Triumph completes landmark racing debut despite early scare
Triumph has completed its first premier class AMA Supercross race, after being involved in an early red flag incident.
British manufacturer Triumph has completed its debut in the AMA Supercross 450SX class, despite an early scare.
Austin Forkner, also making his 450SX debut last Saturday (10 January) in Anaheim, finished the race 15th, but not before being caught up in an incident on the first lap that saw the red flags come out.
Ducati’s Justin Barcia had committed to a jump at the end of the second rhythm section on the track, but ahead Husqvarna’s Malcolm Stewart had had to roll out because of his proximity to Suzuki’s Ken Roczen to his left. Barcia ended up landing on Stewart, who picked up a shoulder injury. Barcia, meanwhile, was knocked out in the crash, taken to hospital with back pain, and was released on 11 January after the discovery of a fractured spinal wing that it was decided did not need surgery.
The crash mattered from a Triumph perspective because one of the first riders behind Barcia at the time was Forkner, who almost went down in the incident himself with several riders all landing off the jump behind him.
The 27-year-old was able to stay upright, and on the restart had a steady ride to 15th on his long-awaited premier class debut, which threw up some unexpected scenarios for Forkner along the way.
“My riding was good in the Main Event,” said Forkner.
“It was just a little too much of a rollercoaster.
“I was figuring out when to push and when to conserve energy.
“There are many aspects of racing that you run into in the longer 450SX main event.
“We will make some adjustments this week, but we are close and it was a solid debut in the premier class for me and the team.”
Jeremy Coker, General Manager of Triumph Racing America, added: “I am very proud of Austin [Forkner] and the team today. For us to launch the TF 450-X in Supercross and put it straight in the Main Event is a job well done in itself.
“Austin had a solid ride, and there’s plenty of positives to build on; we now have some more specific goals moving forward now the first race is done.
“The team will go back to work this week and continue to improve.”
The second round of the 2026 AMA Supercross season takes place this weekend (17 January) in San Diego.
