At the Fox Raceway National over the weekend, Mikkel Haarup and Jordon Smith debut the Triumph TF 450-X. And in the very first premier class AMA Pro Motocross Championship race for the brand, Haarup pulled the holeshot! Haarup would get passed by Hunter Lawrence on the opening lap and run inside the top seven for the first handful of laps before finishing the moto tenth, then finishing 14th in the second moto for 11th overall. Jordon Smith went 15-23 for 20th overall.

Haarup finished sixth in the 250 Class championship last summer in his USA racing debut and then got back to work testing the 450 machine for Pro Motocross this summer. Smith is also in his first full season of 450 Pro Motocross, and he came from dead last on the first lap to finish 23rd, barely outside of scoring a point.

While there are a lot of eyes on the Lawrence duo, Jorge Prado, Haiden Deegan, and Chase Sexton, it would not be shocking to see Haarup land a top five here and there.

Here are their post-race quotes from Triumph.

Mikkel Haarup:

"Today was a good day. I think we can be happy with our performance, being inside the top ten and starting the race like we did. The holeshot in moto one was really good for me and the team. I rode a solid moto and still ended in the top ten. In the second moto, I had a really good start again and was fighting hard to stay in position but made a small mistake. I think we can be proud of the first round. I'm not satisfied with the result but, for round one, I think we can be proud of it."

Jordon Smith:

"It wasn't a bad first round. The riding was pretty good, I thought. I was P15 in the first moto and crashed early in the second moto. I was dead last and came back to 23rd. I'm happy to leave here healthy. We'll keep building throughout the season."

Jeremy Coker – General Manager, Triumph Racing America:

"Today was a massive learning experience for the team. You never know exactly where you sit until you race. It was a good start for our TF 450-X when Mikkel pulled the holeshot in moto one – he settled in and had two solid motos to finish just outside of the top ten overall. Jordon had a better day than his results show: his riding was a massive step in the right direction.”

Main image by Mitch Kendra