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through the years and even<br />
watching my own son is that<br />
they come in and see the<br />
lights and the fans and it is<br />
like going to the High School<br />
Prom for the first time, their<br />
eyes are this big and round.<br />
They have some moments<br />
of greatness but most of the<br />
time more difficulty than success.<br />
So it is about keeping<br />
them positive and explaining<br />
the building process. Second<br />
year – and this is where Mosiman<br />
is right now – they have<br />
the speed and when they get<br />
a start they stay there and<br />
make fewer mistakes. They<br />
have more pace and confidence<br />
but they still lack the<br />
consistency; they’ll do three<br />
great laps and then have a<br />
terrible fourth. That thirdfourth<br />
year is when they – for<br />
whatever reason - finally put<br />
all the pieces together. That’s<br />
usually when they have the<br />
most success. It is difficult<br />
from a factory standpoint for<br />
everyone to be as patient as<br />
I am to go through the learning<br />
process. I was looking at<br />
all other teams and they were<br />
scooping up these young riders<br />
and having them just for<br />
two years and they didn’t produce.<br />
Mosiman: I have had to<br />
fight to keep him every year.<br />
I’ve been accused of leaning<br />
towards the riders [but that’s]<br />
because I see their progress.<br />
It can be easy to judge from<br />
a distance but when you see<br />
them day-in and day-out<br />
then you see the little steps,<br />
and some of them make big<br />
strides. There is no substitution<br />
for time. I don’t care how<br />
many laps you put in or how<br />
many starts you do. You have<br />
to remember we are dealing<br />
with kids 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. I<br />
still look at a rider who is 24<br />
now and think what I was like<br />
at 24! I thought I knew everything!<br />
In my case I didn’t<br />
really know what I wanted<br />
until I was in my late thirties!<br />
It’s about communicating<br />
what it going on with these<br />
guys. Thomas is a seasoned<br />
rider who lived in Europe for<br />
five years and is used to having<br />
two days to have a track<br />
‘down’ and then a large number<br />
of laps on the track before<br />
the race starts so for sure he<br />
feels confident when he does<br />
it. <strong>No</strong>w take him back to the<br />
U.S. fly every weekend and<br />
just two ten minute sessions.<br />
I remember the first race that<br />
we did and he said ‘we get a<br />
sighting lap right?’ and I said<br />
‘no! The gate drops and you<br />
go…no Sighting lap until the<br />
Main’. So it is going to take<br />
a while. He has the natural<br />
ability but he is following the<br />
same path as a rookie. I told<br />
him that Supercross is a ballet:<br />
every step is precise and<br />
where it is supposed to be.<br />
Whereas Outdoors is a boxing<br />
match: the toughest guy wins<br />
because the last ten minutes<br />
are about how much pain are<br />
you willing to suffer. He’ll be<br />
fine but it will take time, and<br />
it is frustrating from my part<br />
MEETING BOBBY HEWITT
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