteline Paeroa/Groombridge Refrigeration Kawasaki 338 Brad Groombridge All City Honda Honda 393 Toby Winiata All Bike Torque Taumarunui Kawasaki 394 Richard Horne 2 Brausch Contacting Ltd. Yamaha 445 Brooke Brausch 2–4 Otoro Honda Crownkiwi Honda 491 Sam Cuthbertson 1–3 Timaru Honda Honda 722 Josh May 1 City Honda Honda 933 Jesse Donnelly 2 Lakes Honda Honda 997 Hadley Dodunski 2
Riders Championship
Points are awarded to finishers of the main races, in the following format:
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th Points 25 22 20 18 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pos Rider Bike BAL ROT TAU TAU Points 1 Maximus Purvis Yamaha 3 2 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 261 2 Hamish Harwood KTM 1 1 2 3 2 6 7 1 2 8 2 225 3 Cody Cooper Kawasaki 2 3 3 1 3 3 2 6 7 5 5 210 4 Michael Kratzer Honda 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 7 4 3 4 194 5 Brad Groombridge Kawasaki 8 6 8 6 5 5 6 3 3 2 3 185 6 Hayden Smith Gas Gas 5 8 6 8 7 7 3 4 6 6 6 168 7 Kayne Lamont Honda 7 5 5 5 6 2 4 5 5 7 DNS 163 8 Tyler Steiner Honda 6 9 7 7 8 11 8 Ret 10 4 8 133 9 Madison Latta Kawasaki 13 10 13 9 12 10 10 8 8 Ret 7 110 10 Ethan Waters Yamaha 14 11 12 13 19 13 13 11 12 9 12 92 11 Nic D'Arcy KTM 16 12 14 17 14 9 14 13 9 11 17 85 12 Sam Cuthbertson Honda 10 7 9 11 9 8 9 Ret DNS 84 13 Jared Guthrie Kawasaki 11 20 10 14 10 Ret 17 10 13 13 9 83 14 Toby Winiata Honda 19 15 15 19 16 16 12 9 11 10 10 79 15 Bradley Watling Gas Gas 12 14 11 18 15 14 11 12 18 14 DNS 71 16 Hayden Wilkinson Yamaha 22 19 Ret 16 17 15 16 14 14 12 11 55 17 Kaleb Livesey Yamaha 20 18 18 15 16 16 17 14 34 18 Josh de Reus Kawasaki 20 18 16 21 21 17 18 15 15 15 Ret 34 19 Jesse Donnelly Honda 10 11 12 30 20 Liam Hutton Yamaha 23 17 18 22 23 20 20 17 19 19 16 22 21 Richard Horne Kawasaki 12 13 Ret 17 22 Max Singleton Yamaha Ret Ret 17 16 13 17 23 Jayden McAloon KTM 19 19 20 18 15 14 24 Micah McGoldrick Kawasaki 9 Ret DNS 12 25 Seton Head Kawasaki 21 13 17 Ret Ret DNS 12 26 Blake Ditchfield Honda 18 16 19 10 27 Hadley Dodunski Honda 15 22 21 6 28 Isaiah McGoldrick KTM 15 Ret DNS 6 29 Josh May Honda 17 Ret DNS 4 30 Brooke Brausch Yamaha Ret 25 DNS 21 18 21 20 DNS 4 31 Logan Maddren Yamaha 24 20 19 3 Zak Hetherington Honda 23 24 DNS 0 Reece McBride Yamaha 24 Ret Ret 0 Pos Rider Bike BAL ROT TAU TAU Points
MX2
Participants
TeamConstructorNoRiderRounds CML Gas Gas Gas Gas 3 Hayden Smith All 20 Logan Denize 1–2 JCR Murray Thorn Yamaha Yamaha 12 James Barnett All Honda Motul Racing New Zealand Honda 14 Cobie Bourke All Hamburger Transport Kawasaki 17 Bradley Hamburger 1 LMC Husqvarna Husqvarna 18 Joshua Jack All Uplift Construction Yamaha 21 Trent Garland 1 Pro Circuit Kawasaki Race Team Kawasaki 22 Flynn Watts All 144 Tyler Brown All Bob McCleary Yamaha Yamaha 23 Marshall Phillips All Bisset Honda Honda 29 Sam Blundell All Transcanada Motorsports Kawasaki 31 Matthew Stokes 2 Yamaha 32 James Rountree All Best Build Construction KTM 41 Curtis King All Glass and Window Solutions Husqvarna 43 Luke Heaphy All KTM 51 Ryan Harris 1 Gisler Moto Technic Gas Gas 54 Kurt Patten 1–2 Vertex Lubricants Yamaha 72 Seth Thompson 2–4 McKendry Mazda Yamaha 74 Toby McKendry 1, 3 Level Ltd/Pirelli Tyres NZ Yamaha 81 Donovan Ward All Jeff Scott Electrical/Treloar Farms KTM 93 Jack Treloar All Trimax Logging KTM 95 Fletcher Saunders 2 JNS Ltd/Patterson O'Connor Kawasaki 99 Hunter Steens All Altherm JCR Yamaha Yamaha 108 James Scott All KTM 110 Rian King All MTF Finance Nelson Yamaha 115 Liam Kerr All Bridgestone Kawasaki Race Team Kawasaki 121 Cody Cooper All 203 Luka Freemantle All Hydro Power KTM 151 Jayden McAloon 2 KTM 163 Ryan Crawford 1 Action Moto Kawasaki 179 Davi Jordan All John Newton Panel & Paint Yamaha 210 Joshua Bourke-Palmer 2–3 SK Electrical & Contracting Yamaha 215 Mitchell Kiernan 2 Yamaha 225 Luke van der Lee 2 Wanaka Powersports Gas Gas 228 Jordan Newell 1–2 MGB Logging/Keown Honda Honda 246 Hunter Gilbertson 2–4 Rae Emerson Motorsport KTM 278 Yanni Emerson-Rae 2–4 CML KTM KTM 318 Madoc Dixon All Formation Earthworks Honda 333 William McLachlan All AFC Motorcycles KTM 411 Seth Henson 3 Bob McCleary Yamaha Yamaha 509 Sam McPherson 1 CNC Profile Cutting Services Yamaha 554 Oliver Ayre All Whangarei Yamaha Yamaha 809 Tyler Cooksley 1–3 Murray Thorn Yamaha Yamaha 904 Conrad Fell 1 The Tyre General Yamaha Yamaha 912 Tommy Watts 3–4 Blackwood Yamaha Yamaha 972 Carlin Hedley All Phils Motorcycles Yamaha 982 Aaron Manning 2
Riders Championship
Points are awarded to finishers of the main races, in the following format:
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th Points 25 22 20 18 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Pos Rider Bike BAL ROT TAU TAU Points 1 Cody Cooper Kawasaki 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 3 1 5 DNS 231 2 Hayden Smith Gas Gas 3 3 3 4 1 3 2 1 5 3 1 227 3 James Scott Yamaha 5 4 2 2 2 4 3 8 2 1 3 220 4 Madoc Dixon KTM 2 5 7 3 4 2 4 2 7 4 2 206 5 Cobie Bourke Honda 4 2 4 5 8 22 5 4 6 8 5 167 6 Joshua Jack Husqvarna 8 6 8 9 10 5 10 10 10 10 8 137 7 Rian King KTM 13 9 6 10 5 7 7 14 9 9 7 135 8 Sam Blundell Honda 11 7 15 7 7 8 6 9 12 11 6 132 9 Jack Treloar KTM 6 17 5 5 9 Ret Ret 5 3 7 4 130 10 Oliver Ayre Yamaha 12 11 19 8 6 9 Ret 6 8 2 11 121 11 Flynn Watts Kawasaki 7 Ret 9 17 11 6 8 7 11 12 9 113 12 Tyler Brown Kawasaki 10 15 10 13 14 13 13 12 13 13 10 95 13 Davi Jordan Kawasaki 19 16 11 26 12 12 14 13 15 14 17 67 14 Tommy Watts Yamaha 9 11 4 6 12 64 15 Luka Freemantle Kawasaki 14 8 13 11 Ret DNS 20 15 Ret 19 18 50 16 Carlin Hedley Yamaha 16 12 14 16 13 10 Ret 22 21 DNS DNS 45 17 Marshall Phillips Yamaha 15 10 12 15 29 24 21 19 16 17 21 43 18 James Rountree Yamaha Ret 18 17 22 25 11 16 17 17 18 16 38 19 Seth Thompson Yamaha 14 Ret 21 12 16 14 22 15 34 20 Curtis King KTM Ret 20 Ret 12 17 14 15 Ret Ret 15 Ret 33 21 James Barnett Yamaha 23 21 21 25 18 16 17 23 19 16 13 27 22 Tyler Cooksley Yamaha 18 14 16 23 15 18 22 Ret Ret 24 23 Luke Heaphy Husqvarna 21 13 18 24 22 19 24 27 22 20 14 21 24 Donovan Ward Yamaha 32 DNS DNS 19 21 15 11 21 23 21 DNS 18 25 Joshua Bourke-Palmer Yamaha 28 19 17 18 18 26 12 26 Logan Denize Gas Gas 9 Ret 24 21 32 25 12 27 Hunter Steens Kawasaki 25 23 22 27 23 Ret 19 20 18 23 19 8 28 Aaron Manning Yamaha 20 16 23 6 29 Jordan Newell Gas Gas 17 22 Ret 31 26 27 4 30 Ryan Harris KTM 20 19 20 4 31 Luke van der Lee Yamaha 18 33 DNS 3 32 Matthew Stokes Kawasaki Ret 20 20 2 33 Yanni Emerson-Rae KTM 35 24 26 26 24 24 24 20 1 34 Seth Henson KTM 23 Ret 20 1 Trent Garland Yamaha 22 24 23 0 William McLachlan Honda 26 26 26 32 27 31 25 25 25 25 22 0 Liam Kerr Yamaha 24 25 28 30 31 29 27 26 27 27 23 0 Bradley Hamburger Kawasaki 27 27 25 0 Hunter Gilbertson Honda 36 Ret 32 28 28 Ret 26 Ret 0 Kurt Patten Gas Gas 30 29 27 34 30 30 0 Toby McKendry Yamaha 28 28 31 29 Ret Ret 0 Jayden McAloon KTM 29 28 28 0 Ryan Crawford KTM 33 30 29 0 Conrad Fell Yamaha 29 DNS DNS 0 Sam McPherson Yamaha 31 31 30 0 Fletcher Saunders KTM 33 DNS DNS 0 Mitchell Kiernan Yamaha Ret DNS DNS 0 Pos Rider Bike BAL ROT TAU TAU Points
References