Image: Octopi Media.

Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Levi Kitchen said that ‘building this year has been huge for me’ after finishing third in the 250SX West standings in his first full Supercross season.

Last year marked Kitchen’s rookie campaign in the Monster Energy Supercross on the eastern region, but his season was cut short due to an injury after completing only two rounds.

The 22-year-old opened the 2023 250SX West Championship with a seventh place at Anaheim 1 and a had a DNF at the second stop of the season in San Diego, escaping injury in the chaotic turn one crash.

Kitchen bounced back at the A2 Triple Crown in January to take his first Supercross victory, where consistent 4-2-2 scores across the three-race format were enough to take the win over Jett Lawrence (Team Honda HRC). He went on to podium four more times, including a third at Glendale, second at Denver and another P3 on Saturday at the final stop of the year in Salt Lake City.

“Building this year has been huge for me,” Kitchen told MotoOnline. “At A1, I think I got eighth or ninth or something and I just didn’t feel that great, but with every day I’ve just gotten more comfortable and started doing better and better. Winning the Anaheim Triple Crown was cool, but I didn’t win a moto. Every race that I’ve been up on the podium has been great for me and just battling with those other guys has been fun.

“I’m just stoked to get a full season in this year, and yeah, it really just builds confidence for next year. Like, I ended the third best guy, I guess you could say, and going into next year hopefully on my bad days that’s where I’m at. I know that’s hard to live up to, but at the end of the day, next year I want to be winning.”

Kitchen now has his sights firmly set on the 2023 Pro Motocross Championship that is set to kick off in two weeks’ time. Fox Raceway in Southern California will play host to the opening round of the series on 27 May.