Stepping up to the premier class of Monster Energy SMX is no easy feat, and in 2026 Garrett Marchbanks will do exactly that as part of the Monster Energy Kawasaki team. In this Fast Thoughts feature, the 24-year-old shares his take on what this transition to the premier class means at this stage of his career.

Image: Supplied.

The excitement of being a factory 450 rider…

Man, it’s crazy to believe. For me, I didn’t know where, or if I was going to be riding a 450 or not during the offseason. I was just back home doing some deer hunting and got a random call from Dan Fahie over at Kawasaki, and he asked me for the opportunity. And yeah, I’m super blessed to be here and being able to ride for this team and be able to have this opportunity. So it’s been very good so far.

Moving on from the 250 class…

Yeah, obviously I think anyone would want [to win] a title. For me, I really thought a lot of years I had it and had close runs for it. Sadly, I just… something would happen or I’d get hurt towards the end. Last year was a solid year. I really wish I had the right piece of the puzzle in the beginning, but it’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes. I was really thankful for how the middle of Supercross and towards the outdoor part of the year went. You know, had a career year, had a career number, so that was huge for me and a big achievement. I wish I had more wins – that was kind of a bummer on my part. I really feel like I missed some, but that’s part of it. For me, just prior years, I was always just chasing the lites title. That was kind of my dream and my goal – to get one of those or make a close run at it. How this year went, it wasn’t ideal, but I still had a good run with it. During the end of the year, you know, just how fast some of those younger guys are and just how it is in the lites class, I just realized it was going to be a pretty tough challenge to get to that point, especially outdoors for me. So I was mainly just going for Supercross to try to get that title. But when I had the opportunity to, you know, sign a factory 450 deal without winning a title, that was a very rare achievement for me. And the opportunity – it was a once-a-lifetime opportunity. So it was really hard to not take it. So just for me, at my size and how big I am, it made the most sense to do that. Learning Supercross on the 450 was a little bit tough at first, but after a few rides, I got the hang of it, and it’s been going pretty good so far. I’m excited for it and ready to get after it.

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Adapting to Supercross on the KX450…

Like I said, first two weeks were mainly just getting comfortable with it. It wasn’t even a training boot camp at first – I was just trying to ride and enjoy it and get comfortable with the chassis. It’s a whole different bike, you know. And for me, it took two weeks to really get the hang of it – the power, how things were changing the motor packages. I’d say realistically, we’ve been on it for six weeks, but the last month has been an actual boot camp for me and putting time in, and a lot of motos. It’s been great so far. I can’t complain. It’s been amazing and a dream.

Expectations from the Monster Energy Kawasaki team…

For me, there hasn’t been much. Obviously, in contract ways, for me to get re-signed for the following year, there are some goals I have to reach to be back on the team to be automatically renewed. But for them, they haven’t put pressure on me on how to do or where we need to be at. For me, it’s just taking it day by day, building the speed. I think that’s been really good on my part because I always feel like I stress myself out in the boot camp and I’m always trying to hammer it out. And this has been one of the most enjoyable and fun times I’ve had in an off season, being able to just piece it day by day and slowly watching my speed get better and better. It’s been awesome. These last two weeks have been taking a lot of time off on the lap times, so it’s been really good. To be able to ride with Chase [Sexton] and the guys this week has been helpful to see where I’m at, and it’s been great.

Image: Supplied.

The importance of making 2026 count…

I think the last three years I’ve said that every time I’ve been out here. It’s been on a one-year deal or a prove-it deal. You know, it’s just another year for me – just put the time in, get good results, make sure everyone’s happy and see how it plays out. But for me, it would be top 10 Supercross. I think that’d be a very good rookie year. There’s a lot of fast guys out there. Most of those guys have had titles or won races. I’ve only won one race. I think for me and my speed and my size, I think I could really work some things out. Whoops, I’ve been great so far. That’s kind of my key part on the track in Supercross. So yeah, just being in the mix, getting good starts, being top 10. And yeah, same with outdoors, just being up there in the front. I think I could be top five in outdoors.

The pressure of a one-year deal…

Man, I feel like my life’s been a gamble the last three years, like I said. So, I mean, at this point… the last two years I’ve been just so stressed out about it. And same with this year. At one point, I was like, it’s done – I’m not getting re-signed. But I just put my head down, dug deep, figured some things out in my program, hired the right guys, and it worked out. I got re-signed for the lites deal, and then it turned into a 450 contract out of nowhere. So no, I mean, for me, it’s just putting my head down, doing the best I can every weekend, and just letting it ride. That’s all you can do. It was like, ‘You can stay lites for another year, or you can go 450 with a one plus one.’ For me, I was like, well, it’s just… I don’t know. It was a gamble, it’s still a one-year deal, a stressful deal. But for me, it was like, I’ve been a big guy. I haven’t had great starts. My 450 days, I’ve had pretty solid top 10 starts, so for me, I think it was kind of the right move for me just to move up and take the next step in my career.