VOL. 53 ISSUE 31 AUGUST 9, 2016 P83
got a bad start in the first moto;
that was my big mistake of the
day, I guess. It just happened
that everything went together
and I got second, so that was
great."
You would've thought that
Forkner would have been a little
nervous leading the way with the
laps winding down, but he said
that he wasn't. "I wasn't really
thinking about it until probably
I got the two-lap board. At that
point I was just like, 'bring it
home.'"
Forkner says that the transi-
tion from the amateurs to the
pros has gone pretty much as
expected. Fitness has been the
biggest challenge for him so far.
"The motos and stuff are how
I thought they would be. They're
easier as the season goes on.
At the beginning of the season,
it was like the 20-minute mark
and I was done. Now it's like I
can go pretty dang hard for 25
minutes and then I start to fall off
a little bit, but I'm still there and
not completely done like I was
at the beginning of the season.
So it's getting better and better
and better. Just the more races
I get in the more fit I think that
I'll be. Just getting up with those
guys and riding at the front and
getting experience being at the
front is always good.
For him, Forkner says that
probably the biggest difference
between amateur racing and pro
racing is the length of the races,
not so much the intensity.
"Honestly it [the pros] is not
really [as intense]. The aggres-
sion those guys have is a little
bit more, as far as slamming you
in the turns and doing stuff like
that. But really, when we were in
amateurs it's all sprint. We have
"I'D RATHER LEARN TO PASS GUYS IN
AMATEURS THAN GET EVERY SINGLE HOLESHOT
AND NOT KNOW HOW TO PASS."
(Above) Forkner
cut his racing teeth
in Missouri.
(Left) Forkner
made his pro debut
at Hangtown and
a week later at
Glen Helen he
got a taste of the
podium.
