MOTOCROSS
FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 18 / SEPTEMBER 10-11, 2016
GLEN HELEN RACEWAY / SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA
P84
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE COX
I
n the past, the U.S. GP at Glen
Helen has often been somewhat
anti-climactic. The fan turnouts
have been abysmal, and there was
often very little for the top guys to
race for. But not this year. There
were a couple of important story-
lines coming into the MXGP of USA
at Glen Helen. First, Glen Helen
marked the final MX2/250cc race
of MX2 World Champion Jeffrey
Herlings' career, and he wanted to
go out on top. He also didn't want
a repeat of a week earlier in North
Carolina, where he was defeated in
moto two not only by overall winner
and AMA 250MX National Champ
Cooper Webb (similarly in his last
250cc race), but by AMA rookie
Austin Forkner. Forkner goes fast
at Glen Helen and landed on the
podium in the opening moto at the
May MX National, finishing fourth
overall with a 3-5. Herlings took his
defeat in North Carolina personally,
and he wanted to make a point at
Glen Helen.
ENDING
Eli Tomac completed a clean
sweep of the final two rounds of the
MXGP World Championship with a
dominant 1-1 performance in front of
a Glen Helen partisan crowd.
