2020 Salt Lake City 5 Supercross 250 Class Race Report

Austin Forkner clinched his second main event victory in a row at the penultimate round of the Western Regional 250SX Class Championship at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City this past weekend. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider got off to a fourth place start in the feature race and worked his way around Geico Honda teammates Hunter Lawrence and Christian Craig within the first three and a half minutes. Forkner then set his sights on race leader Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Dylan Ferrandis. With four and a half minutes left on the clock, Forkner passed the French rider in the right-hand corner after the finish line and maintained the lead position until the checkered flag flew. With his victory, Forkner now sits seven points down from Ferrandis in the championship standings with one round remaining.

“I felt really good today,” Forkner said. “That was one of my best Supercross races I’ve ever raced. My speed was good. The track was set up for us to easily make a mistake and it was slick in some areas, but I was patient and waited to make a move for the lead. I’m really happy about that ride and even happier about earning a few more points. We’re proving that we’re still in this race and how badly we want it.”

Related: 2020 Factory Supercross Bikes—Cameron McAdoo’s Kawasaki KX250

Ferrandis began his day at Salt Lake City 5 by posting the fastest qualifying time in the 250SX class with a 43.89-second lap time. The Frenchman grabbed the holeshot in his heat race, but went down in the second corner. After remounting his YZ250F in last place, he worked his way up to seventh. In the main event, Ferrandis once again grabbed the holeshot, but was unable to hold off the hard-charging Forkner and had to settle for the runner-up spot.

“It was a bad night for me,” Ferrandis said. “I got the holeshot from the outside in the main, which was good, but I made a small mistake and missed a rhythm when I saw a yellow flag and Forkner got me after that. I lost some important points for the championship tonight. We have a few days off from racing now before the last round next Sunday and will keep working.”

Jett Lawrence achieved his first career podium finish in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross series at Salt Lake City 5. The Geico Honda rider began the day by qualifying second-fastest in practice. In his heat race, he was taken down by Forkner in the first turn, but the Australian rookie got back on his CRF250R and worked his way up to sixth by race’s end. Despite the drama in the beginning of the program, Jett grabbed the final podium spot in the feature race.

“[It was] a very hard-fought third place,” Jett said. “I can’t be happier, really. Obviously I’d be a little more happy with a first, but hey, we’ve got to start somewhere. It just feels so great to finally be up there. All the time I’ve put into…all the blood, sweat, and tears, especially from A2, it feels so good to be up there. I was speechless. I was dying; the altitude got to me around like four minutes. My chest was hurting, I ended up swallowing a rock. It was rough. Roost hurts like hell. I had a few sketchy moments, but I’m just thankful I was able to put it on the box, especially with that heat race. That number 52 [Austin Forkner] did a stupid move. I don’t know why, I’m not even in the championship. He gets the last laugh, but we’ve still got [the final round on] Sunday, so we’ll just have to wait and see until then. Hopefully I can do the same, maybe even a win. I’ve just got to make sure I fix my heat race and get a good start. I know if I can get a holeshot, I know I have the speed to put it on the box.”

Cameron McAdoo got off to a fifth place start in the main event and ran as high as third, but crossed the line in fourth when the checkered flag waved. The Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki rider was pleased with his result.

“I had a good day today and feel like I rode a solid main event,” McAdoo said. “I made a few mistakes that the team and I will go back and focus on so we’re ready for next Sunday, but overall, I’m just happy to be healthy and racing up front where I belong. I can’t thank the entire Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team enough for their hard work and support this year and I’m looking forward to finishing out the season strong.”

Michael Mosiman rounded out the top five at Salt Lake City 5. The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing rider is also ranked fifth place in the championship point standings.

“It was a tough day,” Mosiman said. “I got into some lapped traffic in the main event and made some mistakes that really set me back. I’m disappointed that I had a podium finish going and to have that taken away but I’m fired up for the last round!”