SETH HAMMAKER INTERVIEW: BATTLING INJURIES & MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Seth Hammaker rookie debut in 2021 was impressive to say the least. He won the Dallas Supercross and finished on the podium two other times, earning him the 2021 250 supercross rookie of the year. While injuries and sickness held him back much of the outdoor series, he came back strong for 2022. Although he would get injured during the 2022 supercross series, he returned to racing at the Lucas Oil Motocross opener at Fox Raceway. Now with his recent sixth at High Point, the Pennsylvania native is seventh in points. Here is what Seth has to say about his season.

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BY JIM KIMBALL

SETH LET’S BEGIN WITH THE START OF OUTDOORS. YOU HAVE LOOKED FANTASTIC. The first round was solid where I qualified first. I had good speed going into the motos. I got decent starts. The first moto, I tightened up a little bit with arm pump and ended up eighth and the second moto was better.  I rode a little bit looser and ended up fifth for seventh overall, so I was happy with the first round.  Since then, I have led more motos, but haven’t finished spectacularly. If I can just keep carrying the speed, I think it is going to help.

Seth making sure he has the right line selection in Hangtown.

TIGHTENING UP LIKE YOU MENTIONED IN THE FIRST MOTO IS PROBABLY SOMEWHAT NORMAL RIGHT? Yes, especially after not doing a lot of Supercross races. I got hurt after the second Supercross, and Pala was my first race back since, so I was just riding tight. I think it was a little bit expected. I don’t think it was anything that caught me by surprise. I thought I needed to handle it better for the second one, and I feel like I did. I feel at each weekend, I will be able to just be able to ride a little looser.  

SPEAKING OF SUPERCROSS, YOU HAD SOME REALLY IMPRESSIVE FINISHES UNTIL YOU GOT HURT. It was awesome in the beginning of the Supercross season. I got second at Anaheim I and third at Oakland, so two podiums and those were the only two I got to do. I got hurt the following week during practice but the way it started out; it was looking good. I had two solid finishes, but unfortunately, I got hurt and that was that. But I was happy with how I was riding, the preparation leading up to it, and the guys I was battling with were good guys. It is good to race those guys and learn from them. I feel like next year, I will be ready to compete for the championship.  

Seth has the speed to get ahead of the field and he showed it at High Point, but a costly mistake in a turn would cost him the lead.

THIS IS A DUMB QUESTION. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO PREVENT INJURIES? I don’t think you can do a whole lot. A little bit of it is trusting in your preparation and doing everything you can leading up to the races. Be as prepared as possible not to put yourself in positions that are going to make you push out of your comfort zone and get hurt, because that is mostly when it happens. I also feel being fit is an important part, just because when you get tired, you lose your technique, and you start riding with poor posture. That leads to mistakes and crashes and when you do that, you are bound to get hurt at some point. You can only hit the ground so many times and walk away.  Unfortunately, there is not much you can do. The thing is, you just want to be smart but at the same time, you want to compete for wins you have to push. It is a fine balance.

Seth and his mechanic Jacob Martin.

AUSTIN FORKNER WORKS WITH ROBBY REYNARD, CAMERON MACDOO HAS NICK WEY, AND THE LAWRENCE BROTHERS HAVE JOHNNY O’MARA. ARE YOU WORKING WITH SOMEONE? Yes, I work with Ivan Tedesco. He is my trainer, and we do all the “on the bike” stuff together. He has so much knowledge. He has been doing it for a while and helps me out so much, so he can tell me what to expect, especially things that I am new to.

IVAN DOES SOME WORK FOR THE TEAM DOESN’T HE? He is not like our team trainer. He works with me for the Pro Circuit team, but he also does test riding for Pro Circuit. I think  some people think that he works with all the riders, but right now, it’s just me that he works with. He also helps Ryder DeFrancisco, an amateur that is coming up. We train together and ride together. 

Seth is both talented at both motocross and Supercross.

ARE YOU IN CALIFORNIA? I am based in Temecula, Southern California, right near everything.

SO MANY RIDERS ARE IN FLORIDA, DO YOU SEE THE BENEFIT OF WORKING CLOSE TO PRO CIRCUIT’ RACE SHOP? It is nice to be closer with testing the bikes, if you have any issues. They can come out that day and work on the bike. There are a lot of tracks in SoCal and it is good to be around the team more often. I like that.

ESPECIALLY AT THIS POINT IN YOUR CAREER. Oh yeah, it is so important and just having that bond with the team is super important. I like it out here. 

But sometimes he crashes.

ARE THERE A LOT OF RIVALRIES WITHIN THE PRO CIRCUIT TEAM? I wouldn’t say there is any rivalry between us. I mean obviously, I want to beat them and that is what all of us want. As racers, we want to do the best we can, but no rivalries. We all get along and we all try to help each other during the week to motivate each other and push each other. On race day we bounce ideas off each other. It is nice to just be able to talk to those guys.

DID WINNING A SUPERCROSS SO EARLY IN THE PRO CAREER CREATE PRESSURE TO DUPLICATE IT? In 2021, I won the Dallas Supercross. It was my third pro Supercross. It was awesome, but as you said, it did create so much pressure going into the following round just because I won the round before that. I felt like, “Well ,now there is no higher to go. That is the goal and expectation now. You already did it once, so, you must do it again.” It is awesome to get that first win, but I have yet to get another one, but I have been close a few times. I’ll keep on working on it. There is nothing like the first one. 

YOU SEEM EQUALLY SKILLED AT BOTH SUPERCROSS AND MOTOCROSS. I like them both. If I had to pick on or the other, I would pick Supercross, but I like motocross too. Any racing is fun for me.  

DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES? I don’t do a lot. I golf when I can, and it is just nice for me to get out and relax. Other than that, I don’t get to do it too often; it is just train and ride all week. I enjoy going back to my home in Pennsylvania where I’m from and hanging out with the family.

ARE YOU A RIDER THAT LIKES TO SET GOALS OF WHERE YOU WANT TO FINISH? I like to set goals, but not unrealistic goals. It is nice to have something to achieve every weekend and just try to keep you focused on “all right, let me get this goal achieved.” I have goals in my head that I want to achieve.

Seth jumping in front of the Hangtown crowd.

YOU HAVE BEEN A KAWASAKI RIDER FOR QUITE A WHILE, HAVE OTHER TEAMS TALKED TO YOU? There are always people talking about different stuff.  Like you said, I have been with Kawasaki and Team Green since I was in my last couple of years amateurs. They brought me into the Pros which was awesome, and I just love how they do things over here. They treat you like family and give you the best opportunities to go out and achieve your goals. I want to be here.  This is where I feel I can achieve my goals and win championships here. 

ARE YOU SIGNED WITH THE TEAM FOR NEXT YEAR? Not yet. We are still working things out.  

DO YOU THINK THE 250 SUPERCROSS AND 250 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS ARE REALISTIC GOALS IN 2023. My goal IS to challenge for the championship and learn as much as I can this season and work as hard as I can to go out and achieve that goal next year. I think I am very capable of doing that, so I look forward to it.  

How do you think Seth will finish this season?