It feels odd that A1 wasn't in its usual spot on the first Saturday in January. Still, nevertheless, we've finally made it to opening week! Tons of key movement in the 250 division this year marked many of the key headlines, and by the grace of several deities, we actually know who's running 250 West with days in hand. How about that for a miracle?
Last year's West Champion, R.J. Hampshire, is really the only TBD; he is still in the late stages of dealing with the effects of re-injuring his wrist during SMX back in September. With or without him, this year's group has no shortage of star power to kick off the year. From Haiden Deegan to Levi Kitchen, Jo Shimoda, Garrett Marchbanks, and Jordon Smith, you have some serious firepower gunning for this year's 1W plate. Going into Saturday, here are some key preseason thoughts and storylines.
What Does Levi Kitchen Need to Win the Big One?
The Master Chef was a natural "leap" candidate a year ago regardless of the team swith to Pro Circuit, and lived up to expectations despite coming up five points short of a title. He especially deserves a ton of credit for gutting out those two rounds to end the year after a brutal opening lap crash at Nashville. I can't imagine those were fun Main Events in real-time, but a second and fifth at well under 100% is not exactly a badge of shame.
We know Kitchen can win indoors, with four Main Event wins to his name, and I'd feel good about him running West Coast for the third season in a row as far as his title aspirations go. As for what he needs to do to get one over Haiden Deegan and the rest of this field, the answer is honestly more of the same, but Kitchen's starts have to be better. Last year, his average start was in the 6.0 range. Seeing as R.J. Hampshire was a notably better starter a year ago and beat him in the laps led count by 31, that's the kind of stuff that'll do you every single time, regardless of how many key passes you can make in a Main. If Kitchen's average start numbers are in that 3.0-4.0 range by the time we get to Salt Lake City, I'd probably assume he's either in possession of the red plate or just off.
A Fresh Start
Austin Forkner's highs at Pro Circuit Kawasaki are well documented, but his lows are even more so. Sometimes, guys need a change of scenery, and after a nearly 10-year run with Mitch Payton, he's finally getting it with the second-year Triumph squad. Despite all these injuries, it was clear last year that speed and racecraft were not issues for the veteran out of Richards, Missouri. He got out ahead of that massive crash at the start of Detroit and never looked back, and of course, was about two seconds up on Haiden Deegan before he went down for the season in Dallas.
Getting Forkner on a new bike, getting around new people from a team standpoint, and even testing new tracks is the new lease on life that he's frankly needed for a while now. Also a big fan of Triumph putting him out west. A1 in 2022 is Forkner's only 250 West start since 2021, and he never made it to the first corner in that Main Event. He's always a tough guy to predict, given his injury history, and I've said this for no less than three years straight now: you hope Forkner can make it the whole way. He's got a ton of talent, but you have to wonder how many more chances he'll have at title contention. Regardless, I do like the fit with Triumph. Despite some of the mechanical issues Joey Savatgy was plagued with over the summer, Jalek Swoll had a tremendous first year with the team, and now they don't have to worry about the first-year gremlins with the bike platform.
And for a couple of other Triumph related sidenotes; I'm excited to see how quickly Jordon Smith can get aclimated to the new platform. Secondly, it's FXR gear for the entire team this year.
Second Year Leap for Beaumer?
More so Supercross and SMX than Motocross, but I was very impressed at times with Red Bull KTM's Julien Beaumer. He didn't pick up any top fives during last year's SX tilts, but you saw glimpses of what could be coming down the road with him. A1 last January was a prime example of how he led in those openings a few minutes before fading back to sixth. Not that I'm expecting him to jump into outright title contention in a field that's Deegan, Kitchen, Shimoda, potentially Hampshire, etc, but for my expectations, can Beaumer stay up front for longer, be more of a consistent podium contender, and can he get that one night where he puts everything together for a win (or close enough to one)? If he hits all three of those marks, I'd call 2025 a success for the 18-year-old. Also a fan of going to ONE for gear. Nice to see a bit of variety, especially for a factory team guy.
Need More from Jo
In a way, Jo Shimoda would have been in contention for the 250 West crown had he not gone out ahead of skis in the San Francisco slop. On the other hand, it took him way too long to hit his stride, and by that point, weeks worth of bad starts and the lack of racing-winning pace in those early season rounds didn't scream championship-worthy.
I think very highly of Shimoda and certainly think he's a Championship caliber rider; hell, he was my pick to win the West Regional a year ago. What's a fact is that his consistency will only take him so far, and he's going to need more rounds like Denver and Nashville to get his first career No. 1 plate, but more importantly, he needs to be flying out of the gates. Many people could've come out of the points hole Shimoda was in after those five January rounds.
Unfinished Buisness for Deegan
Outside of Supercross (and Des Nations since doing it overseas is beneath him based on his actions), Haiden Deegan has already claimed everything there is to get in the Lites class. Not for the lack of effort indoors in two tries; given that he finished runner-up last year and in 2023, the leader in the Star 250 clubhouse is surely a favorite, if not the favorite, in what could likely be his final year in the class, but first out west. I'm not expecting things to go as sideways as they did at the one SX Futures round Deegan did in 2023. However, getting those race reps on West Coast dirt and venues you'll be in next year is always a plus.
Looking back at the last couple of years, it's been about 2-to-3 rounds that have ultimately derailed Deegan's SX title hopes; last year came in three different flavors—firstly, getting taken out in that Detroit opening lap crash, which was no fault of his own. His metaphorical and literal meltdown in Birmingham, in which Deegan took out Coty Schock out for seventh before screaming at an AMA official postrace. Then, lastly, Philadelphia, where he was put in a box by Tom Vialle to effectively lose the title.
Deegan is my pick to win this region, but especially for his prospects on a 450, you'd certainly like to see nights like Birmingham and Philly not happen this year, or moving forward for that matter. If they do, a bevy of guys can and probably will capitalize on his mistakes.
250 West Points Top 3 Prediction: 1st) No. 38 Haiden Deegan, 2nd) No. 47 Levi Kitchen, 3rd) No. 30 Jo Shimoda
Main Image via KTM
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