Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127128
rode Intermediate at th e time) . So we went down and traded the 80 on a 125. That was on a Friday, and I didn 't go to school th at day and went and rode it. From th ere we went to Coron a Ra ceway and I just smo ked th e Beginner class. I stayed there for abou t three ra ces, moved up to Novice for a bo ut six months, went into the Intermediat e class th en turne d pro." Adding to th e co nfidence in spired by his racing success so far this year and in the past has to be th e fact that Matiasevich is now working wi th one of the best riders in 'the business, reigning Supercross Champion J eff Ward. " I reall y lik e th e way Ward, and (Rick) Johnson do things, because they're so determined, " says Matiasevich. " J eff' s been a reall y good experience for me. I'm young and don 't have that mu ch experience and he's been around for quite a while; he knows all the ropes.. H e's reall y a good guy. If I ask him a question he'll answer it. He 's helped me out quite a bit just practicing with him, hanging out with him at the rac es, discussing different parts of the track with him and just talking to him. I'm reall y lu cky to be working with a guy like Jeff Ward." · And what abo u t hi s other' team mat e, Ron Lechi en, one of th e few quite a big step from Interm edi ate to pro: A lot of parents were com pl ainin g, and I co uld see th eir point. I' tho ug ht I was read y befor e I went, but I think it was a sma rt move because it built my confidence up. I hadn 't been raci ng for very lon g - I'd o n ly raced for five years - so before that I had only been racing for three years. I beat them (the Int ermedi ates), bu t I did n' t have a lot of experience. A lot of stu ff was new for us, we had never been in bi g races a nd my paren ts a nd I didn 't kno w wh at to expect." Mati asevich sta rted riding when his father bought a H onda XR80 for his brother and him. They rode it in th e woods near their father's cabin in Big Bear , Cal ifornia, a nd pro gressed from there. A friend of J eff' s brother raced, and th at's what got him started. " I go t a Yam aha YZ80, and went ou t to OCIR (Orange Co unty Internation al Raceway) and raced o ne ni ght. Tha t was in 1982, and raci ng sort of stuck to us, I guess." Riding minis didn 't qu ite su it Mat iasevich a nd he soo n moved up to a 125. " I stayed on them (80s) for abou t si x m onths. I wasn' t qu it e big " eno ug h for a 125 yet, bu t I sucked on the 80, they weren 't meant for me, I guess. My brother had a 125 and 250 and I used to rid e hi s all th e tim e, and I was just as fast as he was (he At the hillside home he shares with his parents in southern California. Jeff likes to unwind amidst the quiet surroundings and magnificent view, 38 Although he is confident, and it shows, he knows that there is some tough competition out there, and realizes he has some weaknesses himself. " I' m strong enough for th e 125, but I need to ride the 250 more," he says while waiting to get on a weight machine at the local gym he visit s daily, usually ear ly in the afternoon following a riding session. He's working primarily on stren gthening his legs right now, and as he does som e excercises the strain of the workout shows on his face and his legs as they bulge under th e resistance of th e weights. " My upper body is pretty much strong enough right now. I used to sit down a lot because my legs were weak ; when I went to the gym I only conditioned my upper body and not my legs." That problem has all but been eliminated with hi s new training sched ule. Now Jeff feels th at hi s only weakness is a mental one. " O ne of my biggest problems ," Matiasevich concedes, "is if I'm not on that day I have a hard tim e getting .going, It 's like waking up on the wrong side of th e bed. Some days you get up and hit every bump just right, but other days things won 't work quite as well and I have to think about wha t I'm doing differentl y. "So me times I think I try too hard." Matiasevich is working to improve his speed . outdoors, He finished fifth overall in the first two rounds of 125cc National competition . riders wh o could consistent ly stay wi th Ward and J ohnson last year? " I lik e Lechi en 's riding style. He's so rela xed, ' and he flow s with th e bik e. Ronnie's the type to go get wild with after the races are over; he's a good guy, too." Matiasavi ch 's health pl ays a big part in hi s co nfide nce, too . T o date, J eff has never been serio usly injured. " I've never brok en a bone in my life, a nd th at has a lot to do with it," Matiasevich says wh en asked for some of the reaso ns he's so sure of himself. " I have bi g bo nes, I' m strong, and I cond itio n myself so th at whe n I fall , I do n' t break ." When we ta lked with J eff, he had rece ntly inj ured hi s hand whil e practici ng . But th at hadn 't stopped hi m fro m riding, On o ne of hi s trips ·to a nearby ch iro practor wh o also ·trea ts man y of the athletes from th e Los Angeles Ram s football team and baseball 's California Angels, Matiasevich received ultrasound treatment for the inj ury. Whenever he is inj ur ed, Je ff sees the chiropractor to he lp speed hi s recovery. If Jeff Matiasevich seems a littl e cocky, he is, but it is all a pa rt of h is growing conf idence in himself. As far as th e competiti on goes, Matiasevich doesn 't feel too threatened indoors. "( Mike) Kiedrowski 's goo d," he says. " If Mich ael Craig would relax wh en he rid es he cou ld be my main th reat. He has good Supercross style, he's fast, but he just alwa ys seems to be fallin g." Since th e AMA run s separate Region al compe tition in th e,l25cc Supercross class, Mati asevich will only face th e Eas t Coast rid ers, led by Suzuki's Todd Del-loop, twice th is year o n a Su percross trac k. One such meetin g has alrea dy take n pl ace, in Houston, where he wo n, and the nex t will take pl ace in Dall as. " I th ink the West Coast has a lot tougher co mpe titio n tha n th e East Coas t. I th ink th e West Coast riders are faster. I just wish th at th ey'd have a fin al race - East vs. West somewhere so th at we co uld hav e one cha mp ionsh ip. " I th ink th at th e (West Coast) riders are more com petitive, th ere're more riders. I do n 't kno w wh at 's th e deal wi th it, but it j ust seems th at even the top guys are basically all Ca lifo rn ians. .' " I don 't know, may be it's just the .----:::::::