Image: Supplied.

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki press release:

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Garrett Marchbanks earned his second top-five finish of the season inside AT&T Stadium as the Supercross series hosted its second Triple Crown format this year. Marchbanks showed speed in all three main events, finishing the night with a 6-4-5 score. Teammate Jordon Smith had plenty of bright moments, but ultimately luck was not on his side and finished 13th with a 4-20-14 score.

The track hadn’t been very forgiving to many of the riders throughout the day, but Marchbanks was riding well and ready for action. Marchbanks had an inspiring first main event after starting 14th in which he made quick work of his competition to make it up to sixth in the shorter 10-minute race.

His start was better in Main Event 2, putting him sixth on the start. Marchbanks was able to put in his best finish of the night with a fourth during the second race. He faced another uphill battle in Main Event 3 after starting just outside the top 10. With an ever-deteriorating track, Marchbanks made sure to hit his lines and was able to end the final race of the night in fifth, giving him fifth overall.

“I was hoping to battle more with those guys at the front, but I didn’t put down the best starts and had to work my way up,” said Marchbanks. “Even coming through traffic I was able to get in some really good lap times, so I need to make it easier on myself and try to get some clear laps at the front. It will be good to get back to a normal schedule and go after another solid finish next week.”

Smith had his fair share of run-ins with other riders that resulted in him on the ground or nearly there. In the end, his results don’t show how well he was riding. In Main Event 1, Smith nearly grabbed the holeshot and was riding solid where he would eventually take his best finish of the night in fourth.

His Main Event 2 start wasn’t what he was looking for and was outside the top 10 for the first five laps. As he was making progress, Smith and another rider came together after the finish line, putting him at the back of the pack. Ready to make up for the tough second race, Smith had another good start and was running fifth. He was able to make it up to third before another rider bumped him to the ground. Smith remounted but wasn’t able to keep up the same pace and finished 14th in Main Event 3.

“To say I got beat up out there today would be an understatement,” said Smith. “There were things that were just accidents and then there some that seemed to be intentional. If I took away the time on the ground, I was happy with my speed and had two out of three good starts. I can’t dwell on the bad, but I can learn from it. We’ll be ready for Atlanta.”