MOTOCROSS ACTION’S MID-WEEK REPORT BY JOHN BASHER (7/17/13)


MINI-VIEW: WIL HAHN
By Jim Kimball
Photos by Scott Mallonee


    By far one of the most likeable riders in the pro pits, Geico Honda’s Wil Hahn has been having a pretty successful 2013.   First he took a hard fought 250 Championship in AMA Supercross, and although he was injured in that final Supercross causing him to miss the first four rounds, he quickly caught up by finishing fifth at Budds Creek.  With the recent announcement that Wil had signed to stay on at Geico Honda for 450 Supercross, we wanted to talk with him.

MXA: Wil, let’s begin with the announcement that you will be riding a 450 for Geico Honda next year.
Wil: Yeah, I’m really excited to move forward with the program where there are two 450 guys along with the current 250 program.  For Eli and myself to be involved with it, I am very proud and excited.  To be a part of this team, and get factory support is beyond my dreams.

That’s cool, as it appears that more so than any other team in the pro pits, that everyone under the Geico Honda tent gets along great.
We really do get along great!  Actually a few years ago we all stayed at Mike LaRocco’s house for a few weeks, and it all brought us closer together.  We weren’t really distant before, but that definitely did bring us closer together.  I think that time really helped us to pull together as a team.  We all help each other with bike set-up, different lines ? just everything.  I believe that it takes a great bond to form a good team, and be successful ? and that’s what we have at Geico Honda.

That brings to mind Southwick when your bike quit on the sight lap; you stood by the track cheering your teammate’s on.
Well, at the end of the day sulking in the pits is not going to get you anything.  Some things you just cannot do anything about, so I just decided to go out there and wave the towel.

Getting to the current 250 Nationals, you were injured at the final Supercross in Las Vegas, and when you returned at Budds Creek it seemed you had not lost much.
I was pretty sure that I would not lose much speed, but I may have lost a little “dirt bike” fitness from being off the bike.  I tried to do as much as I could off the bike so that I would be ready, but didn’t really ride much at all until just before Budds Creek.  I’m still a little behind these guys that have been racing hard every weekend, as racing motocross is just difficult to assimilate.  But when I came back in, I feel that I came back strong, and just as ready as I could ? although it’s always easier said than done to put in two good moto results.

You’ve been hovering around the top five so far since your return to motocross; where do you want to be?
I want to be on the box!  Since this is potentially one of my last seasons racing a 250 I want to get on the box.  I have gotten third in a moto, but never got an overall podium ? that’s what I am aiming for.  Overall the year has been great; I don’t think that I could have written a better Supercross story ? coming down to the last corner in the last race.  I just got to keep building on my program, focus on getting some good outdoor results, and then moving to the 450 next year.

WATCH SHORTY AND TREYNARD TALK ABOUT THEIR NEW THREADS

MOTO HOSE IS GIVING BACK

    Moto Hose is giving back to One lucky Moto Hose sponsored rider racing at Loretta Lynn’s! Inside your LL race packet will be an entry form to enter the drawing to win a $500 US savings bond. It’s not too late. If you have your golden ticket then contact us today to receive Moto Hose sponsorship to become eligible!
     Email [email protected] or call 704-340-7958 for details.

ATTENTION ALL LORETTA LYNN’S RACERS: MATRIX CONCEPTS PROMOTION
Matrix Concepts Congratulates All Riders That Qualified For Loretta Lynn’s
All L.L. Riders Receive Special Sponsorship Program
 

    Matrix Concepts and 1.7 Cleaning Solutions congratulates all the racers who earned a spot in the 2013 Loretta Lynn’s Amateur National Motocross Championships.
    We want to be part of your special effort and offer a well earned special sponsorship discount for anything on our new website at www.matrixracingproducts.com.  Get the same track and garage accessories and customize it just like Ryan Villopoto, James Stewart, Justin Barcia, Josh Grant and Andrew Short from the top 30 professional teams in motocross.
    We are proudly offering all qualified Loretta Lynn’s racers an exclusive offer of 60%off MSRP on ALL Matrix Concepts and 1.7 Cleaning Solutions.
    Visit our website at www.matrixracingproducts.com and use LLQRD13 at check out.

MINI-VIEW: KELLY LUMGAIR
By Jim Kimball
Photos by Scott Mallonee

Kelly turns the wrenches for Ken Roczen (94).

    Behind every successful racer there’s usually a mechanic that helped get him there.  In Red Bull KTM’s Ken Roczen’s case, this was mechanic Kelly Lumgair who helped him get his first AMA Championship with the 2013 Supercross West Title.   No stranger to success, or KTM, Kelly worked with fellow South African Tyla Rattray to win his World Championship in 2008, before moving to America to work with Rattray at Pro Circuit Kawasaki in 2009.  Sought out by KTM to return in 2010, Lumgair has worked with Mike Alessi and most recently Ken Roczen.   

MXA: Kelly, let’s begin with the 250 outdoor championship; you and Ken are leading the points.
Kelly: Yeah, it’s gone pretty well so far, Kenny got the points lead out of the very first round, and he’s just controlled it from then on.  There’s been a couple disappointing races where maybe he did not perform as well as he could, but overall it has been great, and we are pretty content where we are.    

There has been several guys winning, but now at the halfway point do you feel that it’s really narrowed down to Ken and Eli Tomac?
Well, there really have been four guys racing for the championship, but it does seem that just recently it has come down to Ken and Eli. Although definitely it is way too early to rule out Marvin (Musquin) and Blake (Baggett) – they could still get on a roll.  We need to just focus on being consistent, getting moto wins, and of course getting overall wins ? and definitely staying on the bike with no mistakes.


Lumgair and Roczen (above) hope to spray a bunch more champagne as the series continues, with the eventual goal of winning the 250 National crown.

Other than the obvious of working on his motorcycle, how do you help Ken?
Before the race actually gets underway I’ll remind him about his techniques, and what he needs to do.  Often just before a race a rider will get his adrenaline going, and forgets about some of these things.  I always try to give him confidence when he’s on the start line.  Usually I give him the pertinent information he needs to know on the pit board during the race.  

I believe that it’s common knowledge that Ken will move up next year; have you guys been talking about that?
We’ve definitely spoken about it, but nothing really too seriously yet.  There will be the decision that he has to make between racing the 350 versus the 450 ? but we will do a bunch of testing to make sure that we make the right decision, and look at the big picture as far as racing an entire Supercross series along with the outdoor championships.  He’ll probably want to bulk up a bit physically to compete with the 450 guys, but he knows what he needs to do and will be more than up for the challenge.  

Maybe as a way to finish things off Kelly, you have been with KTM in America since Roger DeCoster took over as Team Manager ? what changes have you seen?
It’s been amazing; especially being here in the U.S. where maybe KTM was not recognized so much as a top team.  To come from where you are focusing so much on developing the bikes and the team to now winning championships is a great feeling.  All the hard work, and the people doubting us can be put to rest now.   It’s truly a team effort here at Red Bull KTM.  Roger is obviously the head guy, but sometimes our roles overlap.  Sometimes the other mechanics like Frankie (Latham) or Carlos (Rivera) will help out if needed ? or likewise for me helping them.  It is truly a team effort, and I know that it all pays off at the end of the day when you get the results. I am very happy with KTM, it’s really the best team that I have ever been at ? and it will be great if we can get this championship!

WATCH KENNY MANHANDLE A KTM 350SXF

SHIFT RACING 2014 GEAR INTRO
Hanging with Fro and the boys

No, this is not Ryan Villopoto’s living room. Instead it’s a saloon in Newport Beach that welcomed the media to Shift Racing’s 2014 product launch.


That’s Jeff Emig in the white shirt talking about the four different product lines in the 2014 Shift Racing spectrum.


Looking good.


Another line. Blue and orange is making a nice comeback.


Shift-sponsored riders Josh Hansen (left), Josh Hill (center) and Jeff Emig all talked about what gear design they liked the best. Check out the video below to see the gear in motion.

SHIFT RACING: WITHOUT BOUNDARIES
Check out Josh Hansen’s insane look-back at 1:21

HOT PRODUCT: WORKS CONNECTION MUD SCRAPER

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SPIN A LAP AROUND THE GP OF FINLAND WITH H-KULL & THE BOOGEYMAN

GETTING RESULTS
BY Daryl Ecklund    


Looking for results, not only motocross but also in life? Listen to this man (that’s Daryl Ecklund flying high on the 2014 Kawasaki KX250F). He’s been around the block a time or two.

    Results. This is what we strive for. Everything in our lives has a result, whether good or bad. We strive to help others, we work hard to make that next deadline at work, but the results that stems off everything you do can improve by becoming a better you. It might be not a lack of trying on your part, but as I have mentioned before in my past articles that learning as much about yourself as possible is a key role in producing the results you want.
    My first motocross coach and trainer, Larry Morton, taught me a valuable tool at a young age that has carried me far in my own personal development with racing and my personal life. When I was 16 years old on the amateur Factory Honda team and battling for championships with the likes of Davi Millsaps, Josh Grant and Ryan Villopoto, I had the sheer speed but I blew up bikes, yard-sailed myself once a week, and couldn’t make it through a whole moto without my tongue dragging on the ground. I knew it wasn’t for a lack of trying that these strings of bad luck were happening as I ran myself into the ground everyday trying to get to the next level. I was stuck at a plateau that I couldn’t get over. There were no results for the amount of effort that I was putting in.
    His first day on the job, Larry gave me a notebook and told me to track everything I did, what time I did it, the food I ate, my morning heart rate and my stress levels. I wasn’t sure why, but I said, “Yes, sir. So when can we ride?”  Every night after the day was done I sat and thought about the entire day, writing about it in detail. Every week we reviewed my notebook and went through it day by day. Just after one week of looking back I knew I needed to make some serious changes to my program. As a teenager I didn’t even think I knew what stress was! But every night going over my day I realized I was always stressed about my bike breaking or when and how my next big crash was going to end up. I realized that I didn’t eat as well as I though I did, and I was overtraining like crazy. My morning heart rate was through the roof.
    From that day forward I learned the importance of tracking some vital areas of my life that I have expanded on ever since. Tracking possible problematic areas in your life is like having your very own time machine. If you’re getting the results you want you can look back and duplicate your road to success time and time again, just making small changes along the way. If your results are diminishing, go into your time machine and find out where you made that wrong turn. Some patterns are harder to see than others, but the longer your journal the easier it is to find what you need to change. In a worst case scenario you can do a process of elimination to find where the weak spots are.
    As I expanded this journal through the years I have realized it works in any area of life to help achieve the results you want. You just have to make sure you’re asking yourself the right questions every night being thorough in your thoughts and what you write down. The most important part of my journal was my mental log. I made sure I was in the right frame of mind each and every day as I rated each aspect on an A-F grade scale. I found myself always getting an “A” with working towards my goals but I was in the “C to D” range when it came to my positive outlook. With realizing this I was aware of my thoughts and reverted to thinking negative thoughts when they came up and replaced them with positive ones. With in a few weeks the “D’s” turned to “C’s” and within a few months the “C’s” turned to “A’s”. I will tell you that without being able to look back and see the small progress I was making, I would have quit. Things were moving too slow and I only could notice a difference when I looked at my journals.
    Strive for what your working for and get the results you deserve. Start journaling today as your time machine will only go as far back as you start. I can’t tell you how many people that I have referred to doing this exercise, and they have accomplished the results they wanted and along the way found out so many interesting things about themselves.
   
COOL NEW VIDEO: NON-MOTO, UNLESS YOU COUNT JUMPING OFF TREES & LOGS

A Day At Home from Chris Hollis on Vimeo.

WORCS RACING PALA VIDEO

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