Image: Octopi Media.

Tampa proved to be a tough round for Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing’s Jordon Smith, determined to ‘regroup’ following a technical fault that resulted in a low points-haul at Raymond James Stadium.

Smith was once again quick throughout qualifying and the heat race, but a string of unfortunate events would see the 250SX veteran unable to complete the outing and ultimately be classed as 15th after the failure.

“It was a good day up until the main event,” stated Smith. “I qualified second today and felt really good. We made improvements all day, but unfortunately, things didn’t go our way in that main event. So, we’ll go back, regroup, and come back swinging for the Triple Crown in Arlington.”

After starting the main event towards the pointy-end of the field, a crash in the sand section on the opening lap would see the Yamaha rider fall through the order, picking himself up in a lowly 17th position. Smith would fight his way through the pack before a technical issue would end his race on the last lap.

“Jordon qualified second and then came back to second in that first heat race to finish behind Nate,” explained Jensen Hendler, Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing 250 team manager. “He got a good start in the main, but made a mistake in the sand early in the race and got buried in 17th.

“He kept fighting and made his way back. Unfortunately, there was a technical issue on the last lap and he wasn’t able to finish and ended up scoring 15th. It’s not what we wanted for Jordon, but we’ll keep fighting and get back up front.”

After kicking off the 250SX Eastern Regional championship with a solid third place in Houston, the low score of eight points from Tampa drops Smith to ninth in the standings. The next outing for 250SX East riders is the Triple Crown at Arlington on 25 February.