Brett Metcalfe Earns Second Podium in San Francisco

Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki’s Brett Metcalfe earned his
second podium in three races finishing third at AT&T Park in San
Francisco. Early in the evening Metcalfe won his first heat race of
the season. He was joined on the podium by Motosport Xtreme
Kawasaki rider Tommy Hahn, who turned in his best ride of the
season finishing second after claiming the holeshot in the main
event. Metcalfe’s teammate Austin Stroupe had an eventful night
of racing as he made up nine spots in his heat race to finish
second. In the main event he took the early lead, but went off
track in the slippery conditions. Stroupe recovered and went on
to the finish fifth, marking his third top five in four events.

Motosport Xtreme Kawasaki’s Hahn had a good night starting with
his heat race where he finished third. In the main he sprinted out
to the holeshot and ran near the front, passing Metcalfe on the
last lap to finish second and earn his first podium of the year.

“"We were running well early in the season,"” said Hahn. "“I’’m
happy to be on the podium. It was tough out there but I just
stayed on it and kept my head in it all race. We had a good heat
race and I’m happy to get a good result."”

Metcalfe got out of the starting gate well and was running second
on the third lap when he went down in the sloppy conditions while
trying to pass for the lead. The Australian quickly recovered and
rode back into contention. As the shortened race came to a close,
Metcalfe was once again in the runner-up spot but he was passed
on the last lap pushing him to a third place finish, his second
podium in the last three races.

“I got a good start in the main,” said Metcalfe. “It was difficult
and I was making my way to the front. I was aggressive and
tried to take the lead in a turn and went down. I got up and rode
back to the front.”

For Stroupe the main event was definitely a show as the 17-year-
old rider battled the tricky conditions throughout the race. After
getting a clean start and taking the early lead, he went off the
track but kept his Kawasaki KX™250F upright and rejoined the
field. As the conditions worsened Stroupe continued to have a yo-
yo type race of moving up and falling back. At the end he was on
the upswing again, finishing fifth. “I almost got the holeshot and
was riding well,” said Stroupe. “But I went off the track on the
first lap. I got back on and was...” full story on kawasaki.com
pics from racerxill.com & vitalmx.com