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THEROOKIES WORDS/IMAGES : KILPATRICK
The 250 class is regularly the most competitive throughout all of professional motocross and inevitably gets deeper every year. Some years are different than others, but 2018 seems to be producing an exceptional crop of rookie talent. Three outstanding amateur riders decided to make the fateful leap to the professional ranks at the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross season opener at Hangtown in the 250 division -- Jordan Bailey, Enzo Lopes, and Garrett Marchbanks. The three riders have all taken drastically different paths in order to arrive at the fiftieth annual Hangtown Motocross Classic, but they’ve all put in the work. Bailey and Marchbanks have both shared the amateur spotlight throughout their respective careers, each of them competing under contract with Team Green Kawasaki at one point
or another. Marchbanks stuck with the squad and made the transition to the pros alongside Pro Circuit Kawasaki whereas Bailey went separate ways and opted for Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing. There are a lot of unknowns when you show up at the opening round of the season, especially as a rookie, so there’s definitely something to be said about showing up with a factory team behind your back. Meanwhile, Lopes has taken a com- pletely different route to reach his current status. The Brazilian native had initially planned on putting his own program together for 2018 Pro Motocross season, but a last minute call from Joe Gibbs Racing provided him with another option. Three amateur riders; three fac- tory teams -- it’s set to be a special year of racing in the Great Outdoors.
For anyone that has closely followed the amateur motocross ranks throughout the last de- cade, Garrett Marchbanks shouldn’t be an unfamiliar name. The Utah native and longtime contracted Team Green Kawasaki rider has accumulated a total of eight Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Championships throughout his career, rightfully earning his place on the top step of the podium with blinding speed and consistency from his time in the 65cc class to his time in the B class. The teenager is so good, in fact, that Mitch Payton has ultimately made the decision to bring him straight out of the B class into the professional ranks. Marchbanks technically moved up to the A class at the Thor Winter Olympics at the end of the 2017 season, quickly proving himself to be worthy of championships, but he will not complete a full season in the division just as Austin Forkner did in his rookie year. The Utah native has been on a roll as of late, carrying some serious momentum throughout the first couple months of the racing season. Marchbanks proved his mettle against some profes- sional competition at a couple of different AMA Arenacross rounds at the beginning of the year, earning a handful of podium finishes and a win in the AX Lites division. He continued his winning ways at all of the major spring races that he attended; earning a first in 250
A at the Daytona RCSX, he swept both 250 A and Pro Sport at the JS7 Freestone Spring Championship, and he finished on the podium in all three pro classes at the California Clas- sic despite bad starts throughout the weekend. Marchbanks has proven since his time on minis as the “man-child” that he’s a force to be reckoned with anytime he hits the track and he’ll be looking to bring that same fervor into the 250 class at Hangtown as he takes on the nation’s best throughout the grueling twelve round series.
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