Pro Circuit riders endure crashes at RedBud – ‘this is the second week in a row someone has collided with me’

It wasn’t the best weekend for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki riders at RedBud. Austin Forkner, Joey Savatgy and Garrett Marchbanks all endured crashes en route to finishing seventh, 11th and 15th overall respectively.

In Moto 1 of the 250MX class, all three Kawasaki riders charged out of the gate in the top 10 with Forkner in the best position. The #35 rider quickly worked his way into second place and eventually took the lead, however, shortly after a competitor blocked his line causing him to go down and forcing Forkner to retire from the race. His teammates also suffered crashes of their own, with Savatgy having to pull into the mechanic’s area for a quick fix. He was able to rebound to finish 17th, while Marchbanks was able to recover quickly and race to an impressive sixth place finish.

The team-mates lined up for Moto 2 looking for redemption as Forkner and Savatgy shot out of the gate in front of the pack once again. Savatgy held his second-place position for six laps before making a small mistake and forfeiting a few positions to finish fifth in the moto and 11th overall (17-5).

Forkner continued to turn some fast laps, advancing forward for a strong second place finish and seventh overall (35-2). Fresh off of a two-week recovery from his crash at High Point, the young No. 182 suffered yet another crash in the opening lap and was unable to finish the race due to an injury that will be evaluated this week.

“I’m pretty bummed about the first moto honestly,” said Forkner. “This is the second week in a row someone has collided with me and if we hadn’t come together like that in Moto 1, I feel like I would have been in contention for the overall today. I’m feeling great and my bike is the best it has ever been. We’ll get back at it in two weeks and I expect to be on the podium.”

“A couple of little mistakes really cost me today,” said Savatgy. “We had a fast bike and I felt good in qualifying but it didn’t show in either motos, unfortunately. I made a mistake in Moto 1 and went down pretty hard so I was happy to finish where I did. We’re going to work on a couple of things during the week off and look forward to Millville.”