Although it wasn’t a victory, Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Levi Kitchen was the first 250MX championship contender home at Southwick, with the runner-up overall result moving him to within two points of the series lead. In this Debrief feature, Kitchen reflects on a hard-fought day in the sand.

Image: Octopi Media.

First moto effort

Early on I got into third going into the back and then crashed on the first lap, I think. So I went back to maybe ninth or 10th. This track’s tough, when you fall, your heart rate goes up – so it’s just physically demanding. To get back up to second in the first moto took a lot of my energy, and then in the second moto I was a little bit flat.

Changes made for podium return

I didn’t really change much. I just tried to rest a little bit during the week and put the previous rounds behind me, that’s important. I didn’t do anything wrong at RedBud, I just crashed. I crashed again today, but pretty much all of us crashed today. It was a tough day.

Back on form

Yeah, I mean, at High Point I was having some problems with my shoulder, and then at RedBud it wasn’t going that bad. I just didn’t have great starts. I think I had decent speed there. Today was a step in the right direction, and I’m just glad to have two pretty solid motos. But I definitely don’t like the second moto – it was not good. In the first moto, to get second was like a win, but for Sacha [Coenen] to beat us by 30 seconds, it’s tough.

Image: Octopi Media.

Hit or miss starts

Yeah, I’ve been working on them a lot, and that’s probably my biggest takeaway today. I came around fifth and second, so that’s a win – I executed two great starts, today was much better. Seth [Hammaker] and Nick [Romano] have been up front, but they’re probably 30 pounds lighter than me, maybe. It makes a little bit of a difference sometimes.

Crashes throughout 250MX field

I mean, it was kind of just Southwick. It was drier than I think I’ve ever ridden it. The sand was really fine, so it kind of pushed, and obviously the base is always hard. The only thing I would’ve recommended, I guess, is that the track crew… I liked it, but even by the second moto you couldn’t really go anywhere but the inside because the berm just pushed everyone to the outside. I tried a few outside lines and next thing you know you’re jumping a berm just to get through. You couldn’t really move, you know. I’m not saying I like it when they make it super fresh and flat, but it is nice sometimes to have a couple of options. So it was just tough in that sense.