tight," Kitchen said. "I'd say I just
rode like myself tonight. I'd look
up on the triple and spotted RJ
almost every time, and when I
saw he went down, I just kicked
it into cruise control and tried to
be smart."
Hampshire still came away
with second on the night after
going 2-1 in the first two races.
He held off Kitchen in an excit
-
ing second main but a poor start
and
a flat tire wreaked havoc
for the Husqvarna rider in race
three. His race came to a head
when he tumbled through the
whoops and dropped down the
leaderboard.
"This was the first time in my
career that I've had a flat tire on
a Supercross track," Hampshire
said. "I knew something was
wrong but didn't know exactly
250SX West
Levi Kitchen took his first win of
the year and became the fourth
different winner in the 250SX
West class. The lone Monster
Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki
Team rider kicked off the night
with a big win in race one before
going toe-to-toe with RJ Hamp-
shire again in race two. The final
race
of the night was a winner-
take-all situation, but Kitchen's
strategy paid off nicely, with a
good start ahead of Hampshire.
Kitchen cruised his number-47
Kawasaki in for third and used
1-2-3 finishes to take the overall
and tie for the points lead.
What was the difference be-
tween A1, where he placed third,
and
A2 for Kitchen? "The only
real takeaway is A1; I was pretty
nervous at it and rode a little
okay also—I was just focused on
closing it out consistently. Not
my greatest night."
Jett Lawrence was in conten-
tion for second overall, but a
crash
in the final race washed
his podium hopes away. He went
from last to seventh in race one,
grabbed a third in race two, and
still managed a fourth in the
final main of the night. Lawrence
hasn't been on the podium since
round one.
"Not the ideal situation we
wanted to be in, but we're mak
-
ing our way back to where we
were,"
Lawrence said. "I made a
silly decision in the last race, and
that really cost me. We're only
eight points back, so it's still a
very close championship at the
moment. I need to work on stuff
for the rest of the season."
ROUND 4 / JANUARY 27, 2024
ANGEL STADIUM OF ANAHEIM / ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA
SUPERCROSS I MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES / SUPERMOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
P62
RJ Hampshire went 2-1 to
start the night in the 250SX
West division, but a crash
set him back in race three.
