the fun of it,” he says. “And winning.”
According to Holliday, there are various factors to consider when it comes to sponsoring amateur racers. But
in Reynolds’ case it was clear: “You’re looking at pure
speed and talent in that case,” says Holliday. His innate
talent for speed led Jett to victories over tough competitors like Maximums Vohland at Mammoth.
“Jett Reynolds just mopped the house here, that was
good to see, and especially with the elevation, and on
a KX 65 against all those KTM’s it was a big accomplishment,” says Holliday.
Speed is not something that can be judged by one
race. With the building up of the amateur “majors,”
amateur riders are gaining more opportunities to showcase their speed against the nation’s top players. While
Loretta’s remains the pinnacle of amateur motocross
achievement, it is certainly not the be-all, end-all of an
amateur racer’s career as many riders believe.
According to Holliday, “You want consistency of it
[speed]. The way I look at it is you can’t base it off just
one race. You gotta look at the whole body of work and
see who is consistently up front… They might not win all
of them, but they’re always a player.”
Team Green standout Austin Forkner is an exemplar of
consistency. Before Sean Cantrell beat out Forkner in
Supermini 2 on day 2 at Mammoth, Forkner hadn’t lost a
moto since Loretta’s of 2013.
It is Forkner’s consistency that pegs him as one of the
next greats of the sport. Holliday, who is always sparing
in his public praise, says, “Forkner has been really good.
Today was the first loss he’s had since after Loretta’s last
year in the supermini class. He won Monster Cup, every
PC Gale Webb
Results
Monster Energy Mammoth Motocross
June 24-25, 2014
Mini Day 1 Overall Wins
Jett Reynolds – 65cc 9-11
Jett Reynolds – 65cc Open
Stilez Robertson - Mini Sr 2 (9-14)
Austin Forkner – Supermini 1 (12-15)
Austin Forkner – Supermini 2 (13-16)
Mini Day 2 Overall Wins
Jett Reynolds – 65cc 9-11
Jett Reynolds – 65cc Open
Garrett Marchbanks – Mini Sr 1 (12-13)
Stilez Robertson - Mini Sr 2 (9-14)
Stilez Robertson – 85cc 9-11
Austin Forkner – Supermini 1 (12-15)
Sean Cantrell – Supermini 2 (13-16)
AMA Championships
Jett Reynolds – 65cc 9-11
Jett Reynolds – 65cc Open
Garrett Marchbanks – Mini Sr 1 (12-13)
Stilez Robertson - Mini Sr 2 (9-14)
Stilez Robertson – 85cc 9-11
Austin Forkner – Supermini 1 (12-15)
Sean Cantrell – Supermini 2 (13-16)
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