At the seventh round of the 2022 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, there were lots of storylines throughout the day in both classes. Our Kellen Brauer caught up to Seth Hammaker (seventh overall), Pierce Brown (ninth overall), and Max Vohland (sixth overall) to get insight on their respective days at Spring Creek MX Park.
Seth Hammaker | 8-7 for 7th overall
Racer X: Alright, Seth Hammaker, I believe 7-7 on the day, how was it from your perspective though?
Seth Hammaker: It was okay, not my best day, but okay starts and didn’t have that intensity today, lacked that which kinda made it tough on me but salvaged what I could for the day. This week we just got to regroup and get my fire back.
In that first moto you were up front and could see the pace that they were running. Is it eye opening, or does it help you a little bit to see what you can work on this week?
Yeah, it does. I definitely know what I need to work on, just like that lack of intensity today definitely hurt me but I feel like if I was my normal self, I could have stayed with those guys for a little longer but yeah it was a decent day.
And then with the red flag in the second moto, how hard is it to regroup and then come back out again?
That was tough for sure, we were like four laps in, I think. And I had a decent start that moto, so it’s like you gotta regroup and then it’s tough mentally to get back on that gate and yank another good start but everyone has to deal with it.
I think we have talked about this with you already but obviously this is your longest stretch of continued outdoor runs at this point, how are you feeling this deep into the season?
I definitely feel like today was the day I felt it the most, just feeling a little flat. I mean the season is long, it’s tough, it’s a lot of travel. But you've just got to manage that well. That’s part of the learning process, not overdoing it and staying fresh for the weekend which is important.
Pierce Brown | 12-9 for 9th overall
Racer X: Pierce Brown, I guess 12-9 on the day, so better second moto what did you think about it though?
Pierce Brown: Yeah, better second moto for sure. I still need to get a better start. I was messing around with the back of the pack the first moto and I just couldn’t find a way through ‘em. That was a tough one, just super frustrated about pretty much the whole day. I know the second moto was a lot better, but I think I am capable of a lot more. So yeah, I think we are just back to the drawing board and doing some work for Washougal, I like that track a lot so I am excited for it. Overall, I guess I improved on the day, but I am hungry for more.
Are you still making some changes to the bike this late in the season, or are you sticking to what you’re feeling and trying to make that work at this point?
Yeah, we have been making changes pretty much every weekend so far and we’re getting to the point where its pretty good, good enough to leave it, and I think now I just need to get used to it and put races together. I had a pretty rough RedBud and then the last few rounds I’ve made it through, so we are slowly building. And I think that’s all we can ask for. But I think all I need is just time on the bike now.
Yeah, I was going to ask what do you feel is still missing for you to take that next step to be battling for more top fives?
I need to get more comfortable with set up and everything. We have been changing so much stuff lately that it’s hard to really predict what I am feeling on the bike. But we’ll get to it this week and put some laps together.
Are you looking at it right now like results, they kinda are what they are, but if you leave feeling like you felt good on the bike, you rode good all day, that it’s a good day?
Results as a whole, they are what they are. If I leave knowing I rode good and we made improvements with the bike, with my body, with everything, then I’m stoked. It’s honestly a bummer finishing where I’m finishing right now. But I’m trying not to be too attached to the results and just go off of feel and go off of, honestly how the day went you know?
Max Vohland | 4-6 for 6th overall
Racer X: Max Vohland, 4-6 for sixth on the day. It just seemed like a better overall day for you, were you happy with it?
Max Vohland: Absolutely. Best qualifying, eighth, which is good for me. I am not usually the one lap wonder kind of guy! First moto I rode really well, got up into third and was trying to get up to the Lawrence’s but they’re in their own race pretty much. I was out in the open by myself pretty much and was just trying to keep my pace going, I was so close to getting third, I got a little bit of that taste on the tip of my tongue. [Now] I've just got more fire to the fight for this weekend though. So close to getting that third! Second moto I just didn’t have the starts. I went back to the hardpack [tire], I ran scoop all day, after watching Tomac with the scoop, and riding the track myself, it was definitely a scoop tire track still. And they just ripped the start for us. Even on the first start I was in a really good position with all the guys that went down. Because I knew Jo just beat me, I had to beat Jo for a podium, and he fell with that group of guys. And RJ [Hampshire] was behind me in the first moto and he was just ahead of me in that second, so I was lucky but then unlucky with the red flag. I rode good all day and the team has made advances on the bike with suspension and motor, so the motor is a little stronger and the suspension is getting more consistent and more solid. I get to go back to Cali this week to do some testing so maybe tune that in a little more and tune myself in a little more and get those five corners left to get third [Shimoda passed Vohland with five turns to go in the first moto].
With that red flag how tough is it to mentally regroup and prepare? Because at that point you guys have already done four laps so its not too much but obviously a little energy expended and then you have to go back out there and try again.
Yeah, definitely on the first lap you are expending almost all of your energy to kind of sprint past some guys. It’s hard to regroup that way but I mean if you’re an experienced guy...I mean I have had that so many times as an amateur and even in the pro ranks so you kind of have a routine. It’s something you don’t practice but it’s something you know. Kind of a fire drill but not bad.
You said that you made a couple of changes today that made you feel better, was there anything specifically that you felt clicked with you as well that just made everything better today?
Man, I don’t know. It’s hard to say when you just have that feel and that flow and the “magic” as they say. I was just riding really good. But I feel like I’ve been riding really good the last few weekends. I mean at Southwick I went all the way up to fifth, I just didn’t have the energy. I tried really hard that week going into Southwick so maybe came in at 80 percent not 100 percent. On that track you had to be 110 percent. So, the riding has been good, I just put a lot of it together today. We are just finding inches now.
Like you said you got all the way to fifth at Southwick, today good results and you felt good riding. Are you at the point where you look at the result and say that’s the meaning of my day or do you look at your riding and say what really matters is how you felt?
I mean even the results today I feel like they could be better, with a 4-6 for sixth. It’s just the way it got mixed up I feel like just inching that podium today, just itching for it. But I feel like my riding is right in that group of guys. The top three, with the Lawrences and Jo of course and Cooper when he mixes it up in there, those guys are the next level. Then there’s the next group of guys and I am definitely in that group, if not getting to the top of that one so I am getting there.