Pro Motocross Championship
New Berlin, NY
Unadilla National
Levi Kitchen Dominates Moto 1 and Maintains the Championship Points Lead at Unadilla
After a two-week break from racing, Monster Energy® Pro Circuit Kawasaki rider Levi Kitchen returned to the Pro Motocross Championship with a championship-leading performance at Round 9, overcoming a disastrous start to Moto 2 with a hard-fought comeback to finish second overall (1-6) and maintain the championship points lead. Teammate Drew Adams put together a much-improved weekend, earning seventh overall (7-9). Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Garrett Marchbanks delivered one of his grittiest performances of the season while continuing to recover from a shoulder injury sustained at Washougal, tying his career-best overall finish with fourth overall (5-4). Cornelius Tøndel showed flashes of speed, including a strong start in Moto 2, before finishing 16th overall (16-17).
MX Results
Levi Kitchen
250MX
“I felt like I could have had one of those days that was perfect and that I've been looking for, but it was close to that. Second moto, I had a little off-track excursion, and hopefully it's the last of that. I executed a great start, and I thought Julian [Beaumer] and I were gonna come out really well, but it is what it is. I just had to put my head down and try and get as far as I could. I’m bummed on that pass on the last lap too. I saw several blue flags waved at that rider and was confused because I thought he was a lapper, and it wasn’t until the last turn I realized he wasn’t a lapper because he was racing me really hard. I was able to salvage second, which was great, but I wish I could have made up some points. Unfortunately, I lost more, but at this point, it's an all-out war anyway. I look forward to next weekend. We’ll try to do the same thing again next weekend, besides the rough start. I’m riding great right now, so I have no complaints.”
Drew Adams
250MX
“This weekend was an improvement for me. Qualifying was great. I qualified third overall. The first session of qualifying, it was so foggy, you could barely see the track. First moto, I had a pretty good start and made two passes for seventh. Second moto, I had a bad start and had a couple of sketchy moments, but ended up getting ninth for seventh overall. It's definitely an improvement from this place last. I didn't like this track last year that much. I do really like the next two rounds coming up, so I’m looking forward to those.”
Garrett Marchbanks
450MX
“My results throughout today were great, except for my starts. Today was really good for the injury I had coming in. I rode basically one and a half days this week. I was coming into today hoping I could turn out two strong motos, and I really showed that. I showed that my fitness and speed are still really good. I tied my best overall result with a 5-4 moto score. The speed was there today, and I passed a lot of guys, so I’m happy with my performance today.”
Cornelius Tøndel
450MX
“It wasn’t my best qualifying session to start the day; I was 15th overall going into racing. Moto 1 I had a rough start and was trying to get comfortable, but just ended up staying around 15th for most of the race. We made some suspension adjustments after the race, and I felt a lot better on that setup. I decided to start in first for both motos and was able to pull a really good start in the second one; I was around the Top 3 going through the first turn. I struggled to stay up front, though, and eventually dropped to 17th. My fitness and recovery are not where I want them to be right now, and it’s starting to show more as the season goes on. I need to make some adjustments to my program to really come back stronger for the last couple of rounds.”
