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Moto News Weekly Wrap
April 2, 2024

What’s New:

• 2024 Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship postponed
• Casey Stoner Cup Report
• 2024 Australian Senior Track Championship kicks off in Brisbane May 4
• Jay Wilson begins Japanese Motocross title defence in Tokyo
• Revised layout for 2024 Manjimup 15000 revealed
• WBR Yamaha’s Koby Hantis talks ProMX Round One
• Team Australia applications open for 2024 MXoN
• 2024 FIM Long Track World Championship calendar update
• Josep Garcia ready for EnduroGP 2024
• Andrea Verona aiming for E2 & EnduroGP titles in 2024
• EnduroGP of Portugal pre-entry lists revealed
• 2024 SuperMoto World Championship opener entry list revealed
• Billy Bolt Undefeated Documentary
• AMA Supercross Round 12 St Louis Rider Quotes
• 2024 Racing Calendars

2024 Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship postponed

The 2024 Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship has been postponed, after the Tamworth Motorcycle Club called off the event originally slated for April 5 and 6, due to a grim weather forecast. Here’s the official announcement.

Paul Slade – Tamworth Motorcycle Club

“The Tamworth Motorcycle Club has made the very difficult decision to postpone the 2024 Australian Speedway Sidecar Championship, which was scheduled to be held at our Oakburn Park facility on April 5-6. The rain event forecast for Tamworth on those two days will make it impossible to host the event. We are now seeking approval to host the championship later in the year and, as soon as that process is finalised, we will let everyone know. The Tamworth Motorcycle Club apologises for the inconvenience, but we’ve made the early call to minimise disruption for both competitors and spectators.”

Casey Stoner Cup

By Peter Baker

It took him eight years but dirt track star Michael Kirkness will finally have his name engraved on the Casey Stoner Cup trophy after he came out on top of the 2024 staging at the Loxford Park Raceway.

The Kurri Kurri Junior Motorcycle Club instigated the trophy back in 2015 and the following year Kirkness was chasing eventual winner Jarred Brook when he fell in the final.

Kirkness had not tried again to win the trophy and can thank the enthusiasm of his son Axel to ride at the meeting that convinced Michael ‘to have a ride’ at the Easter Saturday meeting.

Young Axel rode in the non-competitive Division 1 class for the sport’s newcomers, but dad was up against a few tough opponents in his races.

Michael did not contest all rounds of the Pro 450 class so he did not feature in the overall placings, but he had been prominent against the ultimate top three of Cody Lewis, Brayden Gay and Noah Cardinale.

At Just 16 years of age, Lewis is an up-and-coming dirt track star and since the change to Yamaha at the start of the season, Lewis has gone to another level with his riding and become and holeshotting machine.

Heats of the Casey Stoner Senior Cup confirmed that Kirkness, Lewis and Gay would battle it out and when Kirkness got to the lead early in the final he proved too strong for the Yamaha backed Lewis who had also finished second last year and is a previous Junior Cup winner, while the steadily improving Gay was not far away in third.

Another previous Cup placegetter Jacob Richardson was unfortunately side-lined after a spill with Ben Rolla early in the day.

The Over 35s only had four starters and their races were no less intense or closely fought with Angie Reekie coming out on top, while Talon Cardinale beat Cody Wilby in the Pro 250 class.

Racing in all the junior classes took on extra significance as the New South Wales Junior Dirt Track Championships will be staged at the same venue on the weekend of April 13 and 14 so many riders were having their first go at the track in preparation for the title meeting.

The oldest age bracket for the juniors contested the Casey Stoner Junior Cup and this resulted in an emphatic victory for Queensland rider Bodie Paige ahead of another Queenslander Cooper Archibald with local rider Max Earl claiming third. Both Bodie Paige and Cooper Archibald scored a victory in another class.

Other class winners were Flynn Beard and Kru Tulloch, who both also scored a minor placing, as well as Hayden Duggan, Theo Afeaki and another local Brax Anderson, while Matilda Heaton-New was the winner of the Girls class.

This meeting again showed that the quality of the racing turned on by the juniors invariably matches the seniors, and with championship honours up for grabs on April 13 and 14 it will be another meeting worth watching.

2024 Casey Stoner Cup Results

SENIOR CASEY STONER CUP

1. Michael Kirkness
2. Cody Lewis
3. Brayden Gay

PRO 450

1. Cody Lewis
2. Brayden Gay
3. Noah Cardinale

PRO 250

1. Talon Cardinale
2. Cody Wilby

OVER 35

1. Angus Reekie
2. Jason Griffin
3. Josh McCosker

JUNIOR CASEY STONER CUP

1. Bodie Paige
2. Cooper Archibald
3. Max Earl

50cc Auto Div.2 7 – U/9

1. Kru Tulloch
2. Brax Anderson
3. Flynn Beard

65cc 7 – U/9

1. Brax Anderson
2. Kru Tulloch
3. Flynn Beard

65cc 9 – U/13

1. Theo Afeaki
2. Will Wiggins
3. Kaiden Lantry

80cc 4-str Modified 7- U/12

1. Flynn Beard
2. Lucy Heaton-New
3. Thomas Cameron

85cc 2str/ 150cc 4str BW 9 – U/13

1. Hayden Duggan
2. Austin Attard
3. Will Wiggins

85cc 2str/ 150cc 4str BW 12 – /16

1. Bodie Paige
2. Tyler Moore
3. Jed Louis

125-150 2-str 13 – U/16

1. Cooper Archibald
2. Max Earl
3. Jayden Holder

11 – U/16 Girls

1. Matilda Heaton-New
2. Holly Hope-Hodgetts
3. Tyler O’Moore

Brisbane to host Senior Track Champs

The first Australian Championship meeting for 2024 is coming soon to the Mick Doohan Raceway when the 2024 Australian Senior Track Championship is staged by the North Brisbane Junior Motorcycle Club on the weekend of May 4 and 5.

The club and its venue is rightly regarded as Southeast Queensland’s premier venue for motorcycle track sport and has been a regular host of national and state championship meetings in recent years.

Ten championship classes will be held covering two, three and four wheel classes and there will also be three junior classes as support events.

Riders can enter now via Ridernet.

The Club is also seeking support in the form of sponsorship for this Championship meeting and is offering various sponsorship packages – any business that are interested should contact the Club President Joel Eaton at [email protected]

Jay Wilson begins Japanese Motocross title defence in Tokyo

Jay Wilson’s Japanese 1A1 (450 cc) Motocross Championship defence has kicked off in perfect fashion with a dominant display at round one, held the Tokyo Off Road Village, over the weekend.

Wilson was back on board his Yamaha Factory Innovation YZ450F and won all three motos contested on Sunday and took home maximum points. The first two races were typical Wilson affairs, with a holeshot, building a comfortable gap over rivals and then monitoring that lead all the way to the finish.

Race three proved a little more difficult as he filed into the first turn in second place, directly behind Haruki Yokohama. That name should be familiar to Australian race fans as has he has spent the last two seasons racing locally but for 2024 will split his time between Australia and Japan.

Yokohama took up the fight to Wilson and kept him at bay for 10 minutes before Wilson muscled his way past. Then with just over a lap to go, he was able to draw level with Wilson as lappers made things difficult. Wilson stayed strong and was able to keep his composure and held on for the win.

Jay Wilson

“It was a great way to start the championship on a tricky track. The track was watered quite heavily and not ploughed deep, so it was fast with shallow ruts everywhere. My starts were good today and its important to get up the front early and set the tone not just for the day, but for the championship. Haruki put up a good fight in the last one and I had to work hard to get passed him but overall I’m happy with how the weekend went and how the team worked through any issues we faced.”

2024 Manjimup 15000 layout revealed

Some slight revisions to the Cosy Creek track layout for the 2024 Manjimup 15000 event, which is scheduled to run on the weekend of June 2nd.

WBR Yamaha’s Koby Hantis talks ProMX Round One

When the experts were listing their winners for the opening round of the ProMX Championship at Wonthaggi last month, the name Koby Hantis didn’t appear in anyone’s top three. Hantis, who lived in the Nowra region packed up his stuff and headed north early in the new year to be based in South-East Queensland and work with Ford Dale to improve his riding.

The improvement came thick and fast as Hantis shocked many with his speed and fitness at Wonthaggi to take the round win in the MX3 division and with it the red plate into round two at Horsham. It even shocked team owner, Travis Whitten, who thought Hantis would ease his way back into racing after a wrist injury slowed his preseason, but that clearly wasn’t the case as Hantis finished the day with 4-1 results to take the round victory.

Describe the feeling and sensations of winning the opening round of the championship in Wonthaggi?

Koby Hantis “When I crossed the finish line in that last moto it was like a massive sigh of relief for me that all the hard work leading into this season had paid off and I was able to get a good result. This is not only my first win at a national round, but it was also my first podium, so it was really cool. Then when I rode in and saw the team and my dad, it was a bit emotional as they were all excited for me and as well the other guys as we finished 1-2-3. So it was combination of relief, excitement, and emotion for the next 30 minutes after the race had finished.”

How has it been having the support of the WBR Yamaha team behind you?

Hantis “It has taken a massive strain from myself and my family. Last year we were just able to get by with racing and working but we also had a setback when all my bikes were stolen at the start of the year, so 2023 was tough in a lot of ways. But with the team now, so many more things are and ready to go means my focus is on racing and trying to be better every time I ride.

“The equipment is far better than I have ever had before as well. My race bike is awesome, and the guys have done an excellent job building it. We tested a few things prior to round one and got it how I like it and to have that support makes things so much better.”

Talk about your move to Queensland and the changes you have made in your racing program?

Hantis “Last year was ok, but as I said, it was a struggle in many ways and knew that if I was to get better some things had to change. My Dad and I talked about it and coming to Queensland to work with Ford Dale (rider coach) as well as Scott McKenzie (trainer) was far better than staying in Nowra, so I moved up around Christmas time and have been working hard with both since.”

Does winning the opening round change anything heading into round two?

Hantis “Not really. I just need to keep racing the best I can with each race I do and continue to improve as a rider. It was a good reward to win the opening round but there are plenty of good riders in MX3 this year so I need to keep at it and make sure I continue to get fitter and faster each round and take it race by race to get the best result I can.”

Team Australia applications open for 2024 MXoN

Motorcycling Australia is now accepting applications from riders who wish to compete for Team Australia in the 2024 Motocross of Nations (MXoN), which will be held at one of the most celebrated tracks in the world – Matterley Basin in England. The MXoN will take place from October 4-6 and, for Australian-based riders, the time commitment away from home will be approximately seven days.

Applications close Friday, May 31, 2024, after which Motorcycling Australia will contact the selected riders, with applications able to be made here: Rider Application Form.

Matterley Basin is situated about 100km south-west of London. It will be the third time the MXoN is held at the circuit, as Team Australia strives to win the iconic teams’ event after third and second places over the last two years.

2024 FIM Long Track World Championship calendar update

The event originally scheduled for 11 August in Scheessel, Germany will now take place on 18 August. See the updated calendar below:

Josep Garcia ready for EnduroGP 2024

After a busy pre-season of training, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia is ready to race the seven-round 2024 FIM EnduroGP World Championship, beginning with the GP of Portugal from 5-7 April. Choosing to remain on his KTM 250 EXC-F after last year’s success, Garcia has shown incredible pace and form on the machine already in testing and training ahead of the EnduroGP season start.

The 27-year-old dominated the first race of his 2024 calendar, round one of the Spanish Enduro Championship, to claim victories in both the overall ‘scratch’ ranking and the E1 class.

Following his 2023 victory in the Enduro1 category, Josep is determined to retain his title and claim the hotly contested EnduroGP world championship crown. The Spaniard’s 2023 season wasn’t all smooth sailing however, as Josep suffered a broken collarbone and dislocated elbow after a crash at the GP of Sweden. Thanks to his strong results from the opening rounds, combined with an epic comeback after injury, Garcia managed to secure the E1 title.

Round one of the 2024 FIM EnduroGP World Championship gets underway from April 5-7 with the first of a Portuguese double-header, beginning in Fafe, northern Portugal. In addition to making stops in fan-favorite locations such as France, Italy, and Slovakia, the seven-round championship will also visit Wales and Romania, two countries that have not hosted EnduroGP action in many years.

Josep Garcia

“I’m really looking forward to getting the 2024 EnduroGP season underway! I’ve worked really hard over the pre-season this year and now, I can’t wait for the start of the championship. Last year, we switched from the 350 to the new 250, which was quite a big change, but I think it was a good choice because it’s so powerful and I have a lot of fun riding it. We’ll continue with the bike this season and so the goals remain the same – top both the E1 and EnduroGP classes. So far, 2024 has started well for me. I won the first round of the Spanish championship and felt really good on the bike – the team have done a great job of getting it set up. I’m feeling good and I’m super excited to get the season underway in Portugal.”

Andrea Verona aiming for E2 & EnduroGP titles in 2024

GASGAS Factory Racing’s Andrea Verona is feeling fit, focused, and ready to take on the seven-stop 2024 FIM EnduroGP World Championship and start his season on a high, beginning with the first of two back-to-back Portuguese rounds.

Working hard over the winter, Verona has put his all into training and testing his GASGAS EC 350F ahead of the upcoming EnduroGP season. Topping the 450 class at the first round of the Italian Enduro Championship and securing second overall, Andrea has been putting the work in to ensure his bike setup is perfect and fitness at its max. The Italian is looking to fight for the win in both the EnduroGP and Enduro2 classes this year and hopefully add two more gold medals to his collection!

Andrea Verona

“After the tough ISDE in Argentina last year, I had a bit of a break before getting back to training, but then it was full gas as always. The bike feels just as incredible as it did last year, and with the few changes that we have made, it has improved even more. I’m really happy with how the winter season went and I enjoyed training in Sardinia for two weeks. We’ve already had the first Italian Championship race which went pretty good – I finished second overall in very difficult conditions. I had a good feeling on the bike but I know where we need to improve, both myself as a rider and the team with the bike setup. For 2024, I’m looking to fight from the very first day of racing for the top step of the podium in both the EnduroGP and Enduro2 categories. It will be a tough competition as always, but I’m feeling good on the bike and I know I can be fast. I can’t wait to get started!”

EnduroGP of Portugal pre-entry lists revealed

The FIM and Prime Stadium have unveiled the pre-entry list for the opening round of the 2024 FIM EnduroGP World Championships and Prizes scheduled to take place in Fafe, Portugal from 5 – 7 April 2024. Here’s the list:

2024 EnduroGP of Portugal Entry List

2024 SuperMoto World Championship opener entry list revealed

The FIM and XIEM have unveiled the entry list for the opening round of the 2024 FIM S1GP SuperMoto World Championship scheduled to take place in Albaida (ESP), 21 April.

2024 SuperMoto World Championship Round 1 entries

Billy Bolt Undefeated – The Documentary now live

Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Billy Bolt delivered a perfect indoor enduro season securing an impressive seven wins from seven rounds and claiming the 2024 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship crown in style. Following Billy throughout the entire season, documenting the highs, the lows, and the glory in this epic in-depth feature, now available at the Husqvarna YouTube channel (link).

Taking viewers all the way through his 2024 SuperEnduro campaign, from pre-season training to being crowned world champion in his hometown of Newcastle, Billy delves into what it took to claim his fourth consecutive world title. Despite sustaining an injury to his left knee at round three in Germany, Bolt dug deep to continue racing and ultimately emerge victorious.

2024 AMA Supercross Round 12 St Louis Rider Quotes

See full report and results here (link):
Blow by blow reports from 250-450 AMA SX in St. Louis

450 Main One

Hunter Lawrence and Mitch Oldenburg both got great starts, but Oldenburg went down after coming up short at the end of the first rhythm section; his fall had a domino effect that saw Adam Cianciarulo and Chase Sexton go down and a lot of other riders taking evasive action. Shane McElrath, Jett Lawrence, Cooper Webb, and others, all tripped-up somewhat trying to avoid the incident. Jett Lawrence had to come to a stop and then rider over the top of Cianciarulo’s KX450F to get clear of the fall.

Up front and completely unaware of the chaos behind them, were Hunter Lawrence, Eli Tomac, and Aaron Plessinger, all enjoying a handy buffer over the rest of the field by the end of the opening lap.

On the next lap, though, Hunter Lawrence went down while leading, allowing Tomac to sweep through to the lead. Following him through were Aaron Plessinger, Ken Roczen, Justin Barcia, Jason Anderson, Malcolm Stewart, and Cooper Webb, demoting Hunter Lawrence from the lead all the way back to ninth. It was a costly mistake for Hunter.

Aaron Plessinger then closed in on Tomac, and started to look for a way past, but Tomac was able to respond. With seven-minutes left on the clock, Tomac led Plessinger, Ken Roczen was third, Jett Lawrence fourth, and Justin Barcia fifth. They remained in that order over the next few laps until Roczen made a small mistake which allowed Jett Lawrence through to that fourth place. Roczen’s RM-Z450 looked to be on the boil, with steam coming from what looked like the radiator area on his Suzuki.

With just over two-minutes left on the clock, Jett Lawrence closed in on Aaron Plessinger, then swept past to grab second place. That duo were five-seconds behind Tomac. However, Jett was now lapping 1.5-seconds quicker than Tomac.  The gap was down to under three seconds with a lap-and-a-half to run, but they were now contending with lapped traffic at every turn, so caution was the order of the day.

Eli Tomac was the eventual victor, with Jett Lawrence second, and Aaron Plessinger in third.

Jason Anderson took fourth, while Cooper Webb was fifth after getting the better of Malcolm Stewart and Justin Barcia. Hunter Lawrence snagged eighth, Justin Cooper ninth, and Chase Sexton recovered from that early fall to claim tenth.

450 Main Two

Jett Lawrence scored the holeshot, but Justin Cooper had a better line out of the opening turn that allowed him to hammer through to the lead. Eli Tomac was third, and Chase Sexton fourth. Cooper held on to the lead for most of that opening lap before Jett found a way past. A few turns later, Tomac was up to second place.

Cooper Webb was running a hot pace to pick his way through many riders over the course of the opening lap and took fourth place from Sexton early on Lap Two. A lap later, Webb took third place from Justin Cooper, only to then make a mistake, that caused him to slip back to seventh. Cooper then made his own mistake that saw him pushed all the way back to tenth.

Tomac stuck with Jett Lawrence over the next couple of laps, the gap ebbing and flowing through various sections, but the pair looked pretty matched for speed. It looked like it was going to come down to who made the first mistake.

But, no. Eventually, Jett found the speed to stretch away from Tomac. The gap steadily grew and was out to almost four-seconds with two-minutes left on the clock.

Jett eventually took the flag six-seconds ahead of Tomac. Chase Sexton and Jason Anderson had a great battle over third place.

However that order all changed after the race when officials penalised Jett Lawrence, Chase Sexton, Cooper Webb, and Aaron Plessinger two positions each for jumping on a red-cross flag at the finish-line jump. Jason Anderson was penalised four positions for doing it twice. In all fairness, the flag looked to be on the wrong side of the jump and out of the rider’s vision, unless they’d somehow shifted their gaze upwards to the top of the ramp while exiting the final turn.

Those penalties saw Eli Tomac credited with the win and Hunter Lawrence promoted to second place, while Jett scored third ahead of Justin Barcia.

450 Main Three

Eli Tomac scored a clear holeshot in the final bout of the night ahead of Chase Sexton. Cooper Webb. Shane McElrath, Hunter Lawrence, and Jett Lawrence all started well but disaster then struck Jett.

He was completing a left-hand turn, was already upright and making his exit after turning down, only for Justin Barcia to T-Bone him in sickening fashion. Jett went down hard, and stayed down for quite some time while clutching his arm. He was down for 90-seconds or more before being helped back on his bike.

Unbelievably, he continued to circulate, eventually taking the chequered flag in 21st place, limping across the line three laps behind the winner.

Up front and completely unaware of any of that drama, was Eli Tomac. Chase Sexton had chased Eli really hard over the opening laps, but the defending champ eventually lost touch with Tomac and fell back into the clutches of Cooper Webb. Always dangerous in the closing laps, Webb caught and passed Sexton for that second place.

Hunter Lawrence took fourth place ahead of Ken Roczen and Aaron Plessinger.

Eli Tomac completed a clean-sweep for the round win, while Cooper Webb took an important second place off the back of 5-6-2 results, while Hunter Lawrence made the outright podium after carding 8-2-4.

Jett Lawrence was eighth for the round with 2-3-21, which scored him 14-points. But with Webb scoring 22, he heads to Foxborough in two weeks time, and now only eight-points behind Jett.

Eli Tomac – P1

“It was an outstanding weekend for us here in St. Louis. We were finally able to get an overall win. I just felt really good the whole day – from qualifying to all three main events. Our starts were on point tonight, the riding was on point, and I was just back to my old self. So I’m just really happy to deliver a win for the team. I was getting in a bit of a slump or a rough patch, or whatever you want to call it. I feel like I’m back now, and I’m excited for the end of this series.”

Cooper Webb – P2

“It was an insane triple crown today; they always are. The first main event, I just didn’t get a good start and made a lot of mistakes. I charged hard, but it wasn’t a great result. In the second one, I put myself in a good spot and then had a fall. I was super frustrated but got back up, made a pass, and got another fifth. We had an incident with the red cross flag, so I don’t know what I actually got. I just knew in the last one that I had to execute a start and honestly just win; that was my goal. I got a great start, rode behind Chase (Sexton) for a while, and was able to get around him. I was catching Eli in the end, but it was just a solid second place. Obviously, it was a huge night for the points, and for the team to go 1-2 is really special. It will be great to go into this break and come back swinging.”

Hunter Lawrence – P3

“This was an awesome pat on the back for all the hard work. It was a wild night of events, but we’ll take the result; I’m very happy with what we got. My riding’s been getting better, so hopefully this kicks in a little bit more momentum for the last couple of rounds. We’d love to get a conventional podium, with no penalties for anyone, so that’s next on the list.”

Aaron Plessinger – P4

“It was pretty wild tonight! I was struggling throughout the day and then went out in the first one and rode pretty good in the first part actually, snuck by for third. In the second one, I got a pretty bad start, ended up sixth before I was docked, and then in the last one I worked my way forward to sixth. Overall, I felt good in the second two mains, fourth isn’t horrible and now we get a weekend off, which I’m excited for.”

Chase Sexton – P5

“Overall it was a rough day. I qualified fifth, then crashed in the first Main Event and got 10th, then I went 5-3. I’m ready for a weekend off and we’ll come back swinging.”

Justin Barcia – P6

“St. Louis was a little difficult in practice, being an extremely tough track, really soft and rutted. We had to make little changes throughout the day, and I got really comfortable by the second Main Event. We’re making a lot of progress, so now we’ve gotta make it happen for a result – we never give up and we’ll keep at it.”

Malcolm Stewart – P7

“St. Louis was okay for me. We struggled a little bit on the starts, just trying to get up there to run with those guys. I’m going to enjoy this upcoming weekend off, clear my head in the outdoors, and come back swinging for the last five rounds. I know we keep saying it, but we’re here in the fight and ain’t ever gonna give up.”

Jett Lawrence – P8

“It’s just a sucky situation. I just cut down under Hunter, and obviously Barcia was defending his line from someone else on the inside of him—just wrong place, wrong time. He kind of hit my arm pretty good; I got a gnarly Charlie horse. He hit some nerve in my arm, where I kind of lost feeling and strength in my hands. That’s why I was trying to get up and get going early, but I physically couldn’t—I had no strength. It is what it is. Thankfully we had a bit of a buffer on second. We’ve got a break, we’ll come back stronger. We’ve got five races to go.”

Justin Cooper – P9

“It was an up-and-down day. Qualifying went pretty well, and I felt good on the bike. My starts were kind of hit-and-miss. My speed was good, and I was able to lead a few laps in the second main, but I was on the ground in the first two mains, and that didn’t help things. So yeah, it was just an up-and-down night. We’ll keep working and look to come back after the break.”

Jason Anderson – P11

“After a promising start to the night in Race 1 and 2, Race 3 I had a big crash off of the start and then all hell broke loose. The red cross flags were hard to see, so I was penalized for jumping those which is super frustrating on a night that could have been a podium. There are five more races left in the season, so it’s time to get back to work and get ready for Foxborough.”

Adam Cianciarulo – P22

“I felt so good in practice here in St. Louis and had such a great jump in Race 1. Oldenburg went down right in front of me as I was jumping into the turn and I had nowhere to go. The bike landed on my ankle and that was it for me. I tried to get back out there but my ankle was too swollen to fit in the boot so I had to call it for the night. I’m super bummed about the situation, but I’m glad it didn’t end up worse and we will be ready to go in a few weeks. Thanks to my team and everyone for their support, and again a special thanks to my mechanic of the past four years, Justin Shantie, and wish him the best of luck with his next chapter.”

450 Round – St. Louis

450 Championship Points

250 Main One

Jo Shimoda got a great launch, but then ran a little wide, which allowed Levi Kitchen to swoop through on the inside to take the holeshot.  Julien Beaumier overhauled Kitchen for the lead before the end of the opening lap, but Kitchen came back at him a few turns later to take the lead right back. Jo Shimoda was third at the end of the opening lap, with Nate Thrasher fourth, and Ryder Di Francesco in fifth.

Over the course of the second lap, Kitchen put the hammer down and streaked away from Beaumier, who was now being stalked by Jo Shimoda, and coming along with him was Nate Thrasher.

Shimoda finally made his move with just over three-minutes left on the clock, to take that second place from Beaumier, who then immediately came under further attack from Jordon Smith, Nate Thrasher, and RJ Hampshire. Beaumier went from second all the way back to sixth in a couple of corners.

Kitchen went on to score a dominant victory, taking the flag four-seconds ahead of Shimoda after buttoning right off on the final lap. Jordon Smith claimed the final step on the rostrum ahead of RJ Hampshire.

250 Main Two

Once again, Levi Kitchen got a great start and was quickly through to the lead ahead of Ryder DiFrancesco. Taking that second place late on the opening lap was Jordon Smith, who then put his had down to try and chase down Kitchen. Nate Thrasher fourth, Phil Nicoletti fifth, Jo Shimoda sixth, and RJ Hampshire seventh.

Jo Shimoda steadily worked his way forward and was up to third place with a few minutes left in the contest, leaving Nate Trasher and RJ Hampshire to fight over fourth.

Levi Kitchen took another convincing victory, crossing the line 3.6-seconds ahead of Jordon Smith, while Shimoda rounded out the podium.  RJ Hampshire secured fourth.

250 Main Three

Levi Kitchen was again away well, and this time out to an early lead ahead of RJ Hampshire and Jo Shimoda. And that was how it remained all the way to the flag! The three riders all running their own separate races and never really getting on terms with each other.

With a 1-1-1 clean-sweep, Levi Kitchen dominates the final Triple Crown round of the season to extend his 250 West Championship lead over RJ Hampshire out to 15-points.

Jordon Smith third for the round and third in the championship chase, 26 points behind Kitchen and 11 points behind Hampshire.

Three rounds to go for the 250 West competitors who now have a three-week break before the first East-West Showdown in Nashville on April 20.

Levi Kitchen – P1

“It was another great weekend with my Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team. Back to back wins and now a Triple Crown under my belt feels great. The team and I have been working so well together, I couldn’t be more stoked. Winning all three with nearly flawless races and extending the points lead is exactly how I wanted to head into this break. I felt so good on my KX250 all day and I’m excited to see which is the best coast at our East/West shootout here in a few weeks in Nashville.”

Jo Shimoda – P2

“I had some of the best starts I’ve had all year today, but the pace just wasn’t there. I just struggled a little bit all day. I’m happy to see that I’m putting it all together though. I’m looking forward to a couple more weeks of work.”

Jordon Smith – P3

“It was a tough day. The track was really tough. It was hard to find a flow out there. They would groom this and not groom that, so the track was constantly changing. I didn’t ride the best today. I had some decent starts and put in solid rides, but not great rides, and came away with a third. I’m happy to be back on the podium, but third is not where we want to be. We’ll go back, keep working for a couple of weeks and come back in Nashville for the East-West Shootout and see what we can do.”

RJ Hampshire – P4

“My riding was pretty good all day, but not my starts, 4-4-2 is not going to get it done, so we will have a couple of weeks off and focus on the three rounds left [in the western region]. Get out of the gate better and I feel like I could have won tonight, but I didn’t execute when it was time to go, and we will be better at Nashville.”

Nate Thrasher – P5

“It was a tough day in St. Louis. I was just struggling to get comfortable on the track, but we had some good starts. We just need to keep working, get back on top of the podium, and finish the season strong.”

Julien Beaumer – P7

“Tonight was good, especially because this afternoon wasn’t my best in qualifying. I got two out of three good starts, was consistent all night, and didn’t make too many mistakes. In the second main I had to fight from the back, but I’m happy with my improvements and look forward to going to the next one.”

Ryder DiFrancesco – P8

“Tonight was good. We had three very good starts and that was a plus. In the first one I went back to seventh, and then in the second race I ran third for a long time, but was seventh again. In the last one, I went down on the first lap, came back to 12th and that gave me eighth overall, so it was a lot better. Starting up front makes things a lot easier and I had fun tonight!”

Michael Mosiman – P18

“The day was going pretty good. Then in the second main, I was landed on. It was just outside of my control. Thankfully, I’m doing alright. I’m very sore but I will be okay. It was an unfortunate situation, but I plan to be back strong very soon.”

250 Round St. Louis

250 West Championship Points

2024 Racing schedule

2024 FIM EnduroGP Calendar

2024 MXGP Calendar (Provisional)

2024 FIM Hard Enduro World Championships Provisional Calendar

2024 Monster Energy Supercross & Pro Motocross calendars

2024 FIM Speedway Grand Prix World Championship calendar