By: Haley Whisennand
Wil Hahn's first season with the GEICO Honda team didn't go as planned. Before ever racing a main event Hahn broke his back in practice at Anaheim 1. While trying to make a comeback Hahn would injure his collarbone, putting him on the mend once again. And when he finally did make it back to the track, he crashed again at Unadilla, prematurely ending his season. We caught up with Wil earlier this week to see how his recovery is going.
Wil Hahn: It’s something that we all don’t want to happen, but it does happen, unfortunately. You know, I went to Anaheim, made a mistake there and broke my back. I started riding, got hurt again. And then I thought I was done with all of it. Everything was going good and I made it to the first moto and I just made some small mistakes that turned into some pretty big air and as it turned out I cracked my collarbone. And then a few weeks later, I found out I had broken my back again. So, it’s been a year that I hope to forget about, but at the same time it’s kind of made me grow. It’s all about making something positive out of a negative situation. I’m just trying to move forward from it and not let it drag me down. I mean sometimes, yeah it’s a bummer. You’re sitting on the couch, watching a race that you should be in. But I’m back to it and I’m back on the right track and I’m moving forward to next year.
How’ve you been doing during the off-season so far? Are you feeling pretty comfortable?
Yeah. I think the off-season gives me vital time for training in the gym. Right now I’m just getting my comfort up and getting my endurance back. I’m right on schedule and, like I said, I’m just looking forward to training and getting ready for next season.
Hahn is trying to rebound after an injury riddled 2011 season.
Photo: Simon Cudby
My goal is the same every season. It hasn’t changed. I still have the same belief in myself that I did last year. That’s to go there and, maybe be a little more smart about it in practice. But other than that, I’m going out there to do my job and my job is to get out there and go about it and be the smartest racer at the end of the day.
Is Ryan Fedorow still your trainer?
Yeah. He’s always been by my side and I feel like he’s always been a big help to the program.
And what coast are you racing this season?
That’s always up in the air. I would like to race West Coast, but we won’t know until the middle of December.
Is there ever a little bit of fear that you might get injured again this season?
Not any more than normal. None of us think about it, or else we wouldn’t be out there. It’s something that we blank out. But it can happen. It can happen walking across the street or it could happen in your vehicle driving to the track. Nothing’s changed. I know that things happen and I just take it day by day.
Will you be on the 250 for both supercross and motocross this year?
Yeah, that’s my plan. I just want to thank the whole GEICO squad and everyone for sticking behind me; Ryan and Andy, my mechanic Jay, and my mom, dad, and brother--who’ve stuck behind me this whole time.
