Kawasaki's 2010 Race Teams Formally Announced
January 8, 2010 4:19pm | by: Steve Cox
Anaheim week is crazy in Southern California. The holidays have just ended basically a week ago, and everyone immediately goes into full-on “pin it” time. The manufacturers spend a lot of money every year on their racing efforts in the hopes that what wins on Sunday (or Saturday, in motocross and supercross’s case) will sell on Monday.
So when the circus rolls into town, the manufacturers many times roll out the red carpet, economy be damned.
This means that every single rider in the announcement rides Kawasaki’s off-road KX/F motorcycles.
The 2010 Monster Kawasaki Team Green Off-Road team will consist of three riders: bazillion-time AMA National Hare & Hound Champion Destry Abbott, off-road and motocross jack of all trades (and former Endurocross Champion) Ricky Dietrich, and newcomer (from the KTM team) Justin Soule.
Event host Jason Weigandt started at the off-road end of the lineup with Dietrich, who despite his MX exploits this past summer, says he’s happy to be riding a dirt bike for a living, no matter where it is. Weigandt brought up the fact that Dietrich had broken his nose three different times, and that now he has some Hollywood plastic surgeon who is fixing it.
“(Laughs) Yeah, yeah, some guy down the street down here does Tom Cruise or something, and he hooked me up!” Dietrich said. “Modeling after moto, you’ve got to have something to back it up.”
Abbott is going for a record for the most H&H championships in history this year, and Soule (pronounced “su-lay”) said he’s really excited to be back at Kawasaki, where he started.
Then came the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki squad, starting with the newest member, Dean Wilson, who is quite an international fellow.
“I grew up in Scotland, and lived there until I was about eight, then moved to Canada and lived there until I was 14, and now I’m in California, so...” Wilson said. “I’ve been all over the place.”
Word from the test track is that Wilson was going really fast before he hurt his ankle, and he should be ready to go by the first round of the Lites East in Indianapolis.
Defending Eastern Regional Lites SX Champ Christophe Pourcel was MIA at the event because of his recent collarbone injury, but he should be ready to go by Indy.
Hansen also said he’s “really taking it serious now” and he’s really excited to see what he can do with proper training. He’ll be joining teammate Jake Weimer in the Lites West starting tomorrow night at Anaheim Stadium.
And Weimer was next. The winner of three supercross races last season, and three outdoor events, as well as a member of the winning Motocross des Nations team in 2009, Weimer wasn’t asked about any of those things right away. Instead, the subject was his hair, which hasn’t been cut in probably a year or more.
“I don’t really style it that much, but there’s definitely some shampoo and conditioner, and I trim it up a little bit, for sure!” Weimer joked. “When I ride my road bike, I feel kind of stupid because I can see my shadow, and my hairs like [makes waving motion with his hands].”
In a funny moment, Weigandt said that Weimer had low expectations last year because he hadn’t won a lot before, but now the expectations are there, to which Weimer responded: “What are you saying? You didn’t think I could win last year?!”
Then came Tyla Rattray, going into his first SX season, and recovering from an injury himself. Weigandt asked if the South African gets mistaken for a Kiwi or Aussie a lot.
“When I go into stores and order something, they always say to me, ‘That’s an Australian accent,’ and I’m like, ‘No, I’m South African.’” Rattray said with a smile.
Rattray said he wanted to race the best racers, so that’s why he came to the USA, and he would only do it if he was on the Pro Circuit squad. He’ll be healthy for the Lites East.
And then, up to the Monster Energy Kawasaki team of Ryan Villopoto and Chad Reed, Weigandt made the observation that Villopoto has been on Kawasakis it seems like forever.
“I love all you guys here,” Villopoto said to the crowd of Kawasaki employees and family. “I’ve had a good life here, so far, in racing and I’d like to stay here and end my career [here].”
As to how Villopoto is getting along with his new teammate, he said, “It’s going to be really good for the both of us. We can feed off each other and learn off each other, and hopefully, with the both of us working together, we can take down James [Stewart].”
And finally, Weigandt introduced the newest member to the 450cc squad in Reed. It’s not his first time on Kawasakis, though, as he raced Kawasakis in Europe in 2001 for Jan de Groot.
“It was my ticket out of Australia and onto the world scene, and now I’m back here,” Reed said. “It all started with Kawasaki on an international level for me, so I like that I ended up here.”
When asked about racing James Stewart, and if the Kawasaki is the kind of machine he needs to go after him, Reed responded: “Yeah, absolutely. Individually, I think I’m extremely motivated, but to be on a team that’s equally as motivated to beat James Stewart is a positive thing.”
Asked about the rivalry in the truck with Villopoto, and if Reed thought he could take him, Reed joked, “Yeah, he’s a kid, he’s small – short – so I think I’ve got him.”
The motocross teams will debut tomorrow at Angels Stadium.
The off-road team debut comes later, but they did debut a new sponsor in Traxxas R/C cars at the event.
So when the circus rolls into town, the manufacturers many times roll out the red carpet, economy be damned.
This means that every single rider in the announcement rides Kawasaki’s off-road KX/F motorcycles.
The 2010 Monster Kawasaki Team Green Off-Road team will consist of three riders: bazillion-time AMA National Hare & Hound Champion Destry Abbott, off-road and motocross jack of all trades (and former Endurocross Champion) Ricky Dietrich, and newcomer (from the KTM team) Justin Soule.
Event host Jason Weigandt started at the off-road end of the lineup with Dietrich, who despite his MX exploits this past summer, says he’s happy to be riding a dirt bike for a living, no matter where it is. Weigandt brought up the fact that Dietrich had broken his nose three different times, and that now he has some Hollywood plastic surgeon who is fixing it.
“(Laughs) Yeah, yeah, some guy down the street down here does Tom Cruise or something, and he hooked me up!” Dietrich said. “Modeling after moto, you’ve got to have something to back it up.”
Abbott is going for a record for the most H&H championships in history this year, and Soule (pronounced “su-lay”) said he’s really excited to be back at Kawasaki, where he started.
Then came the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki squad, starting with the newest member, Dean Wilson, who is quite an international fellow.
“I grew up in Scotland, and lived there until I was about eight, then moved to Canada and lived there until I was 14, and now I’m in California, so...” Wilson said. “I’ve been all over the place.”
Word from the test track is that Wilson was going really fast before he hurt his ankle, and he should be ready to go by the first round of the Lites East in Indianapolis.
Defending Eastern Regional Lites SX Champ Christophe Pourcel was MIA at the event because of his recent collarbone injury, but he should be ready to go by Indy.
Hansen also said he’s “really taking it serious now” and he’s really excited to see what he can do with proper training. He’ll be joining teammate Jake Weimer in the Lites West starting tomorrow night at Anaheim Stadium.
And Weimer was next. The winner of three supercross races last season, and three outdoor events, as well as a member of the winning Motocross des Nations team in 2009, Weimer wasn’t asked about any of those things right away. Instead, the subject was his hair, which hasn’t been cut in probably a year or more.
“I don’t really style it that much, but there’s definitely some shampoo and conditioner, and I trim it up a little bit, for sure!” Weimer joked. “When I ride my road bike, I feel kind of stupid because I can see my shadow, and my hairs like [makes waving motion with his hands].”
In a funny moment, Weigandt said that Weimer had low expectations last year because he hadn’t won a lot before, but now the expectations are there, to which Weimer responded: “What are you saying? You didn’t think I could win last year?!”
Then came Tyla Rattray, going into his first SX season, and recovering from an injury himself. Weigandt asked if the South African gets mistaken for a Kiwi or Aussie a lot.
“When I go into stores and order something, they always say to me, ‘That’s an Australian accent,’ and I’m like, ‘No, I’m South African.’” Rattray said with a smile.
Rattray said he wanted to race the best racers, so that’s why he came to the USA, and he would only do it if he was on the Pro Circuit squad. He’ll be healthy for the Lites East.
And then, up to the Monster Energy Kawasaki team of Ryan Villopoto and Chad Reed, Weigandt made the observation that Villopoto has been on Kawasakis it seems like forever.
“I love all you guys here,” Villopoto said to the crowd of Kawasaki employees and family. “I’ve had a good life here, so far, in racing and I’d like to stay here and end my career [here].”
As to how Villopoto is getting along with his new teammate, he said, “It’s going to be really good for the both of us. We can feed off each other and learn off each other, and hopefully, with the both of us working together, we can take down James [Stewart].”
And finally, Weigandt introduced the newest member to the 450cc squad in Reed. It’s not his first time on Kawasakis, though, as he raced Kawasakis in Europe in 2001 for Jan de Groot.
“It was my ticket out of Australia and onto the world scene, and now I’m back here,” Reed said. “It all started with Kawasaki on an international level for me, so I like that I ended up here.”
When asked about racing James Stewart, and if the Kawasaki is the kind of machine he needs to go after him, Reed responded: “Yeah, absolutely. Individually, I think I’m extremely motivated, but to be on a team that’s equally as motivated to beat James Stewart is a positive thing.”
Asked about the rivalry in the truck with Villopoto, and if Reed thought he could take him, Reed joked, “Yeah, he’s a kid, he’s small – short – so I think I’ve got him.”
The motocross teams will debut tomorrow at Angels Stadium.
The off-road team debut comes later, but they did debut a new sponsor in Traxxas R/C cars at the event.
