CN
III ARCHIVES
BY LARRY LAWRENCE
I
t was a good year for Mon-
ster Energy Kawasaki in what
old-school fans like to call the
"outdoor nationals." Team Green
won both the 450MX and 250MX
Championships this year with Eli
Tomac doing the honors in the
450cc class and Adam Cian-
ciarulo finally getting it done in
the 250cc class. It marked the
fifth time in history that Kawasaki
swept both classes and the first
time since 2011 when Ryan Vil-
lopoto and Dean Wilson did it.
Tomac's win was also signifi-
cant in that it now makes Kawasa-
P120
That's 15 years, folks—by far the
longest championship drought
in the class for Big Red. We all
know that after Honda lost him,
RC went on and wrapped up his
MX career winning two more MX
championships with Suzuki.
Amazingly, Cianciarulo's
250MX title also makes Kawasaki
the all-time leader in the AMA
250/125 class with Kawasaki
riders winning that championship
a total of 15 times. That breaks a
tie with—you guessed it —Honda,
which has 14 titles in the smaller
category.
Kawasaki is now the all-time
championship leader in AMA
450/250 Motocross.
MX STATS
ki the all-time championship leader
in AMA 450/250 Motocross
history. Since the launch of the
AMA Motocross National Cham-
pionship in 1972, Kawasaki riders
have won 14 AMA 450/250 class
championships. It moved them
out of a tie with Honda, which is
now second among manufacturers
with its riders winning 13 450/250
MX titles. Call it the Carmichael
curse, but Honda hasn't won the
AMA 450MX Championship since
2004 when Carmichael won it for
them, and then Honda inexplica-
bly somehow let him get away.
