The day got off to a great start for Cooper, who qualified second in the morning’s timed sessions. His good gate pick paid off as he started the opening moto in second. The New Yorker rode a strong pace as he challenged for the lead before finishing the moto in third. It was another great start for Cooper, who came around the first lap just behind his teammate in third. Being the last moto of the day, the track was brutal, but Cooper held on to cross the line in fourth, awarding him third overall.
While Kitchen had never ridden the track in Southwick before, he started the day qualifying fourth. He had been practicing starts during the week, but a small mistake out of the gate during the first moto cost him, and he came around the first lap in 17th. The Washington State rider had a great pace and made it up to eighth by the end of the moto. The second moto gave him the opportunity to bounce back, and he did just that as he shot out to a third-place start. He quickly got by his teammate Cooper before the end of the opening lap and started to chase down the leader. Kitchen proved he belonged at the front as he made several attempts for the lead before ultimately crossing the finish line in second for fourth overall.
Thrasher was another teammate to score a top-10 qualifying time, grabbing the sixth spot to start the day. He got a good jump off the Moto 1 start and settled into 10th. The Tennessee rider made a mistake halfway through the race and went down and then had a tough time getting back to the same flow he had with the track prior to his crash and ultimately finished 15th. Knowing he was capable of much more than the top 15, Thrasher rode a quick pace in Moto 2, moving through the pack from 13th to sixth, giving him ninth overall.
Romano had a good first experience with the infamous sand track, qualifying ninth. He continued to execute his starts as he has all year, filing into third behind teammate Cooper. The rookie proved his speed was there as he ran in the top five for over half of the race, ultimately finishing the moto in 10th. He snagged another good start in seventh during the opening laps of the second moto, falling back to 15th by the end of the race.
Fellow rookie LeBlanc qualified 19th but had a positive start to the opening moto in 14th. He was moving forward but finished the moto in 16th. LeBlanc had an impressive fifth-place start in Moto 2 but went down a few laps into the race and was forced to retire early with a broken collarbone and an arm injury. He was evaluated on-site by the Alpinestars Mobile Medical Unit and will seek further evaluation after the weekend with an update on his return to follow.
Next weekend, the Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing team heads to Millville, Minnesota, for Round 7 of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship at Spring Creek MX Park on Saturday, July 16.
