Pro Motocross Championship
Washougal, WA
Washougal National
MONSTER ENERGY® PRO CIRCUIT KAWASAKI RIDER GARRETT MARCHBANKS SECURES CAREER FIRST OVERALL PODIUM AT WASHOUGAL
Monster Energy® Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Garrett Marchbanks charged through the field at Round 8 of Pro Motocross at Washougal MX Park earning his first career Pro Motocross overall podium with a (3-4) performance for third overall. Teammate Seth Hammaker showed consistent speed and great starts, finishing (7-3) for a Moto 2 podium and a career-best fourth overall. Rookie Drew Adams found his rhythm and secured his first Top-10 Pro Motocross finish, going (13-6) for ninth overall. Washougal native, Levi Kitchen, battled through adversity to finish (9-10) for 11th overall. In the 450MX class, Monster Energy® Kawasaki’s Jorge Prado demonstrated his strong starting ability, but setbacks left him with an (8-19) result for 14th overall, while Kawasaki rider Mitchell Harrison scored 10th overall (10-11) for his Partszilla PRMX Racing team.
Washougal Results
Garrett Marchbanks
“It was a solid day today, and definitely the best outdoor race I’ve had in my career. I qualified first in both qualifying sessions, so I felt really good all day. After getting a not-so-solid start in Moto 1 and making my way through the pack, I finished third, but I was a little tight. I think if I had been up front a bit earlier, I could have stayed with the lead group for longer. In Moto 2, I didn’t get the best start again, but was able to come through the pack. I battled with [Haiden] Deegan for about 25 minutes, which was a good fight. Toward the end, I tried to make a pass on my teammate for third, but it didn’t quite come together. I later found out that even if I had made the pass, I still would have finished third overall. So I just chilled, brought it home, and locked in my first-ever overall outdoor podium. I’m super proud of that result. I’m really thankful for my team, my trainer, and the whole training crew. I’m pumped on how everything went, and it’ll be nice to have a couple of weeks off now.”
Seth Hammaker
“Overall, it was a pretty good day. I started off strong in qualifying. I felt really good on the track and ended up third overall, so that gave me some good momentum heading into the motos. In Moto 1, I didn’t get the best start and was probably around 10th off the line. It took me a while to get into a groove and settle in, and by the time I did, I was in about seventh place. I wasn’t really able to make anything happen after that, so I just held on to seventh for the rest of the moto. It was nothing too special, but still a solid finish. Moto 2 went a lot better. I got an amazing start and pulled the holeshot. I felt really good in the opening laps. Jo [Shimoda] got around me early, and I was able to latch onto him and keep a solid pace. Then [Haiden] Deegan got by me with a couple laps to go, and I ended up finishing third. With a 7–3 result on the day, I took fourth overall, my best outdoor finish so far, which is pretty cool. I needed a solid day like that, and this definitely checked the box. Now the goal is to come back after the break and fight for a podium. I think this little break will be good for me, and I’m excited to come back swinging at Ironman.”
Drew Adams
“Washougal was good for me. I ended up P9 overall, which is my first Top-10 finish in outdoors. That’s a pretty big accomplishment for me. In the first moto, the main issue was my gate pick. My qualifying went well, but I chose a bad gate on my side, and that really set me back. I got a poor start and had to fight my way up to 13th. It’s a tough track to pass on, especially since this was my first time racing here, but it was cool to get the experience. The shadows made it really difficult to see — it was pretty gnarly out there. In the second moto, I regrouped, got a much better gate pick, and started around seventh. I had a few good battles and finished sixth in that one. So overall, I’m pretty happy with the day.”
Levi Kitchen
“It was a rough day for me. Qualifying was decent, but in Moto 1 I got a bad start — probably around 25th or 20th — and worked my way up to about ninth. In Moto 2, I had another tough start, but I made it up to maybe sixth or seventh before I ended up crashing. I got back up and worked my way to around 10th. It was a tough day, but I’m going to keep my head up and focus on the things I can improve, mainly getting off the line better. We’ve got a solid break coming up, so I’m looking forward to hitting reset and coming into the last three rounds ready to show people what I’m made of.”
Jorge Prado
“It was a challenging weekend, but there were still some positives to take away. I started off strong in qualifying with seventh, and in Moto 1, I grabbed the holeshot and came through the first turn in second. I was feeling good early on, but a small mistake in the whoops on Lap 2 dropped me to fourth. After that, I just struggled to maintain pace and ended up finishing eighth. In Moto 2, I had another great start and was running second early, but I got shuffled back pretty quickly. The roost and dust made it tough to stay consistent before the red flag came out. After the restart, I had a strong jump and made a few passes, but I got caught up again. I regrouped and finished 19th. It definitely wasn’t the result I was hoping for, but I’ll learn from it, take the positives, especially the starts, and keep building for the next one.”
