Team Green’s Austin Forkner gobbles up three supercross titles at the 44th Thor Winter Olympics.
Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green rider Austin Forkner was the star of the factory-backed Kawasaki amateur contingent at last week’s 44th Thor Winter Olympics at Gatorback Cycle Park in Gainesville, Florida, during the Thanksgiving holiday week, winning three supercross titles while his Team Green teammates tacked on another four for a total of seven and Kylie Fasnacht joined in to make it eight titles for Kawasaki.
Forkner set the stage for the week by winning three out of his four qualifiers, and he showed no signs of slowing down heading into Wednesday’s finals. In the 250cc A final, he got off to a top-three start, passed his way into the lead on the first lap and wasted no time passing into the lead on the first lap and left the competition in his wake to checked out and won Team Green’s first championship. Forkner got another great start in the 450cc A final, but had to be patient as the track got rougher, making proper line selection all the more crucial. Forkner played it cagey and picked his shot for the lead, pulling the trigger and on lap five and then maintaining his lead all the way to the checkered flag for his second championship of the day. Forkner’s third title came in the 250cc Pro Sport class. He had to work even harder yet for that win as he started the race outside the top five, but he moved into the lead in just eight laps. After that, his third championship was never in doubt.
“[Winning] was all about playing it smart, riding smooth and adapting to the track conditions quickly,” Forkner said. “Being the first race in the morning, the track conditions were very slick and there were not many lines so you had to be very smooth on the throttle. Although, for my second race, the track was really rough and rutted up, so I had to ride smart and not rush.”
Garret Marchbanks made his debut on his Monster Energy Kawasaki Team Green KX250F and did not surprise anyone on qualifying day as his lap times were not far off of the A class riders. Although Marchbanks would have a rough start in the Schoolboy 2 (13-16) class, he quickly made up for that performance by winning his first 250cc B championship. Marcchbanks took the lead almost immediately and pulled to a 7-second lead en route to the win. The 450cc B final was more of the same as Marchbanks set a dominant pace from start to finish, claiming his second B class title.
“Every jump I hit on the last lap I was yelling in my helmet because I was so pumped,” Marchbanks said. “I couldn’t be happier to be have won two championships at my first national on the larger bike.”
Kawasaki Team Green riders Nick Romano, Ryder DiFrancesco and Jett Reynolds are three of the fastest mini bike amateur motocross racers on the planet, but competing against each other in the same classes makes the competition for a win all the more brutal. Romano raced four classes; two 65cc classes with his teammate DiFrancesco and two 85cc classes with Reynolds. Romano landed one championship in the 65cc (7-9) Limited class and followed it up with three second place finishes. DiFrancesco won the second 65cc (7-9) class. Reynolds dominated the qualifiers but struggled in his finals.
Fasnacht mirrored her qualifying win performance to land the Women’s (14+) championship.
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