Privateer Profile: Adam Chatfield
Some people remember the name Adam Chatfield from a one-off race in Arizona years ago that turned into a global debacle. But the 20-year-old from Devizes, England, is one of the nicest guys at the track, and that whole thing is way behind him. As a member of the Richardson’s RV Center Suzuki support team this year, Chatfield has had good backing up to this point. But as the team parks its transporter for the summer, Adam is hitting the road with his truck, his bikes, and the help of a good mechanic to compete in the remaining ten rounds of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championship. We caught up with him today for this week's Sponsorhouse.com Privateer Profile.
Racer X: How has 2008 been to you so far?
Adam Chatfield: Supercross went all right. I had a few problems but it came together okay at the end. I got twelfth at Seattle right at the end, so that was good. Then getting ready for outdoors I have just been trying to get better and better. I moved up to the 450 and my goal has been to get points every weekend.
And you’ve done that so far, correct?
Yeah, I’ve scored points in every moto except the first moto at Hangtown. I ran into a guy that had crashed and it tore my brake line open. I had to pull in when that happened. But it’s been going pretty well other than that.
Your team was never planning on doing all the nationals. What was their agreement with you guys at the beginning of the year?
They are helping us through five rounds of the outdoors. The rig went to the first two and then they were going to do Texas, Colorado, and Washougal. But we had our team manager quit on us and it messed things up a bit, I suppose. Now they’re going to help us with expenses, and they gave us a smaller trailer to use and my mechanic and I are heading out on the road to do them all. Marc Hauser at Richardson’s has been a really big help. He is giving us expense money for each round and also letting us use his trailer. It should be good.
Have you raced all the venues on the national series?
I did most of them last year until I got hurt. I had my shoulder worked on towards the end of summer. I’m looking forward to doing the whole series.
You blew up one of your bikes last weekend. Did you get that fixed already?
Yeah, we have been running around all week trying to get ready. I just got a new head for it and I was going to ride it this week, but I’ve been so busy getting ready that I just haven’t had time. I’ve been packing and picking things up to get ready all week. I haven’t ridden or trained at all this week.
That’s the life of a true privateer, right?
Oh, yeah, it’s tough. My mechanic, Dave, has been working so hard that I had to help him out. My only training has been loading heavy boxes in and out of the trailer.
Where are you staying on the road?
I have a few friends in Texas and in New York, so I will stay with them when I’m in that area. Then the trailer we have has two beds in it and a bathroom so we can stay in that when we have to. It’s a pretty good setup. I’m pulling the trailer right now and I’m getting eight miles to the gallon. Can you believe that?
Nice! How much do you think you’ll spend in diesel this summer?
I don’t even want to know, to be honest. Richardson’s are helping out a lot but I’m going to have to put some in too. Hopefully I don’t have to miss any rounds because of it.
Is your teammate, Michael LaPaglia, joining you for any of the tour?
No, he is going to stay home and get healthy. He might try to do the last couple of rounds.
Just out of curiosity, who is the best team manager you’ve ever had?
We had one last week that was actually pretty good. I quite liked him. I think his name is David Pingree or something; he used to race [laughs].
Who are the good people helping you out this summer?
Marc Hauser and Richardson’s RV Center, Suzuki, Jayco Trailers, my mechanic, Dave, No Fear, Dunlop, Spy, Shoei, and all the team sponsors that have helped us out.
