JORDON SMITH

Though known for his speed and even talent on the “SX” circuit, Yamaha’s Jordon Smith was continuing to show, that his consistency was superb among the 250MX championship. He’d ridden these courses for a number of occasions throughout his career, but it was difficult for the North Carolina native to sustain a sense of longevity throughout every series thus far in his career...though it wasn’t for lack of effort. His patented trait of intensity was on display from the initiation of qualification rounds in the morning hours, where Smith scrubbed his way through the slop to earn a final standing of tenth. And once into the opening moto thereafter, he appeared to occupy an initial placement of around ninth...before a brief mistake would deter him to fourteenth. He quickly regained momentum, and accelerated to the highest position possible, as line would be dug by the entirety of the 250MX pack. He was into eleventh by the fifth circuit, and would have quite the task of passing Garrett Marchbanks, while also being pursued by RJ Hampshire. It was a difficult scenario to be in, and though he was overtaken by the Husqvarna rider, the mistake by Marchbanks would eventually enable him to regain the ground he had lost. He tried to keep the pace of Hampshire, which as a result, would move him past Nicholas Romano — but he couldn’t stop, at that point in the moto. The charge of Ty Masterpool was hard to deny, and he was approaching Smith’s realm rather quickly with the checkered flag waving in the distance...but in the end, the Yamaha rider would keep Ty at bay — earning tenth at the checkered flag. His second moto starting position (of eighth) would be an advantageous position to work from. Smith’s sequence through the rollers proceeding the finish line was efficient, and the athlete aboard the number thirty-one machine would find ways to create flowing patterns per se, as the track brown down. This, equated to sustained stamina — omitting fatigue, where many outside of the top twenty began to lessen their pace. And as a result, his attrition was a catalyst of sorts to overtake Ty Masterpool for sixth, on the fourteenth circuit...where he appeared to reside as the checkered flag neared. With a mistake-free last lap, the veteran eventually cemented his standing there — earning a sixth place result for the moto, and eighth overall in the final standings as well!