The need for speed: 10-year-old headed to international motocross competition in Belgium

June 26, 2009 04:44 pm

— By Dustin Shipman
dshipman@joplinglobe.com
Austin Forkner is a dirt track speed demon on two wheels.
In his short racing career he has placed among the top finishers in nearly 40 motocross races throughout the country, which is a feat all on its own. But when you consider that he will not be eligible to receive his driver's license for another six years, it’s all the more impressive.
He started riding motorcycles at years old. Now, at the age of 10, he has been chosen to join Team USA in Limes, Belgium, for the 2009 MX Masterkids race to be held on July 11 and 12.
The race is the largest amateur team motocross event in Europe and will feature nearly 1,000 riders from over 30 countries.
Forkner, who lives in Richards in Vernon County, said this will be his biggest race yet and yet another step toward his dream of one day turning pro, racing on the national circuits and competing against the best riders in the country and the world.
He may be young but racing is in his blood. His father, Mike Forkner, and uncle, Steve Forkner, both raced motocross for a number of years and as soon as he was old enough to climb onto a bike, he was pushing it to go faster.
“I used to just watch at the races and I would put on my dad’s boots which would come up to my waist and I would ride my bicycle around and act like I was riding in the race,” Forkner said. “Then we found this old minibike just sort of sitting around and we fixed it up and I rode it for about a month or two before I fell down.”
Forkner said he was only 3 at the time and the crash nearly put an end to his racing career before it even got started. It resulted in a nasty burn from one of the tires on his arm.
“I didn’t even want to ride for another half a year,” he said, “but I got back on when I turned 4 and raced in a local race and came in second. It wasn’t a big deal but I thought it was great. A year later I went to my first nationals.”
Forkner said he has had some scary moments on the track, but never anything that could keep him from racing.
“The other day I was racing and midway through the track I was going so fast that I started to say to myself, ‘Oh, my God, if any little thing goes wrong I am going to crash so hard,’” he said. “I just have put it out of my mind for the most part.”
It’s a sentiment that his mother, Julie Forkner, is very familiar with.
She and her husband travel to nearly all of the races her son competes in, and she usually spends most of the time watching nervously from the crowd.
“At the last race I remember this kid came over to block him and Austin landed on his back tire and flew threw the air like a rag doll,” Julie Forkner said. “I think everyone there in the stands heard me scream. I have wanted to run onto the track but you can’t because they would disqualify him. You just have to be crazy from afar.”
She said that it’s hard sometimes to watch her son race and not worry about him getting hurt. But in the end she has come to terms with and supports his dream of competing in motocross.
Mike Forkner said he has been racing in motocross since he was 29. Last year he raced in an over-45-years-old circuit but has for the most part retired. Now he said he spends most of his weekends on the track with his son, who competes nearly 45 weekends out of the year.
He said his son is ready for the upcoming competition in Belgium.
“He is pumped. He doesn’t just want to go over there and compete, he wants to go over there and win his class,” Mike Forkner said. “There are something like 15 to 20 riders from the United States going over. And from what I have heard, Team USA is sort of treated like rock stars over there with people wanting autographs, even from kids like Austin, because USA is sort of the top dog over there.”
Forkner said he has a tendency to get nervous before a race, and the international event will mark the biggest of his career so far. But for the most part, he said he is trying to put worries behind him and concentrate on the moment rather then letting it get to him.
Regardless of the outcome of the race in Belgium, he is going to continue to ride and get to the track as often as possible — either to compete or to practice — and making friends with other riders along the way.
“Most of my friends and I are about the same speed, we race each other hard,” he said. “That’s how you make each other faster, you push each other.”

Sponsorships
Austin Forkner’s motocross sponsors include Cobra Motorcycles USA, FMF, JM Racing, Pro Taper, Speed Graffix.com, MSR and Donnells Suzuki.

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