It is harder than ever for a privateer in the 450SX class, with so many factory riders and past champions (both 450 and 250) competing. It may be a hard road, but several riders are up for the task. Our Tom Journet caught up with three privateers after the Indianapolis Supercross: Mitchell Harrison, Devin Simonson, and Freddie Noren. Here is what they had to say about competing against the best riders on an extremely difficult Indy track.
Mitchell Harrison | 17-16-16 | 16th Overall
Racer X: All right, Mitchell Harrison, you scored points this weekend, the track was super gnarly. So, from your point of view, how was it managing that?
Mitchell Harrison: I managed it pretty well. I thought, you know, coming in from Daytona and then Birmingham, we had a sense of how it was gonna be in a way. So, my bike was already quite a bit softer. So, I was managing it very well. Yeah, it was rutty but like with Birmingham, it was like you didn't know if it was gonna grab you or not. Here it was pretty predictable. Like there were no lines that were gonna grab you and put you over the bars. I mean, I'm sure there were, but I didn't have any. And if you just got on the main line a little bit, like it was really good. Qualifying was obviously not the best, but I think the racing was really good. It's a good track to battle on and it was a good track, you just have to flow on it. Could have been like the worst thing ever or you could have a great time out there and I had a great time.
So, we're almost three quarters of the way through the season. How do you feel about your season? Obviously, it's a super gnarly class, but how's it going for you?
Yes, it is. Really gnarly. So, we started out and before A1 I was riding a 250 so we jumped right in there with like a day on the 450. Then I don't know if everybody saw but I did another crash at San Diego. So, we got this [points to scar on his chin]. So that was a week or two out and then Detroit made the main, and then didn't make three mains in a row. Starts were terrible. Four-fifties are a lot harder to start. Imagine that. So, now we're in two in a row and we're riding good, 15th and 16th. I know where I should be. I need to be in the top 15. Top 10 is gonna be a tough one. I got to ride lights out in this class. So, you know, the goal is just to progress, and you know, if I can get a top 10, that would be amazing.
And then next week we're back to West Coast. So, are you gonna be back on a 250? And are you looking forward to it?
No, we're still 450 rest season, so I'm excited on that.
Devin Simonson | 18-19-20 | 19th Overall
Racer X: All right, Devin Simonson gnarly track out there tonight, how did it go for you?
Devin Simonson: Yeah, it was good. Had two crashes, one in qualifying one and kind of dinged up my hand a little bit. It's pretty swollen throughout the night and then in the first main bent two sets of bars, bent a pipe, and a sub frame. So, the wallet's kind of hurting after tonight if I'm being honest. Yeah, I might be seeing the reds.
Well, since this wallet is hurt, are we going to be seeing you next week?
For sure. Yeah, I'll be there. I'm making it happen. It costs money but you gotta pay to play sometimes. So, it's cool.
For you, being 450 full time now, I know it's super gnarly out there, but how is it grinding week in and week out?
Yeah, it's super gnarly. I mean, this is only my second main event. So obviously the guys that are doing every main event every weekend, it's probably super gnarly for those guys because the last two laps of that, of the third main, my calves were cramped. My legs were straight, and arms were, yeah, it, it wasn't good. So, it's super gnarly. It's takes a toll on your body for sure. And then sometimes I see the 250 results and I wish I was out there on the 250. But just using this year as a learning experience and racing some bad ass dudes and hopefully get back on 250 next year and crush it.
And then we're nearly three quarters of the way through. So, when does outdoor prep start?
I'm not sure if I'm racing outdoors yet. Actually, I need to start, start making that happen or thinking about it. But honestly, I dislocated my shoulder at San Diego. So, I rode like a week or two outdoors only and just raced Supercross on the weekends. I had fun. It was just nice switching it up, honestly. We do the boot camp preseason, you know, it's two months of just straight supercross grind and it's gnarly.
Freddie Noren | 20-21-18 | 21st Overall
Racer X: My first question for you, the tracks are very gnarly every weekend, but this weekend coming into Indy, we know it's soft. We know it's rutty. Is it that big of a difference? And is it that much gnarlier?
Freddie Noren: Yeah, I mean, to be transparent, I struggled big time today. I haven't seen these types of ruts in a while. Obviously, Birmingham had ruts and like, the pockets were pretty bad at Birmingham, but it was just a lot of ruts today and very grabby, like different dirt and grabby. And obviously it's pretty much very same every year in Indy, it gets very rutty, and gnarly. If it was worse today than previous years, I don't necessarily know. Maybe, or maybe we're just getting used to this, I don't know. But, yeah, I mean, it was pretty gnarly for sure and like, for me, even just trying to go down the rhythm straight. It's like, I'm just trying to go straight. That's all, you know, it's pretty gnarly and then you got the top dogs freaking going so fast. It's pretty impressive. But yeah, it was, it was gnarly.
So, how did it go for you?
Not great. The first two motos I went down. Moto one, I went down twice. Moto two I went down once. So that was pretty frustrating because obviously it's a Triple Crown, you kind of need that consistency. So, I kind of threw that out the window. And then moto three, we did quite a bit of changes on the bike to try to get some more comfort. I actually made it a little softer. I think I was like a ping pong ball, but whatever I was going a little bit all over the place. We've made some changes for the moto three and it was a lot better. It wasn't like a great moto necessarily, like, I think it was 18th in moto three, but at least it was a step in the right direction. So, I'm happy about that. I'm still dealing with a bad ankle as well. So, we'll just kind of try to muscle through and you know, Seattle next week and then St Louis and then the weekend off. Yeah, I guess we got two more weekends of racing then a weekend off. We're gonna chill for a little bit. But, yeah, overall, definitely looking forward to not remembering a lot about today and just move forward to Seattle.
Awesome. And then we have seven more races to go. When does the outdoor prep start for you?
We're kind of talking about that right now. Maybe we'll try a little bit on that weekend off. Yeah, might do a little bit that week. But for me, I really want to focus on supercross like that we're in supercross. You know, I wanna be better. Obviously, I want to be good at outdoors too, but I want to be better at supercross. So, like I have full focus on supercross still and then once we get close to outdoors, maybe shift a little bit more. But yeah, I think the plan is to start, you know, maybe trying a little bit of stuff on that break, but we'll see.
