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FEATURE<br />
being paralysed…I was never<br />
frustrated with him. Others<br />
were. I felt strongly that if we<br />
had by-passed supercross<br />
and just gone into Outdoors<br />
we’d have been in a much<br />
better position. At the practice<br />
track I would understand<br />
why he’d only do 1-2 laps<br />
going through the whoops<br />
but to others it was frustrating.<br />
It was a difficult time. I’ve<br />
had to let riders go before<br />
but that was one where I was<br />
more upset and to the point<br />
of tears. Fortunately I pushed<br />
and pushed and we were able<br />
to put together the Canada<br />
deal. It was nobody’s fault but<br />
everybody has an opinion and<br />
we all have someone we have<br />
to answer to. I thoroughly enjoyed<br />
working with Christophe<br />
and have the utmost respect<br />
for him on and off the track.<br />
Robert [Jonas, VP of <strong>Off</strong>road<br />
KTM Group] told me that I<br />
have a reputation for taking<br />
difficult riders and getting<br />
the best of them and I think<br />
a lot of it is just being human<br />
and not treating them like a<br />
paycheck. Yes, we are paid to<br />
perform but it is a dangerous<br />
sport and as a Pro your career<br />
is very short. If you think<br />
about other sports – if you do<br />
research – then most athletes<br />
are in their prime mentally<br />
and emotionally between<br />
27-32; that’s the cream of the<br />
crop, and that’s when our<br />
guys’ careers are over. We’re<br />
bringing guys in at eighteen<br />
when they have the least<br />
amount of ability to control<br />
their emotions, and their testosterone<br />
is at its highest and<br />
we want them to be mature<br />
and responsible. It seems that<br />
we do a lot of things backwards<br />
in this industry. What<br />
I’d like to hang my hat on is<br />
being able to see things that<br />
others didn’t and that brings<br />
success like Zach Osborne.<br />
He could have won those<br />
championships five years before<br />
he did but he didn’t believe<br />
in himself. Until you can<br />
get that light bulb to go off [it<br />
won’t happen]. He was very<br />
comfortable finishing second.<br />
I’ve only got mad at Zach<br />
once. I think it was at Seattle<br />
or St Louis. He led thirteen<br />
of the fifteen laps and then<br />
he started seeing Cooper<br />
[Webb] come. He went from
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