Falling out of the sky straight to the dirt surface at the 2015 AUS-X Open of Supercross wasn’t exactly on Gavin Faith’s to do list. However, that’s exactly what happened in early October. The crash resulted in a laundry list of injuries for the Iowa native and it looked as though he may have to miss the beginning of the Amsoil Arenacross season.
In Faith’s mind, sitting out wasn’t an option—he would return at the Cincinnati season opener at US Bank Arena no matter what. It’s been a busy off-season for Faith, who had to heal up and get in shape for the season, while also adapting to his new Team Babbitt’s/Monster Energy/Amsoil Kawasaki.
It turns out that Faith was prepared. He took the pole position with the fastest lap time in practice with a 20.9 lap. In the main events he took two great starts to consistent 2-3 main event finishes and won the overall on the night. We caught up with Team Babbitt’s newest recruit after the race to get his thoughts on the evening.
Racer X: Consistency was the key for you tonight.
Gavin Faith: Yeah, it was. It worked out in my favor tonight. I didn’t light the world on fire, but I went out there and got a couple of decent starts. It panned out for me.
One of the topics throughout the day was about the track deteriorating. How did that affect you?
It was pretty gnarly. There were ruts in the corners and the rhythm section. The whoops got chewed out as well. It was brutal. I was just trying to survive basically. I’m coming off of an injury too and my fitness isn’t the best. I just need to work on that a little bit and hopefully we can only get better from here.
Yeah, let’s talk about the injuries you’re coming off of. The last time anyone saw you was in Australia and you had a very scary crash over the finish line at the AUS-X Open.
Exactly. I got really busted up there. I got a concussion, broke my collarbone, three ribs, cracked a couple of vertebra, and punctured a lung. It was a bad wreck. Luckily I was able to bounce back really quick and I feel really good on the new bike. My Team Babbitt’s Monster Energy Kawasaki was working really well tonight. My Pro Circuit suspension was really awesome too. I’ve got to give it up to my team for sticking behind me. We came out really strong.
You had all of those injuries in October and now it’s the first week of January. That’s a pretty quick turnaround for that list!
It’s been like 5-6 weeks of rushing around to get ready. I’ve only had three days on my Kawasaki, so it’s all still pretty new to me. The setting they sent me for the suspension was good. I got on the bike and felt strong. I like it so far.
This is your first time racing here in Cincinnati. What did you think of the opener?
I didn’t race here last year because I was racing in Germany. I like it. The city and everything around it is cool. As far as the track goes, the dirt made it really tough. Like we said before consistency was the main thing. I was able to get the win, so obviously I like Cincinnati!
One race down and you’re undefeated in overall wins on the new bike.
Yeah, like I said I just jumped on the bike too. I liked the bike right away. Hopefully we can continue to get more wins. Last year I only won one race and I had 10 or 11 podiums. Hopefully I can stand on the top step of the podium a little more this year. That is the goal for this season. I also want to get off to better starts, and remain consistent, like tonight.
What was the hardest thing to get accustomed to last season that you learned for 2016?
With two main events you can’t afford to win one and then finish tenth in the next one. You have to be in it for both of them. That’s one of the hardest things about arenacross. We’ve got the Race to the Championship down the line. I planned on just coming in nice and easy. I wanted to use that to my advantage. I ended up getting the win though, so that was awesome.
Everyone is saying that this is one of the tightest tracks on the tour. Do you agree with that?
Yeah, it’s definitely tight out there. Also the track had deep ruts in all of the corners. The riders are cutting down below those deep lines, which make it tighter. That makes it tougher. Hopefully as the series goes on we can open up the corners even more.
There is a huge game going on two blocks away from here right now. We have to know are you rooting for the Bengals or Steelers?
Oh, I have no idea (Laughs).
Come on, Gavin! Even with that going on a lot of people still showed up to watch you put on a show tonight.
That is awesome. It is a big game going on across the street. We did have a pretty good crowd out there tonight considering all of that. It was cool to see all of the fans show up tonight.
