250 Playoff 1: Levi Kitchen wins in the mud and takes the lead

The first SMX Playoff took place at the open-air ‘Historic Crew Stadium’ in Columbus (Ohio). Heavy rain had already fallen in the early hours of the morning, meaning the schedule had to be rescheduled several times. The practice sessions were cancelled entirely. The event kicked off straight away with the race for the wildcard riders who hadn’t qualified directly.

Wild Card Race

Nick Romano (Kawasaki) took the holeshot and won the first mud race. Max Anstie (Yamaha) crashed, dropped to the back of the field and had to mount a comeback. The Briton narrowly missed out on a top-six qualification spot, finishing seventh. Alongside winner Romano, Pierce Brown (Yamaha), Henry Miller (Kawasaki), Cameron McAdoo (Kawasaki), Marschall Weltin (Kawasaki) and Parker Ross (Yamaha) qualified for the play-off.

First mud race

The first race got underway without a formation lap. Cole Davies (Yamaha) took the holeshot ahead of Daxton Bennick (Husqvarna). Chance Hymas (Honda) and Julien Beaumer (KTM) went down as early as the first lap. Reigning SMX champion Jo Shimoda (Honda) struggled with the conditions. The Japanese rider crossed the line in 16th place, a lap down. Davies appeared to be in complete control of the race, but after a hard landing he suddenly came to a halt with his bike smoking and was forced to retire. Daxton Bennick was over 20 seconds behind and inherited the lead. Bennick won the first race of his career. Levi Kitchen (Kawasaki) finished second ahead of Ryder DiFrancesco (Husqvarna). Cole Davies was classified in 22nd place following his retirement.

Cole Davies fiel im ersten Lauf in Columbus aus

Foto: AMA

Davies wins second race, overall victory goes to Kitchen

Cole Davies started from the very outside but still got off to a perfect start, overtaking Daxton Bennick on the first lap to retake the lead. Jo Shimoda and several other riders went down. Kitchen later also got the better of Bennick and finished second behind Davies, which, with a 2-2 result, secured him the overall victory and the championship lead. With a 22-1 result, Davies finished the day in the mud in 10th place overall. As a result, the New Zealander dropped from first to third in the standings, 10 points behind the leader.

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Playoff 1, 250 Columbus

1. Levi Kitchen (USA), Kawasaki, 2–2, 4 points

2. Daxton Bennick (USA), Husqvarna, 1-3, 4

3. Ryder DiFrancesco (USA), Husqvarna, 3-4, 7

4. Max Vohland (USA), Yamaha, 4-6, 10

5. Cameron McAdoo (USA), Kawasaki, 6-7, 13

6. Caden Dudney (USA), Yamaha, 5–8, 13

7. Chance Hymas (USA), Honda, 9–5, 14

8. Landen Gordon (USA), Yamaha, 7–9, 16

9. Drew Adams (USA), Kawasaki, 10–11, 21

10. Cole Davies (NZ), Yamaha, 22-1, 23

SMX standings after Playoff 1 of 3:

1. Levi Kitchen (USA), Kawasaki, 47 points

2. Ryder DiFrancesco (USA), Husqvarna, 40, (-7)

3. Cole Davies (NZ), Yamaha, 37, (-10)

4. Daxton Bennick (USA), Husqvarna, 34, (-13)

5. Chance Hymas (USA), Honda, 33, (-14)

6. Nate Thrasher (USA), Yamaha, 25, (-22)

7. Caden Dudney (USA), Yamaha, 23, (-24)

8. Kayden Minear (AUS), Yamaha, 23, (-24)

9. Max Vohland (USA), Yamaha, 22, (-25)

10. Julien Beaumer (USA), KTM, 21, (-26)