2020 AMA Supercross
Round Three – Anahaim II
By Trevor Hedge – Image by Hoppenworld
SX2 Heat One
Austin Forkner scored the holeshot with maximum aggression into turn one ahead of Mitch Oldenburg but by the end of lap one Forkner was already in a different postcode. Alex Martin was in third ahead of Harmon and Clout, with Cooper, Camporese, Hartranft, Tanti and Macler rounding out the top ten. Then Aaron Tanti and Alex Martin both made big mistakes that put them on the ground and losing positions.
Forkner continued to dominate by himself up front ahead of Oldenburg but the Honda man managed to fend off the advances of Justin Cooper to take second place. Forkner the victor by 11-seconds.
Aaron Tanti bounced back from that tumble though to eventually finish seventh place, securing his place in the 250 Main.
Tanti bounced back from that tumble though to eventually finish seventh place, securing his place in the 250 Main.
SX2 Heat Two
Christian Craig got away strongly and immediately started to pull away from Michael Mosiman and Jacob Hayes. Aussie Jay Wilson had got away well and by the second lap was in fourth place. Jett Lawrence meanwhile had moved up to fifth after making plenty of passes on the opening lap.
Defending champion Dylan Ferrandis was in sixth but moved up to fifth after passing Wilson a few laps into the race, while Jett Lawrence moved past Carson Brown and Jacob Hayes to take second place. Ferrandis did the same and with a couple of laps remaining was trying to chase down Jett Lawrence.
The Aussie teenager though had the speed to keep Ferrandis at bay to secure that second place finish. The winner was his team-mate Geico Honda Christian Craig, despite his seat coming loose and flapping around during the race.
Jay Wilson took the chequered flag in seventh place to secure his transfer spot to the main.
Jay Wilson took the chequered flag in seventh place to secure his transfer spot to the main.
SX2 LCQ
Alex Martin was the early leader in the 250 LCQ but was overhauled by Michael Mosiman late on the opening lap while Luke Clout was looking strong in third place with a decent advantage over Mathias Jorgensen.
Michael Mosiman pulled away from Alex Martin to take a clear win ahead of Alex Martin while Luke Clout scored third for Penrite Honda. Jorgensen was bettered by Robbie Wageman in the closing stages of the race and lost his transfer spot to the Yamaha rider.
SX2 Main
Christian Craig led his Geico Honda team-mate Jett Lawrence out of turn one in the 250 Main as fellow Australian Luke Clout started strongly in third place to make it a Honda 1-2-3.
Austin Forkner got the better of Clout late on that opening lap and Hartranft then pushed the Aussie further back to fifth.
16-year-old Jett Lawrence then hit the front after slipping past his vastly more experienced team-mate!
Dylan Ferrandis put a move on Forkner for third place and pulled away from the Kawasaki man. Justin Cooper was in fifth and 11-seconds behind the leader with ten-minutes remaining. Hartranft was sixth, Mosiman seventh, Alex Martin eighth and Clout had been shuffled back to ninth while Auberson was running in tenth place just ahead of Aaron Tanti.
Ferrandis closed on Craig to challenge for second place but the pair then came together with both going down. Craig came off distinctly second best with the twisted bars of his Geico Honda putting him out of the race. That melee had seen Jett’s lead blow out to more than ten-seconds.
Forkner went down hard in the whoops from third place with five-minutes remaining. He held his back a few times before eventually kicking the Kawasaki into life and rejoined the race way down in 18th position.
Then with three-minutes remaining Jett Lawrence went down! The Aussie teenager had an 11-second lead over Ferrandis before going down in the whoops! He was quickly up and going again while still in the lead but the Frenchman had a sniff now…. Jett made a couple more small mistakes which allowed the defending champion to close within a few lengths of the youngster’s back wheel…
Jett Lawrence was flying high until just before the chequered flag…
As they started the final lap Jett still had his nose in front and fended off the first and seconds thrusts of Ferrandis but was bettered in the third. Lawrence was not giving up his chance for glory though and was determined to come back at the defending champion only to go over the bars only metres from the chequered flag! Jett stayed down, clearly conscious but not in any hurry to lift his body off the racing line which saw the flag Marshalls busily waving yellows and riders rolling the final jumps under caution.
Jett will be kicking himself for throwing that one away but at the end of the day he is 16-years-old and still played an absolute starring role, but for now it is the one that got away….
The talented teenager was in tears as he was transported back to the pits in the medical side-by-side vehicle as all his supporters had their fingers crossed that he would be cleared of any injuries that would slow his progress from here on in. Later it was confirmed that Jett had broken his collarbone.
Dylan Ferrandis was the victor, but that win itself was under question in the immediate aftermath of the race… His move on Christian Craig earlier in the race was a hard pass that put the Geico Honda man out of the race, and officials were still adjudicating as to whether they would level any penalty on Ferrandis.
Justin Cooper crossed the line in second place ahead of Brandon Hartranft with Mosiman fourth in front of Alex Martin and Aussie Luke Clout finished a highly creditable sixth place while fellow Aussie Aaron Tanti claimed a 13th place finish.
Cooper the championship leader with a 12-point buffer over Ferrandis.
Results/Standings
Source: MCNews.com.au