AFT TWINS CHAMPION JARED MEES
P110
Interview
dian. I get it. Indian came in and
won almost every race and has
been the most dominant bike.
But you're also taking the best
riders on the circuit and putting
them on the bike as well.
"So it's unfortunate that
because of one OEM's strug-
gles year after year, that they
feel like they need to have an
alteration in the rules that ben-
efits them and doesn't benefit
Indian. That right there is kind
of like, man, that's the political
side of things. Indian came in,
built a bike, [and] knew ahead
of time that this was what need-
ed to be done. We're going to
spend the money. They did ev-
erything right. The other OEMs
out there, especially the one
that's been struggling the most
with everything, it's not really
Indian's fault. It's not my fault.
It's not the riders' fault that they
took a different approach that
they feel like now they need to
have a change in the rules that
hopefully can give them more
horsepower or a better advan-
tage. That right there is in my
opinion not the right way to go,
whether I'm on an Indian or on
a different OEM."
Rule changes or no rule
changes, different bikes or
more Indians, Mees' objec-
tive is still the same—keep that
number-one plate.
"At the end of the day for me
it's about keeping the number-
one plate. Whether I win it by a
point or win it by 98 points, or
whatever I won it by this year,
it's still getting the job done.
Like this year, we go to every
race and try to win it and go to
the next one. I'm going to do
the same next year. Whether
some of these wins that I had
this year turn into seconds and
thirds this coming year and
2020, at the end of the year,
as long as we got that number-
one plate on the bike, I'm go-
ing to say, 'Hell, it was a great
year.'" CN
"I think everybody
that got on the
Indian definitely
took their results to
the next level."
