Put a Forkner in it!!!

Injuries in my honest opinion. But remember he is now married and I doubt as focused on racing as he was growing up. Could easily seeing this year or next as last season. 

Yes, but people have much higher expectations for Forkner - even with the stuff you've listed. 

bruh 🤦🏾‍♂️ let the man finish a season in 1 piece so he can build a base for once & then by ‘26 we can start putting some expectations on him , if u was expecting for him to comeback like how he always does then u set ur own self up for a disappointment , yea the results isn’t great right now but he gave u a lil splash of old forkner in the quails earlier in the afternoon 

Unfortunately I think it might be his confidence. What he has been through is life changing. If he decides after supercross to hang it up, I along with many others will have major respect for him. 

Nah ...fat lady not singin yet.........early days...lets see how he goes outdoors on that new bike.

he has always had speed its just not on display at present!

The LCQ was painful to watch, probably just riding cautious to not make a mistake and fail to make the main.

But didn't he qualify 2nd in the first timed session? I didn't go back and look, but recall being surprised he qualified so well.

So he still has the speed when things go right, and as others have said I think he is just trying to rebuild and get through a season healthy.

Pretty sure he has a 2 (or 3?) year deal with Triumph, and given what he is coming back from the focus is on getting to next year.

Jeez tough crowd.  I just ant him to do ‘decent’ (no idea what that means - maybe well inside top 10?), finish the season building up to ‘respectable’ results, do well in outdoors then come back next year ready to ride as we know he can.

Lance Armstrong had brain surgery also.

RC gonna pull an Evan ferry on eem 

At the first race of the season they interviewed the triumph team manager during a segment on Forkners brain surgery and he said the only goal this year is to race every round. They want him on the track every weekend and finishing the race. Give the kid a break. 

Yeah, Roczen career trajectory. Minus the MXGP title, 250SX title, 2 450 AMA National Championships, twenty something 450 SX wins, and multiple MXDN moto wins.

You must be new.

This whole thread is a shocker. And all the negative nelly's chiming in. Unbelievable. 

Austin is not done. He's building and everything is fine. He's going to race the rest of the SX season, He will be racing outdoors. He will have better results on nights when it's there. Same for maybe the first few rounds outdoors. But he will inch closer to a top 5 as this season progresses. Possibly better. But either way, I have 100% confidence in Austin and his abilities. 

He's not retiring. He's building and racing. I can't believe some of the comments here. Forkner will be just fine. Let him get it going his way and build and figure it out once again. Give him some slack, He doesn't deserve some of these comments.

Really mixed feelings about his night…. 

The good?  He showed some of that speed we’re looking for in Q1.  And the P12 in the main wasn’t all bad considering everything we know.

The bad?  His heat race and LCQ were very difficult to watch.  It just didn’t look at all like Austin Forkner out there.

Just get through the season and let’s see where he goes from there…

Forkner isn’t Smith. 

You must not understand the difference between trajectory and accomplishments. 

Where is Evan Ferry btw?

Roczen won a 450 main even two weeks ago and is 3rd in the points. So please, new guy, educate me on trajectory 

Recovering from an Achilles injury. 

"Alpinestar injury" ?

Yep. 

Still confused about trajectory and accomplishments it appears, but that's the point..... at one point roczen was a shell of himself and nearly out of the sport, then the trajectory of his career over several years led him back to where he is now.

Following a similar trajectory from injury to success should be forkner's goal. That's the point. This isn't complicated or a comparison between their accomplishments.

LoL...sad that you actually had to take the time to explain that to someone.  

The question wasn’t about Forkner being like Smith. The question was about the bike. Same bike, and Forkner claims he and Smith go toe to toe on the test track so….what’s the real answer here? 

"Modified Alpinestar injury"

And if triumph stays to past action he will be fired soon. 

The main wasn't that bad though? He got 12th in an E/W showdown after being taken down on the start. I'm sure he wants to be on the podium but he came from last to 12th. A "normal" start and he gets 6-9th. I don't think he can ask for more than that at the moment

I’m pretty sure that most everyone understood that truck was talking about KR’s trajectory AFTER his major injuries, and he said that should be Forkner’s goal, not that he actually was mimicking it right now. 

Dude has so much going on this year with new bike, coming off serious surgery, and most importantly his life changing in the best way with becoming a father. I couldn’t imagine racing at the pro level knowing my kid was due anyday. That is some serious stress that can’t be ignored. I just want to see him healthy and make every gate this year. But I am curious about the bike. I would like to see how this season would have went on the Kawi just to see if his speed would have been better or if he would look more comfortable. Something just looks off with the Triumph. 

he gets a complete pass this year in my book. I don't care if he rides around in 14th...a complete healthy season is a HUGE win for him.