VOL. 50 ISSUE 12 MARCH 26, 2013
Unable to
land a factorybacked ride,
Strang bought
his own
Kawasakis
and is making
a run for the
2013 GNCC
Championship.
P93
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEN HILL
LIKE
WAS
" IT WASDOWN MY WORLDEVERYFALLING
BECAUSE
THING HAPPENED AT ONCE.
"
bought two new bikes and I'll be
buying more throughout the year.
And then Amsoil came on at the
last minute, which is really good,
plus they are a series sponsor
for GNCC, so that works well.
Maxxis is another sponsor that
helped to get this thing going.
It's been stressful, but I'm proud
of what I've been able to put together. I've had a lot of help from
Jimmy Jarrett I might add, putting
this together. It's gratifying to see
it all coming together. This is how
I wanted it to be.
How did you decide on the
Kawasaki?
When my deal was up with
KTM, I could pretty much ride
anything I wanted. I knew I would
be buying bikes myself, so it
didn't really matter what I rode. So
I went out and rode all of them. I
felt comfortable on the Kawasaki, but unfortunately they can't
help, which is a bummer. We
talked to them and they thought
they could help, but it ended up
they couldn't. But they have good
contingency for GNCC, which is
good. For a privateer effort, that's
important.
How do you see yourself fitting back into GNCC?
I've ridden Kawasaki since I
was six years old. I rode them all
the way until when I left to come
here and ride Suzuki. With Suzuki and Kawasaki both being Japanese bikes, they are very similar,
and as soon as I rode the Kawasaki I felt comfortable. I wasn't
here last year so I'm not sure
about the pace these guys are
running, but I think I'll do okay. It's
always hard to tell at the first race
here in Florida because some of
these guys have been here riding
in the sand for a month, getting
ready for this race. This is a race
you have to do good at, but I don't
think it means winning or losing
the championship, for sure.
Have you moved back east
full time?
I rented a house with Travis
Coy and Kacy Martinez, they
moved out from California as
well. I rented out the house that I
own in California, which is a bummer, because I had that thing
dialed, I would have like to have
stayed there. But we rented a
house in North Carolina for now.
But it's good, I like that area in
North Carolina. It kind of reminds
me of parts of Australia. And it's
quite a bit cheaper than Southern
California.
Do you want to go back to
Six Days this year?
Yeah, I want to go back, for
sure. The problem is finding a
bike. Last year, KTM Australia
paid for my bike rental, and that
was so easy. I don't know if I'll ship
my bike from Australia, or if I'll rent
one over there. I don't know yet.
But I'd like to do it for sure. I had
so much fun last year.
CN
