Chad Reed, TwoTwo Motorsports/Discount Tire Racing, 14-38 in MXGP Class, Team Australia
Racer X: Fell in your first moto today. And then in your second moto, an even bigger fall right up down the start straight. Not the day you wanted to have.
Chad Reed: Not at all. It was a rough weekend, but I felt really good in the practices. I felt like my speed was there, comfortable with the bike, and everything. Just when it counted, I wasn’t there. Rough one. That last crash hurt a little.
I didn’t see it, but I heard it was good. Luke Clout was looking okay and he went down. Matt Moss had a so-so day. As a country, not one of your better days.
As a country, it was a rough weekend. Mossy fought the bike all weekend. It’s always tough when you jump on a plane and somebody offers up a factory bike. Factory bikes are factory bikes for one individual only. They’re so custom to that rider. Coming over here and jumping onto [Clement] Desalle's bike, right from the first ride out he just really struggled.
I can’t believe he didn’t bring suspension!
Just nothing. Literally the only thing they brought was handlebars, and that’s it. It’s a little frustrating from our point of view because we try to advise against that, but when you hear the word factory everybody jumps at it and think it’s immediately going to be better. But it is what it is. I felt like we were better than what we were, but it was just a rough weekend. You can’t qualify seventeenth and expect to have a shot at it, going to the gate seventeenth and thirty-seventh is just not going to get it done.
I said to you before we started this interview, “Why did you start on the outside?” And you said, “That was my inside gate.”
Yeah, it was brutal. What do you do from there? I’m disappointed. I don’t know. I don’t want that to be my last ‘des Nations, but I love this event a lot. At some point you need to weigh up the reward verse risk. I just think that ‘des Nations is so hard for us that race in the U.S. I think the U.S. and riders in general kind of struggled. For me it’s going to take a pretty strong argument to try to convince the wife to be able to go next year.
You’re writing some checks out of your own pocket.
Yeah, for the most part you are. Australia does really, really well. I come out of pocket a little bit. Not terrible. My heart’s always in it. I always want to be there. But sitting here today, I can tell you right now, the conversation I just had with Ellie [Reed’s wife], I don’t know if I’m going to be in France as a rider.
You’ll be there. I didn’t like this track. I thought it was really simple, hard to pass. It didn’t separate anybody, and a lot of times if you didn’t get the start, you couldn't do it. What’d you think?
I agree a little bit and disagree. I think it was far from simple. In a smooth form it was pretty simple, but the track got really, really rough. The biggest thing that we struggle as U.S. riders is our racetracks are just so different. These guys ride very different to us, and truthfully I actually feel comfortable riding the way that they ride, but obviously I’m on a U.S-based bike, so our bikes handle that way, they’re kind of set up for that way. I’ve learned that for the last thirteen, fourteen years, I’ve been riding a bike like that, so now that’s my comfort level. The biggest thing is, in the US we ride supercross, so obviously we’re very aggressive driving into the turns, so we get big bumps coming into the turns. And then it’s kind of like a U-turn and then drive it out. Here they have a little bit more technique in the fact that they ride in Belgium a lot, which is sand. So they open up their turns. They enter from the outside, sweep it in nice and smooth and have really good mid-corner speed. They’re used to riding on all this. I’m not making excuses, just facts I guess. But those guys were solid this weekend. My pace in practice, I felt really good. We just didn’t translate that into a good start and then a good solid moto finish.
You tried the Öhlins this weekend. Any thoughts or anything you can tell us about that?
We’re trying that option out. Showa’s been great to us, and we’re not ruling out that we’re not going to go that direction.
Test session for today?
Yeah. As a team owner you’ve got to make decisions sometimes based off of some of the things that you feel. Writing large checks isn’t always ideal. I just think that we’re not a factory race team, and we don’t ever have that straight communication with the Japanese, so sometimes there’s some things lost in translation. If something’s figured out we’re never really the first one to get it. You’ve got to weigh up your options, and I just think that we have a great product in Öhlins. I actually felt really good this weekend. It’s probably the best I’ve rode outdoors. It doesn’t show, but just out there riding in practice and everything like that, I actually felt really good.
You’ve been on holiday too, so coming into this race you hadn’t prepped like you would like to, and you were still fourth or fifth fastest in practice. So yeah, you were all right considering this isn’t probably the most ideal prep you ever had.
Yeah. If we’re going to go that way…truthfully I haven’t trained since RedBud. I really haven’t. It’s the hard truth. Truth hurts sometimes I guess. I felt that I could come and put my best foot forward and give it all I’ve got for the green and gold. It wasn’t perfect preparation, but it is what it is. Like I said, the pace was there, I just didn’t get the starts. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Pirelli Tires, Öhlins Suspension... When are you switching to UFO gear? You’re going that [Euro] way.
Heading that way, you think? I feel good. I feel like our decision to test out the Öhlins here and my decision to go to Pirelli is all good. We had a two-day supercross test before I flew to Europe. That test was really positive, actually. So I feel good. It’s been a rough summer. I’m not going to lie. And it’s been a rough ‘des Nations, but I’ll do what I do. Everybody will be counting me out, and we’ll go to work here in October. And truthfully, it’s not going to get any better for Monster Cup because I’m going from here to Australia, and I’m going on vacation with my family. I’m going to see my mom and dad. And I’m not going to ride a dirt bike between now and Monster Cup. Hopefully JG [Josh Grant] sets up the bike good for me. After Monster Cup, I’m going to put my head down and get on the grind.
Dean Wilson, Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki, 3-5 Open Class, Team Great Britain
First, let’s talk about your race. A good couple of motos I thought, maybe the second one, you were feeling a little bit winded? But still a good day.
Yeah, 3-5. It was okay. Good for the team, but I definitely feel like I’m a better rider than I was today. To be completely honest, my endurance is just shit right now. I was so tired that second moto. I had back-to-back motos, a thirty-five-minute break, but it’s honestly one of the roughest tracks I’ve ever rode, ever. We had that scoop tire and that was mainly for the start, and everywhere else I needed a normal tire because it was so hard on the main line. It was gnarly. But it was just such a challenging track and demanding and rough. It was tough. It’s just a shame because we all pushed our hardest and we were in podium possession and poor Shaun’s [Simpson] chain snapped while he was in eighth, and we would have had a podium spot for sure. It’s just super unfortunate. Everyone’s pretty just bummed out.
That definitely sucked because you guys would have been second or third for sure. Tommy [Searle] won the MX2 class, so dropping down, good ride by him.
Yeah, I’m proud of Tommy. He rode really well. He stepped up when he had to.
Second moto was cool; you guys were following each other.
I was behind him and then I kind of got caught up with some lappers. I don’t want to look back, but I knew there was a 250 behind me. After the end of the race it was Tommy, I’m like, “Yes!” And we’re sitting in second and he’s just pumped because he won the MX2 overall and we were sitting second. It was good vibes. But second moto I was just knackered, so tired. I managed a fifth, which was okay. First gnarly 450 race. Definitely more time on a 450, I think I’ll be good. I know I have the speed of these guys, just not for very long. I kind of would just like maintain a speed I know I can do the whole time instead of going really fast and hitting the biggest wall of all time. Overall, 3-5, it was okay.
I saw Bones [Pro Circuit suspension man Jim Bacon] earlier and I said, “Hey, what are you doing here?” I mean, he came here for you to help you, last race for you and Pro Circuit of course. You won a title and spent 100 million hours testing with this guy. Talk a little bit about PC and all that.
I can’t be anymore thankful for Pro Circuit, Mitch [Payton], Bones, all the mechanics, my mechanic Oli, my mechanic Yan last weekend. It’s kind of sad actually. I really enjoyed it over there, but it’s just the next chapter in my life and I’m really just grateful and thankful for everything they’ve done for me and gotten me to where I am.
Colton Facciotti, Team Honda Canada GDR Troy Lee Designs, 16-37, MXGP Class, Team Canada
Welcome back to the team. It’s been a while since you’ve been able to make it on the ‘des Nations team. But not a bad day. Good practice time qualifying was good. Bad second moto for you, but still a decent showing.
Yeah, I felt good all weekend. The first moto I actually ended up stalling the bike on the line. I felt like an amateur out there. I was able to get it started. I guess they were probably about halfway down the start, so it wasn’t that bad. Made some good time up in the first few laps. The tracks over here are just completely different to what they are at home. I had a little bit of a hard time with that. I think I got better and better as the moto went on, kind of just got used to it. My fitness is really good, too. Finished fifteenth or sixteenth, somewhere around there. I was happy with that. Would have liked to have been somewhere in the top ten, but that’s what I was going for second moto. I got a good start. I was battling with Dungey there. Something happened; he went over the berm and grabbed a whole lot of throttle and ended up T-boning me there. Wasn’t really his fault, just a racing mistake. He was going for it and I was going for it too.I ended up on the ground. Leg’s pretty sore but I think it’s all just muscle related, so should be good to go in a little bit.
You’ve raced a lot all over the world, but when you line up for one of these things—and this is your fourth ‘des Nations—is it still kind of a little in awe? Are you a little intimidated at all?
No, not really. Definitely the first couple times I was, and then you get more and more used to it. I think I’m maybe just in a little bit more awe over here, just because everything’s kind of different. The hotels that we’re staying at are different; the food’s different. The last one that I did was Budds Creek, so that one was just like being at home. That was good. But pretty different over here.
Team-wise you got Mr. Lahey, the new team manager this year, but you guys shipped bikes over, you rented this CEC truck. A good effort by you guys, good team organization and team effort and everything else.
Everything was awesome this year, Gualdy [Ryan Gauld] has been working his butt off to get this program to where it needs to be. Couldn’t be happier with the team and how everybody rode. The results don’t really show our speed or how well we can do, but it’s something to build on and we made the final. There’s tons of fast guys here, so happy with that.
A guy like you, would you go every time asked for Canada?
For sure. It’s a pretty big honor riding for your country. We don’t get paid to do this or anything, but it’s one of those races where it’s cool to come over and see Latvia and see the different cultures and race and have fun.
I haven’t talked to you much, and I’m sure some Americans listening to this would want to hear about the season up at home. You clinched another title. Mike Alessi showed up, and it sounds like it was some epic battles and a good season. You were able to come up on top. How was it for you?
It was kind of a dogfight all season. He would be faster at a race; I’d be faster. It pretty much came down to who was the most consistent. He ended up having a few bad motos that I was able to capitalize and just stayed on the podium every single round and just didn’t have any bad motos. Couldn't be happier with that season.
It seemed like you said either he was on and he was able to beat you, or you were on and there wasn’t a lot of challenge. It was a weird season that way.
First few rounds I thought it was going to get pretty gnarly between us. I took him out; he took me out. I think it kind of calmed down a little bit from there and we had some good racing all season.
He’s finished second in the U.S. He’s Mike Alessi; he’s a big name. I think it helped you and your status or name or whatever it is to beat him this summer. Maybe people thought Alessi would go up there and cakewalk. I didn’t, but some guys did. I think it really helped you out to beat him.
I think a lot of people thought that. Even me, I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve seen his results in the States. I knew he would be the guy to beat. I just did my homework and tried to be as good as I could, train as hard as I could, and whatever happened, happened. I was lucky to come out with the championship.
Shaun Simpson, Hitachi Construction Machinery UK KTM, 13-33, MXGP Class, Team Great Britain
Bummer, man. You guys had third place. Great Britain had it. Mechanic problems by you, the chain broke. It sucks.
Not a lot to say, really. Had a mechanical in the first one, too. The oil bung came out. We had it wired, but it was just the plastic stock one, we think it just sort of popped out with the heat. Anyway, second race we put a new chain on every time. It’s just one of those mechanical things in motocross you can’t do anything about. It’s a great shame for everyone.
Absolutely. I was watching the race with Adam Wheeler and he was very upset with that. Up until then, though, a good day for you.
Yeah, we had good speed, all of us. Take my hat off to Dean and Tommy, they done a great job, they really did. Held the team strong, and it’s just a shame that with this little bit of bad luck, tying on points I think even makes it worse. We’ll always be back to give it a shot again next year.
Your GP season this year was pretty good. Maybe the year before was a little better for you, but you really as a kind of privateer guy you’ve done good results.
We have. We’ve really turned a screw this year from a really small setup, just me and my dad; we’ve done great. Working on my bikes myself, too, during the week. Really going old school, but we’ve had a lot of good results and strong results, and just showing the factory boys that privateer guys can do well too.
You have a little bit of a cult following. A lot of fans like your effort because you are the little guy going against the big guys. It’s kind of cool.
Yeah, I think everyone likes an underdog and someone that tries hard and doesn’t necessarily have all the best parts and all the best material and even the best lifestyle. Sometimes I feel like I should be out training when I need to go wash my training bike or something. It’s a tough life, but I’m giving it everything I’ve got, and I’m ready to give it again next year and see where we end up.