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/127142
00 00 Q") ........ Interview: Rick Johnson For the fans cit Unadilla By Nate Rauba .L as t year Rick Johnson led the American team to victory in the Motocross des Nations at U n adilla Valley Spor ts Center, and when he re turn s to the rollin g hill s of the New 20 Berlin, New York, facility for the Ll .S, 250cc MX Gra nd Prix I on July 24 to the fans whore to he will be the pay tribute line the fences as well as for the opportuni ty to ride one of th e best tracks in America. Johnson co u ld 've ridden what many consider the more prestigious 500cc U.S. GP at Hollister Hills, California, held June 26, but decided to ride a t Unadilla instead, a move that allowed him to ride at two of hi s favorite tracks. "I heard that Mammoth (California) was having a race the same weekend as the 500cc GP, and I decided I'd rather ride Mammoth and Unadilla because they're the two best tracks in the world," Johnson said during a break a t Mammoth. "They are the places I like to ride and people I like to ride with." So why does Johnson consider Unadilla one of the best tracks in the world? " T he layout of the tra ck, the dirt, everything about Unadilla makes it special," he says. '.'It's great to go out and look a t a tra ck that's all grass a nd rolling hills. You go to Hollister and half of it is lik e as pha lt and th e othe r half is too narrow. Unad illa is technical , it's better for passing, it 's fu n to ride and th e crowd is good." The crowd. Alt houg h J ohnson likes the gree n, ro ll ing hills, th e technical tra ck layo ut a nd th e loamy dirt, he seems to like best the wild fans th a t co me to see th e races every year. " I love the Unadilla fans," J ohnso n says. "They respect me a nd giv me my space. T hey yell and they ge t crazy, and that's good because the like to watch mo tocr oss. "They stood th e test last year when th ey stood o ut in the ra in for th e Mo tocr oss des Na tio ns, a nd you've go tta give somet hing back to the people that give you so much . So I'm com ing back for th em , so th ey can see me race at Unadilla. For a lot of ' peop le o n the East Coast that's th e on ly race they go to all year." Johnson always tries to give his -, fans a show, a nd th e more they cheer him on the faster he goes. :1 " T here's usually a bunch of people yelling and screaming at Unadilla," says Johnson, "and you don 't know if they 're yelling for you or the next guy. But you take the cheering as if it were for you because it charges you up. " And it's not only the cheering fans that get J ohnson going, but their patriotism as well. " There's always people hanging over th e fen ce waving flags and ge tting cra zy," he says. " T here's always people lining Gravity Cavitv : with Amencan flags and beer cans, a nd some of th e people are dressed up. You come out of there a nd maybe do a cross-up or one- ha nder for them. "The track is pretty much lined with wild spectators, a nd that's what mak es Unadilla so good. The conditions aren 't the best th ere for th e fans ; they're standing in mud or off in the bushes, but they 're still out • th ere yelling for you. You have to see it to understand what it feels like to go around th ere and have all the people yelling for you. It's a good feeling inside, you feel really secure with what you 're doing because you have people behind you." With the confidence of being on a home-country track, with his home-country fans behind him and his general dominance almost everywhere he races, Johnson has to be co nsidered the favorite to win the GP Unadilla this year. But even with all the confiden ce he has, 'Johnson doesn't feel he is assured of winning, "J oh n Van den Berk rode good and fast there last year in th e Motocross des Nations, so I expect him to be strong," Johnson said. " Pekka Vehkonen and a couple of other Europeans, their names slip me at the moment, will be fast. I'm not taking anybody lightly, I don 't th ink it will be a ca kewalk. " I' m going to go in a nd give it my best. I think I can win, I feel co nfident I ca n win, but not so much so that I'm going to tak e it lightly.t I'm going to have to train hard for, th e race because it will be two 45-' minute motos, longer than we usu-. ally ride. . ~ "I train hard enough to where I can ride 45-minute motos if I have to. It's go ing to be just as hard for the next guy as it will be for me, so just beca use I normally race 30minute motos I'm not going to use tha t for an excuse. I know that the race is coming up so I'm going to extend my training a littl e longer when I'm on the bike. . I "I'm just going to give it all I' ve got in bo th motos and hopefully come out' a winner;': . . •