Photos by: Hoppenworld
Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner has performed incredibly in his rookie Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season, and he seems to be getting better every time the gate drops. The biggest hurdle for most amateur kids moving into the pro ranks is the adjustment to longer motos, but under the most extreme weather conditions of the year in Unadilla, Austin once again landed his #214 Kawasaki on the podium. It was so hot and humid that Austin was literally the only rider of the four-rider Pro Circuit squad to finish both motos.
In moto one, Austin ripped a monster holeshot, but when a red flag re-racked the riders, Austin found himself buried in the pack on the restart. It had to hurt having the holeshot taken away, but Austin gathered his emotions and fought back from 18th after lap one to finish moto one in seventh. In moto two, Austin again ripped the holeshot and again there was a red flag, but this time it wasn’t until twenty-five-minutes into the moto. Unfortunately, Austin was passed just one lap before the second red flag and just barely missed out on his second moto win of his freshman campaign. He crossed the line in second and cashed in his 7-2 score for his second-straight third overall day.
After the racing was over, Austin sat down in the press tent to answer some questions about his day.
Austin, this is two weeks in a row on the podium. Congratulations. Talk about your day.
The first moto was good. On the first start I actually got the holeshot and led for a few laps, and they ended up red flagging it. I was kind of bummed about that. The second start was not good. I kind of jumped out and the holeshot device released and I got a bad start. Just tried to work my way through the pack and ended up getting hung up behind Alex Martin in the third turn, so it made it even worse. I wasn’t way far back, but after that I was way back. Just kind of tried to salvage what I could out of that and actually ended up making a few passes on the last lap. I think that definitely helped with the overall.
In the second moto I got a really good jump and I was just going to hold it on to get the start. I was mad that the first start that I did get the holeshot got red flagged. I was just going to hold on until I got it. And I did. I rode for as long as I could. It was about probably twenty-three of twenty-four minutes in that Cooper [Webb] made the pass on me. I was just gonna to try to bring it home. I knew holding him off for about ten more minutes at that point was going to be pretty tough, so I just tried to bring it home and get another podium finish in a moto. And hopefully land on a podium overall. I did that and they ended up red flagging it right after I got passed by Cooper. That was kind of a bummer, but oh well. I still got second and got third overall. Not super good day with the first moto into a pretty good one.
It seemed like a pretty tough day physically. Like your teammates didn’t even finish the second moto. You had seven more minutes of racing in moto one because of the red flag and restart. I’m sure you spent a lot of energy in the first moto coming through, but you still seemed strong in moto two. Were you drained?
My mechanic helped and I knew what the time was and how much time I had left. He said ten minutes plus two and it was about two or three laps after that that I ended up getting passed by Cooper. It said we got about twenty-five or twenty-six-minutes in, and I was definitely starting to feel it at that point. Whenever he passed me he came down the hill pretty quick. I wasn’t sure if he was gonna to run it in or not. I figured I could stay in second for the rest of the race. Don’t want to get in a pileup with him and not get a podium at all. He got by and I was just going to try to follow him. I was just trying to follow him and see kind of what his lines were doing. They threw the red flag about half a lap after he passed me. It was good. I was definitely starting to feel it the second moto towards the end, but I figured with whatever we had—like eight minutes left in the moto—I figured I could ride it out. As long as I put down smooth, consistent laps I’d be fine. It really wasn’t even that I was getting super tired, it was just that the track was so gnarly. The ruts just led forever. The one little mistake—not even being your fault. If you just enter a rut and it ends up being blown out or being horrible, you can’t get out of it. You’ve just gotta make it work. I was just more afraid of making mistakes than anything else.
Right before you got passed by Cooper you were kind of just peddling through that one rut. Was it one of those situations where you wanted to let Cooper go and then see if you could fight back later? Things were getting a little out of hand right before that.
Yeah, I made a little mistake and he reeled me in a little bit after that. I got into a lapper in the same spot that he passed me the lap before. That held me up even more. Then that lap he was there at the bottom of the hill. I went over the berm and he made the pass. I was just going to try to stick with him and try to keep pushing and not really think about getting tired. At that point that’s what I didn’t want to do was let him get away and then just start thinking about, “I’m hot, I’m tired, and not focusing.” I just wanted to try to follow him and keep pushing and just think about going fast.
What was the first thing that went through your head when you were leading and you saw the red flag at the first moto?
I saw that there were a bunch of red cross flags out. I saw the guy down. After that, I went fast again and then we got it after the big tabletop in the back section. I think it was about that point that we got it. They were throwing red crosses and yellows, and somebody threw the red flag but I was like, “No, that’s not right. I’m going to keep riding.” I kept riding until everybody else started pulling off. I was like, “Come on, this isn’t happening!” I’ve gotten two holeshots this year—three now—but I’d gotten two at that point and one of them is getting red flagged. I was like, “Man, this sucks, but oh well.” On the restart I was going to try to get just as good a start and be up there at the front again. It didn’t end up working, so I came back in the second moto and it was good.
Have you thought about the timing? If that red flag came out at a different time, or if you held on for another half lap before you got passed, you actually would have won that second moto. I know you didn’t think you were going to win the moto, but it almost worked out.
I definitely thought about that. I was like, “Man, if I would have knew.” At that point I was definitely starting to feel it and I was starting to get a little bit tired, but I could have just absolutely sent it for another half a lap to get the win. At that point you never know. I still rode good and I’m happy with the way that I rode. Obviously I wish I could have won. I wish they wouldn’t have red flagged the first moto too but stuff happens. Still a good day.
How does this podium compare to the one you got at Washougal? Did it come easier? More difficult?
Getting good starts always helps. I honestly think that the first moto was definitely harder than the second moto today just because I was buried back in the pack. I had to take different lines and find out ways to try to get to the front. The second moto I got out there and got a decent sized gap and just kind of rode my own race and rode my lines. Obviously it was hot, it was humid and the track was brutal. It wasn’t easy, but getting good starts always helps. Having two holeshots today—the first one didn’t count—but still got the holeshot, helped. Then to get the second one, that’s more than I’ve had all season. If I can just keep getting starts like that I think I’ll be in the top five a lot more.
