Monster Energy Kawasaki press release:

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Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Adam Cianciarulo celebrated his first career AMA Pro Motocross 450 class win during the second race of the historic doubleheader at RedBud in Buchanan, Michigan. The 450 class rookie was in command all day grabbing both holeshots, leading 26 laps and winning the first moto to claim the overall victory while his teammate Eli Tomac claimed fifth overall (2-7). In the 250 class, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider Mitchell Harrison finished fifth overall (6-4) while Cameron McAdoo earned 11th overall (19-7) and Darian Sanayei rounded out the group in 21st overall (18-19).

It was déjà vu in the paddock at RedBud as the mild temperatures and blue skies welcomed the riders to the second race of the doubleheader. During the first qualifying practice, Cianciarulo landed on a downed motorcycle and crashed, injuring his finger but in the second session, he rebounded to lay down a fast lap, qualifying third. Tomac earned the seventh gate pick with his qualifying time.

Cianciarulo took advantage of his third gate pick to rocket his KX™450 to the holeshot and the 450 class rookie never looked back as he led wire to wire to capture his first career 450 class moto win. Just behind Cianciarulo, Tomac also got out of the gate quickly and moved into third place. Never losing sight of the leader, Tomac continued to charge forward and with two laps to go the three-time defending champion made his move into second place. He continued to pressure Cianciarulo until the checkered flag with the Kawasaki duo claiming the top two spots in the moto.

The start of Moto 2 was almost a carbon copy of the first moto for Cianciarulo as he rocketed out to another holeshot and started to pull away from the field while Tomac got tangled in the field and tipped over in the second corner. Cianciarulo continued to lead the way past the halfway point of the race until he came in contact with a lapped rider and went down. He was able to remount in third and hold on for his first career 450 class overall win (1-3). Tomac wasted no time coming through the pack and quickly picked off 30 riders to reach the top-10. He pushed hard all moto and moved up to seventh place before the checkered flag flew to finish fifth overall (2-7).

With their finishes today, Cianciarulo moves into third in the championship point standings and Tomac remains in fourth.

“This feels great, I mean two holeshots on the day, a moto win, and to get the overall. My KX450 is really good and everyone on the team has been really grinding so it feels good to get over that hump and get my first premier class win. This is a big deal for me and I’m really proud of myself and this Monster Energy Kawasaki team. I am always trying to do my best and I believed I was capable of winning, but in supercross, I put a lot of pressure on myself to win, and I finally put that mindset behind me which I think helped me get over the hump today.” – Adam Cianciarulo

“The second moto was tough after going down in the second turn and having to play catch up the whole time. This track was really tough, and a lot of the guys were riding the same speed, so if you weren’t up front in the beginning it was really hard to get up there. Unfortunately, that’s how it goes, and we will try to rebound for the last few races.” – Eli Tomac

In the 250 class, Harrison was looking for redemption in his home state and he started out the day with great speed. The Michigan native qualified fifth on his Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki KX™250 with his teammates Sanayei qualifying 16th and McAdoo in 21st. While the weather was similar to Friday’s race, track conditions were tougher in the 250 class with qualifying times nearly two-seconds slower.

At the start of Moto 1 Harrison leapt out the gate with the leaders and settled into fourth place early in the moto. McAdoo was also near the front running in seventh for the first two laps before an off-track excursion would send him to the back of the pack. Harrison battled all moto holding on to finish sixth with Sanayei finishing 18th and McAdoo fought from 31st to finish 19th.

Harrison carried his momentum from the first moto into Moto 2 where he once again shot out of the gate to grab a top-5 start before charging into third place. He continued pushing hard throughout the moto and finished fourth (6-4) for fifth overall. McAdoo rebounded from his first moto to run in the top-10, battling up to seventh to finish 11th overall (19-7). Sanayei still recovering from his shoulder injury held on for 19th to finish 21st overall (18-19).

“I rode really good and was just a little bit off from being on the podium. We’ve had a lot of positives each week. This Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki KX250 is such a well-rounded motorcycle. I thought I was a contender to get up to second in that second moto, that didn’t work out, but we’ve got more races to go.” – Mitchell Harrison

“We had a decent start in the first moto and I was running sixth, but I tipped over on Lap 2 and had another crash later to finish 19th. In Moto 2, I kind of got buried a little on the start and charged my best to get up to seventh. We are going to take the positives from this long weekend of racing and do some homework these next two weeks.” – Cameron McAdoo

“I was kind of in the mix after qualifying but then in the first moto, I mistimed my jump out of the gate, and with the track being a little tougher today, I struggled with my shoulder. It was a matter of not having the strength I needed to get through the bumps. It is definitely not what I want to do, so we will take this break coming up to see if I can build the strength up.” – Darian Sanayei