At the opening round of the 2018 Eastern Regional 250SX Championship in Arlington, Monster Energy / Pro Circuit / Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner showed he had the speed to run with anyone by winning his heat race, but a crash in the main made him show that speed coming back from nearly last place. In the end, Austin charged all the way to finish 7th at the opener, and it became obvious quickly at round two that he left round one with a fire in his belly.

At round two, Austin was near the top of the board in every qualifying session on Saturday in Tampa. He ended up qualifying second in timed qualifying and went to the main with a third in his heat race. In the main, he started third behind the defending 250SX East Champ, Zach Osborne, and RJ Hampshire, but he made pretty quick work of the both of them—taking the lead on lap two.

Austin rode a solid race from the front but late in the race was pressured fiercely by the Frenchman Dylan Ferrandis. Not willing to budge under the extreme pressure and even being hit on the last lap by Ferrandis, the #35 held on for his first career win on his tenth career start. After a very underwhelming rookie campaign for Forkner in 2017, this win was no doubt a huge monkey off his back.

With two rounds in the books for 2018, Austin is now second in the points, just five behind the #1 bike. After his big win, Austin sat down and answered some questions from the press.

It’s pics like this one that show Austin’s personality and how much this means to him.

Austin, on that last lap did you know Dylan Ferrandis was right there behind you? Did you have an idea that maybe the pass was coming?

Yeah, I was pretty dialed through the whoops, though. I figured if I could get to the whoops I was pretty solid. I figured I’d send it into the whoops and then be able to hold on the last lap. I definitely gave it all I could handle from the finish to that s-turn before the tunnel jump. We hit, and as soon as I got through that and got through the whoops, I was happy. Up until then, I knew he was back there and I knew he was going to try. Obviously it’s the last lap and everybody would. I’m happy, though. It was tough. I didn’t get the holeshot so I had to pass a few guys, and it was tough track. It was slick and the sand was tough every lap.

 

There are thousands of racers who want to race and win for Mitch Payton’s powerful team. On your tenth start, you get your first career win and put your name on that board. What does this mean for you to race and win for Mitch’s team?

I’m really happy. Last year, didn’t go quite as planned—my rookie season. I got hurt a few times last year. I kind of came into this season… I broke my wrist, but I feel good now. It was kind of iffy coming in. I’m just really happy that I’m running up with the pack and that I have good speed this year. I’m just happy with where I’m at right now. Mitch’s bikes are great. The whole team is great.

 

You were leading, and that’s still relatively new for you in SX. Was that running through your mind at all—like, “This is my first win”? Did you get a little nervous or were you able to just take it lap by lap?

I tried to sprint hard at the beginning, but I knew you kind of have to pace a little bit. If you go too hard at the beginning, you’re gonna gas out. I knew these guys were close. I just tried keep a big enough gap that they couldn’t make a pass. And I looked up at the board towards the end and I saw three minutes to go. At that point it’s pretty late and that sand section was definitely tough. I was definitely feeling it, but once I got into the lead, I had tunnel vision on hitting my marks every lap and doing everything that I needed to do. If something happened—like when he caught me at the end—you just kind of have to make due with what you got. Whenever I was out front, it was just try to hit my marks and be consistent every lap.

In a class that’s been dominated by men lately, Austin is still a teenager. The kid is just getting started.

You had kind of a big moment with a tough block. Can you talk about that, and did it kind of kick you a little funny?

That definitely spiked my heart rate. That was about half way I would say. I was just kind of starting to settle in, and I just slid coming out of that turn. I was eyeballing and I drifted wide and I was like, “Don’t hit the tough block. Don’t hit the tough block.” Then I hit the tough block. I didn’t want to do that ’cause these guys were going at it at that time, and they were catching me I think a little bit. So I was like, “I gotta keep that gap.” I really tried to sprint the next couple of laps to get back away. I think everything in that race exciting that happened for me was basically right there, just in that little s-turn. I was trying to take that inside on the three-on after the finish, and I think I was spinning and losing some… and I think those guys were going outside and they were faster right there. I feel like that was one of my weaker spots.

 

When you first started looking at this track and first started riding on it, did you feel like it was a track that suited your style or a track you could get your first win on?

I don’t know. I felt solid all day. I’ve never really ridden much sand with SX stuff. I think Phoenix last year was the only time I’ve ridden sand, and it was like a 180 [degree turn]. I hadn’t really ridden sand, and I kind of just figured out that I just had to send it through the sand. There was no trying to be smooth. There was no picking a rut. You just go in, jump as far as you can and never let off basically. That was different. It would definitely wear you out over the main event. Sometimes my weak spot is whoops, but tonight I was one of the fastest guys with the whoops. At the beginning I thought, “Alright, last week we had a dragon and two whoops. This week it’s just one whoop section, so maybe that’s better.” The whoops were my strongest part of the track tonight. I think that I felt good all day. I qualified good. I was kind of vibing with the track. We made a bike change after the first practice to the rear shock that helped a lot. It was just comfortable.

Photos by: Ryne Swanberg / Garth Milan

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.