Image: Octopi Media.

Previous Pro Motocross points-leaders Levi Kitchen and Jett Lawrence were hit with off-track penalties at the Budds Creek National, with 250MX title hope Kitchen receiving a four-position penalty following the opening moto.

Both riders veered left – inside the track markers – directly following the start of the first motos, with Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Kitchen ‘gaining an advantage’ on his way to the holeshot, according to race direction.

Kitchen, who had crashed while leading in the drying conditions, was later demoted from 10th to 14th – costing him four championship points in the process. He finished fifth overall after claiming P2 in the second moto, but now trails Cole Davies (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) by 14 points with a single round remaining in the series.

Meanwhile, also in 250MX moto one, Michael Mosiman (Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing) was docked three positions for going off-track at the start and also gaining an advantage from the outside gate.

In 450MX, Lawrence’s move largely mirrored Kitchen’s in entering the course in-field, but officials determined that the defending champion had not gained the same type of advantage from the excursion. Instead, the Honda HRC Progressive rider was issued a license point penalty.

“Once I got on the grass, I shut it down,” explained Lawrence. “I’m not going to play with that now, and I mean, we’re just doing license penalty points, you know? The whole off-track excursion thing is definitely a little confusing with the AMA – they like to chop and change on different things.

“So, I’ll take it on the chin… if it’s just a license point, that’s fine. But yeah, once I got up [on the grass], I’m like, ‘I’m not going to try and force anything here, because this is where I can lose a lot more points and get penalized.’”

Budds Creek winner and premier class red plate-holder Hunter Lawrence was also penalized during the opening 450MX qualifying session for jumping under red-cross/light conditions, resulting in the loss of his fastest lap-time.