Rockstar/Canidae Suzuki’s Tommy Hahn had an eventful season, followed by an eventful off-season. It was his first full year on 450s, and Hahn scored numerous podium finishes, as well as a win at the season-finale Steel City National, but then he was without a job heading into the off-season. After a couple of months, it worked out that he could re-join his team, but the team is now on Suzukis. We talked to him Sunday night about what he expects from Anaheim I and the season at large.
Racer X: The last time you raced your dirt bike, you won... What has the off-season been like when you went from winning a race to not really knowing what was going on for 2010, and then now having a ride with the same team, but on different bikes?
Tommy Hahn: Well, actually, Steel City was a high and a low at the same time. I didn’t have a ride for the next year, which was a low, but the high was that I won the race, and it was my first win, so that was big for me. But in the end, everything came together. I kept the same team, but I changed bikes, got some new sponsors and stuff, and switched over to Suzukis from Kawasakis. The transition was really easy. For the last two months, I’ve been working on the Suzukis, getting them dialed for me, and I’ve been working from there. I’m hoping to have a positive Anaheim I and Supercross season – at least better than last year. That’s my main goal.
What has the transition been like from the Kawasaki to the Suzuki? From the outside looking in, and having ridden the stock ones, they seem pretty similar, but most of us can’t ride like you guys can.
The bikes are really evenly matched. It was a pretty easy transition. But there are a lot of things that I really like about the Suzuki that are better than the Kawi, not to say the Kawi wasn’t a good bike. I was stoked with my bike. But when I got on my Suzuki, I was like, “Wow, now I know why those guys were beating me!” The Suzuki’s a good bike. It turns really well, handles really well, and has good power. Mitch [Payton] and Bones [Bacon, both of Pro Circuit fame] have my engines and suspension working really good, and we’ve gotten some testing done, and I’ve been in Texas riding at my house, and I’m really happy with the bike. The more I ride it, the more I like it.
So, does this bike change your confidence level or the way that you look at the upcoming season?
I think I have a really good bike, but I’m more confident because I’m a little bit stronger. I’m going in with a different approach since I had a year on the 450, and I’ve improved my technique on it, so it’s not such a shock to me. The 450 is tough to ride in Supercross. I struggled because it’s a little fast, and last year it was a little bit too much bike for me, but this year I feel a lot better. I’m used to it, and I’ve got a lot of time on it, so I feel like I’m coming in a lot more prepared than last season, for sure. It’s just experience. It’s really important, and I have a little more experience and I know a little more of what to expect.
Experience is important. Every experience counts, but there’s a big difference between believing you can win, or hoping you can, and actually doing it, like you did at Steel City. Since you did that, that has to change your outlook, right?
I want to leave the west coast top-seven in points and I just want to get better. I started outdoors last year wanting to be in the top 10, and I wanted to get better, and that’s what I did. I want to do a similar thing in supercross, and gradually get better throughout the season and take advantage of staying healthy and of other people’s mistakes. I just want to be there every week. The championship is gnarly. It’s 17 races, and I’ve never done 17 races of supercross, because I was hurt last year and missed the first 6 or 8 races. It’s going to be a lot to handle because 17 races is a lot. I just want to be healthy for all 17 races, and I want to go into outdoors healthy, because I think I can have a really good season outdoors this year. Basically, I just want to take it one race at a time, be safe, and be in the mix.
You said in the beginning that your team had some new sponsors. What are they?
Obviously, Suzuki is one of our main sponsors, and Rockstar Energy Drink came aboard, along with One Industries Gear, Dragon Goggles, Etnies Shoes, and a bunch like that. I don’t know all of them for sure, but those companies are definitely new, and it’s good for everybody. It’s nice to be back on the same team, though, with all the same people. I’m the only carry-over rider from last year, but besides the new bikes and new teammates, the team is the same. I have the same mechanic, the same team manager... It’s the same. So I’m comfortable with the surroundings, and I’m happy to be back with them. I just want to be out there and make them look good. Plus, Canidae stayed on this year, as did Motosport, so we’ve got some of the same sponsors and some new ones.
When was the last time you actually raced Anaheim I?
I rode it in 2008 on Kawasakis. I was hurt last year, so I didn’t get to race it. I had a little crash last Monday and got banged up a little bit, and that happens. It’s motocross, so you’re going to get banged up a little bit, but you’re supposed to be tough, so I’m going into Anaheim I and I’m going to give it my all. I hope to build off that first race for the rest of the season, because I know it’s really hard to do.
If you could put it into words for the average fan, what is Anaheim I like? All the anticipation and everything building up to it, it seems like it could be really fun, or really difficult...
I’m sure it kind of varies for riders, but for me, it’s just another race. As a fan, it’s new, and exciting, and the opening ceremonies are new and different, and stuff like that, so that’s probably the coolest race to go to since everybody’s on new bikes and a lot of people have new numbers. For me, that’s the exciting part; seeing who’s riding the West Coast Lites, what the big-bike guys look like, and all that. But as a rider, for me, it’s just like any other race. They’re all the same. They’re all supercross races, they’re all 20 laps, and they’re all eight-lap heat races. It’s just like every other race on the circuit.
Have you been testing much with any of your other new teammates, or with the other guys at Suzuki, like Ryan Dungey?
Actually, I’ve mostly just been riding at home, riding against the clock. I got on a new program about midway through last year, and I’m sticking with that program. It seemed to work for me pretty good through the outdoors, and I’m going to work on making myself a better rider. I kind of sucked last year in Supercross, and I can’t think of any other way to put it. I sucked. I just want to be better than that. I think I finished 17th or 19th overall, so I hope to finish this season in the top seven, and that would be really good for me for this year, as stacked as the class is. James and Chad are definitely the two main guys, then we’ve got Dungey, Villopoto, Tedesco, Short, Millsaps, all those guys. They’re all going to be up there challenging, and I just want to run with them and see what I can do. I haven’t been up there or been able to run with those guys in the past, and I just came in unprepared because of my injury. But I want to start out healthy and go for it. I want to be challenging for top-fives and podiums. That’s my goal.
A lot of guys are probably going to be confusing you with Ryan Dungey...
I’ve got a lot of people saying, “What are you doing with Dungey’s bike?” and stuff like that. “Is that Dungey’s bike?!” “No, Dungey’s number five now!” I’ve gotten that a lot. My brother, Wil, is making jokes, and he thinks it’s funny because I have Dungey’s number and I kind of look like him on the bike, because he started off last season in One Industries gear with number 10 on a Suzuki. Wil has a joke, where he says, “What do you get when you cross Ryan Dungey with dog food? Tommy Hahn.” So, that’s real funny. It’s no disrespect to Dungey or dog food, but he just thought it was funny. But I’m number 10. Dungey is number five. That’s that. Dungey was only number 10 for one year! It wasn’t like he had 10 for five or six years! I mean, don’t they get Steve Cox and Steve Matthes mixed up a whole lot?
My wife gets it right...
Well, I get it right, too! So, hopefully the adjustment doesn’t take too long.
Racer X: The last time you raced your dirt bike, you won... What has the off-season been like when you went from winning a race to not really knowing what was going on for 2010, and then now having a ride with the same team, but on different bikes?
Tommy Hahn: Well, actually, Steel City was a high and a low at the same time. I didn’t have a ride for the next year, which was a low, but the high was that I won the race, and it was my first win, so that was big for me. But in the end, everything came together. I kept the same team, but I changed bikes, got some new sponsors and stuff, and switched over to Suzukis from Kawasakis. The transition was really easy. For the last two months, I’ve been working on the Suzukis, getting them dialed for me, and I’ve been working from there. I’m hoping to have a positive Anaheim I and Supercross season – at least better than last year. That’s my main goal.
What has the transition been like from the Kawasaki to the Suzuki? From the outside looking in, and having ridden the stock ones, they seem pretty similar, but most of us can’t ride like you guys can.
The bikes are really evenly matched. It was a pretty easy transition. But there are a lot of things that I really like about the Suzuki that are better than the Kawi, not to say the Kawi wasn’t a good bike. I was stoked with my bike. But when I got on my Suzuki, I was like, “Wow, now I know why those guys were beating me!” The Suzuki’s a good bike. It turns really well, handles really well, and has good power. Mitch [Payton] and Bones [Bacon, both of Pro Circuit fame] have my engines and suspension working really good, and we’ve gotten some testing done, and I’ve been in Texas riding at my house, and I’m really happy with the bike. The more I ride it, the more I like it.
So, does this bike change your confidence level or the way that you look at the upcoming season?
I think I have a really good bike, but I’m more confident because I’m a little bit stronger. I’m going in with a different approach since I had a year on the 450, and I’ve improved my technique on it, so it’s not such a shock to me. The 450 is tough to ride in Supercross. I struggled because it’s a little fast, and last year it was a little bit too much bike for me, but this year I feel a lot better. I’m used to it, and I’ve got a lot of time on it, so I feel like I’m coming in a lot more prepared than last season, for sure. It’s just experience. It’s really important, and I have a little more experience and I know a little more of what to expect.
Experience is important. Every experience counts, but there’s a big difference between believing you can win, or hoping you can, and actually doing it, like you did at Steel City. Since you did that, that has to change your outlook, right?
I want to leave the west coast top-seven in points and I just want to get better. I started outdoors last year wanting to be in the top 10, and I wanted to get better, and that’s what I did. I want to do a similar thing in supercross, and gradually get better throughout the season and take advantage of staying healthy and of other people’s mistakes. I just want to be there every week. The championship is gnarly. It’s 17 races, and I’ve never done 17 races of supercross, because I was hurt last year and missed the first 6 or 8 races. It’s going to be a lot to handle because 17 races is a lot. I just want to be healthy for all 17 races, and I want to go into outdoors healthy, because I think I can have a really good season outdoors this year. Basically, I just want to take it one race at a time, be safe, and be in the mix.
You said in the beginning that your team had some new sponsors. What are they?
Obviously, Suzuki is one of our main sponsors, and Rockstar Energy Drink came aboard, along with One Industries Gear, Dragon Goggles, Etnies Shoes, and a bunch like that. I don’t know all of them for sure, but those companies are definitely new, and it’s good for everybody. It’s nice to be back on the same team, though, with all the same people. I’m the only carry-over rider from last year, but besides the new bikes and new teammates, the team is the same. I have the same mechanic, the same team manager... It’s the same. So I’m comfortable with the surroundings, and I’m happy to be back with them. I just want to be out there and make them look good. Plus, Canidae stayed on this year, as did Motosport, so we’ve got some of the same sponsors and some new ones.
When was the last time you actually raced Anaheim I?
I rode it in 2008 on Kawasakis. I was hurt last year, so I didn’t get to race it. I had a little crash last Monday and got banged up a little bit, and that happens. It’s motocross, so you’re going to get banged up a little bit, but you’re supposed to be tough, so I’m going into Anaheim I and I’m going to give it my all. I hope to build off that first race for the rest of the season, because I know it’s really hard to do.
If you could put it into words for the average fan, what is Anaheim I like? All the anticipation and everything building up to it, it seems like it could be really fun, or really difficult...
I’m sure it kind of varies for riders, but for me, it’s just another race. As a fan, it’s new, and exciting, and the opening ceremonies are new and different, and stuff like that, so that’s probably the coolest race to go to since everybody’s on new bikes and a lot of people have new numbers. For me, that’s the exciting part; seeing who’s riding the West Coast Lites, what the big-bike guys look like, and all that. But as a rider, for me, it’s just like any other race. They’re all the same. They’re all supercross races, they’re all 20 laps, and they’re all eight-lap heat races. It’s just like every other race on the circuit.
Have you been testing much with any of your other new teammates, or with the other guys at Suzuki, like Ryan Dungey?
Actually, I’ve mostly just been riding at home, riding against the clock. I got on a new program about midway through last year, and I’m sticking with that program. It seemed to work for me pretty good through the outdoors, and I’m going to work on making myself a better rider. I kind of sucked last year in Supercross, and I can’t think of any other way to put it. I sucked. I just want to be better than that. I think I finished 17th or 19th overall, so I hope to finish this season in the top seven, and that would be really good for me for this year, as stacked as the class is. James and Chad are definitely the two main guys, then we’ve got Dungey, Villopoto, Tedesco, Short, Millsaps, all those guys. They’re all going to be up there challenging, and I just want to run with them and see what I can do. I haven’t been up there or been able to run with those guys in the past, and I just came in unprepared because of my injury. But I want to start out healthy and go for it. I want to be challenging for top-fives and podiums. That’s my goal.
A lot of guys are probably going to be confusing you with Ryan Dungey...
I’ve got a lot of people saying, “What are you doing with Dungey’s bike?” and stuff like that. “Is that Dungey’s bike?!” “No, Dungey’s number five now!” I’ve gotten that a lot. My brother, Wil, is making jokes, and he thinks it’s funny because I have Dungey’s number and I kind of look like him on the bike, because he started off last season in One Industries gear with number 10 on a Suzuki. Wil has a joke, where he says, “What do you get when you cross Ryan Dungey with dog food? Tommy Hahn.” So, that’s real funny. It’s no disrespect to Dungey or dog food, but he just thought it was funny. But I’m number 10. Dungey is number five. That’s that. Dungey was only number 10 for one year! It wasn’t like he had 10 for five or six years! I mean, don’t they get Steve Cox and Steve Matthes mixed up a whole lot?
My wife gets it right...
Well, I get it right, too! So, hopefully the adjustment doesn’t take too long.