On Track Off Road No. 189

FEATURE
probably end up for Supercross
when it came to his
settings but I could tell earlyon
that Thomas was pushing
back and everything we were
gearing towards he wouldn’t
like it. So I said ‘let’s get a set
of everything he was on and
give it to him’ and my Crew
Chief was like ‘that’s not going
to work’. I said we both knew
that…but until we let him ride
it and self-eliminate that question
mark then it will always
be hovering there in the back
of his head. I think that management
style with the riders
– for Jason, Zach, Christophe
– when it comes to bike set-up
then I don’t care if you want
to run stock ProTaper handlebars
or something special I
just want that bike to feel like
it is an extension of them and
they are confident and competitive.
Does it really matter
if one guy likes one thing
and another likes something
else? If all those settings for
Thomas had worked then no
problems but there were some
areas where he said he felt OK
and some [where] it was really
scary to watch. After about
thirty minutes he came off
the track and said ‘this won’t
work…’. Technical choices can
cause conflict but I am not the
guy who will have his finger
in your chest and his foot up
your ass – I can when I need
to be and there have been
times in twenty years when
I’ve had to – but I prefer not
to. It is about allowing them to
communicate and not worry
what they say. It is a blank
canvas so it is about painting
it the way you want.
So what burns-you-up then? It
is just a lack of effort?
The last one I had was with
Jason at A2 this year. In twenty
years I have only thrown
my headset twice but after
that race I had to walk around
the stadium once before I got
back to the truck because
I was so mad. But I didn’t
cool-off enough and ended up
throwing my headset against
the wall of the truck lounge
and made everybody get out
of the Semi apart from Jason.
I said to him ‘you know
a) I love you and b) I’ll never
doubt your ability but I am
banging my head against the
wall. I’m communicating that
we’ll get through this because
I gotta have something from
you, and what you gave tonight
is totally unacceptable
on any level…’. I don’t think
anybody really understands
the pressure that comes after
winning a championship and
all the obligations. And the
feedback [from others] is ‘well,
Dungey and Villopoto had to
do the same so Jason is going
to have to understand’.
The thing is that Jason is not
a Ryan Dungey or Ryan Villopoto
and what a lot of people
don’t know about him is
that he doesn’t care about the
money – well, he does from
a future financial viewpoint
for him and his family – but
he’ll race just as hard for 100
bucks as he will for 100,000
and he doesn’t like the limelight.
He couldn’t care less if
he has 10 fans on Instagram
or 700,000. It is not what
ticks him. He has anxieties
about having to do interviews
and whatever-else because as
many as he’s done – and he’s
much better now compared
to a few years ago when I first
got him – it’s an uncomfortable
setting. Jason has a group
of friends and those are the
ones he hangs out with, eats
with and does everything with
when he’s not racing. Now
Zach is a guy that you can put
100% into the box. If you need
any interview done then he’s
the guy there with the hat and
the shirt. He’s outgoing, politically
correct. He’s great-
Just to cut across you: it
seems that riders don’t want
to embrace that ‘role model’
aspect of what they do. Zach
is a good example of someone
who has put many parts of
being a public-face and a Pro
racer together…
Very much so. Zach only has
one problem [laughs] - and
they [the older riders] all
seem to have it more than the
rookies - and that’s for autograph
signing sessions it is
like herding cats. It will be at
2.45 and at 2.44 they’ll still
be sitting there in the truck
in their underwear. Zach is a
great mentor for the younger
guys.