American Darian Sanayei is staying in Europe and will contest the 2019 FIM Motocross World Championship MX2 Class with Bike It Dixon Racing Kawasaki, the team announced today.

Following a successful amateur career in the U.S., the Washington native moved to Europe and contested the EMX250 Class in 2016, finishing runner-up in the series. Sanayei moved to the MX2 Class in 2017 and finished 11th overall in the championship.

A knee injury sustained at the opening round of the British Motocross Championship has relegated Sanayei to just four rounds in MX2 this year. He will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery in June to repair a torn ACL.

“I’m really happy to be racing with DRT again next year,” he said in a press release. “It feels good to continue our relationship and put our best efforts forward to accomplish an MX2 World Championship! My recovery with my knee is going really good and we are right on track. I should be able to start training on the bike around November/ December time, and that should be enough time to put in the work necessary for a good base to have a great season! I want to thank the entire team and the Kawasaki family for everything they are doing for me so we can achieve excellent results together.”