Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

With his w ife Dana cheering him on , George Holland displays his Number One plate presented to him following the final National of the ~eason. Interview: 125cc National MX Champion George Holland Hauling in his first title By Nate Rauba Photo by Kinney Jones Team Honda 's George Holland wrapped up his firs t-ever 125cc National Cham p ion sh ip at the penultimate round in Millville, Minnesota, in m id-August. Throu gh ou t the 12-race series, Holland had battled with arch-rival Erik K eh o e , an d w h en K eh oe went .th b k j . th 14 O.u t WI a acx Injury In e· ninth rou n d , Ho.lIand. was all but assu red of the title sm ce he h3id alr~d y pu!led o u t a su bs ta n ti a l po~nts lead in the second half of. th e senes. H olland, a 23-year-old nder fro m th e small town of Kerman, Ca lifornia, ra cked up four overall wins, six 'seconds, a third an d an eighth, his wors~ finish which was due to a flat tire in a moto at Binghamton, New York, on his wa y to the cham p io ns hip. We talked to the new cham p just a fter th e season ended at Washougal, Washington, a few days before he was sch eduled to lea ve fo r a su p e rc r oss ra ce i n Holland. When you first wo n the championship in Minnesota you said that it hadn't sunk in yet. Now that you've ha d some ti me to think about it, how does it feel? It' s a rel I'efl It was th e on Iy thi g m I had o n m y mind all year. I'd wa ke , up in th e m orning th ink in g o f th e ch a m pions hi p, a n d the la st two months I was thinking ab out it m ore and more. After I finall y won it , I co u ld hardl y bel ieve it. It will still tak e a wh il e for it to fina lly sin k in. It feels good, th ough. What was the pressure like while going for the title? I go t a big poin ts lead an d th ought that it would tak e the pressure o ff, an d I sta rte d ridin g too ca u tio us ly. I was worried th at I'd en d up fallin g o ff and get hurt; th at was m y main co nce rn. Ri ck J ohnson hel ped me o ut by telling me to go into eac h race to win, and that helped m e o ut. If ' I sta rte d locking bars with guys th en I'd back off. What was the key to your success? I was a lways getting good starts and Kehoe was getting bad starts, crashing in the firs t turn and stuff. I got good starts and was consistent. At the beginning of th e season, wh o di d you see as the m a in th reat? I thought it would be Kehoe. We've been ra cing together for about 10 years now, and when I moved over to Honda I knew he'd put o u t a big effort to try and neat me. The past few years we've both battled for secon d a nd third in th e sta n din gs and been pretty close to winning th e cha m p ionsh ip. How did you feel when you found out Keh oe would be o u t for the rest of the season when he inj ured his back? I hated to see him get hurt, but wh en it happened I think I pretty much had t~e title wrapped up. Kehoe was faster th an I was at some of th e ra ces, but m y mechani c Cliff White coached m e along all year and told m e that the fastest rider doesn 't a lways -win th e ch am p ionsh ip, the smartest o ne does. I a lways thought about that and tri ed to get a ll th e sta rts and get o u t front a n d be smoo th without making mistakes. I think th at' s h ow I won it . Keh oe wa s ge tting bad sta rts an d pushing it a little too h ard and crash ing. What was yo ur most memorable race this season? About ha lfway through th e season at San Antonio , Texas. I rod e pretty good and got first th at day . I passed Keh oe a nd a few of the o ther guys, but a t th e halfway poi n t I had o ver a moto adva n tage in th e points. I felt that every body would have to try an d win every race and possibly push a little harder th an normal , whil e I co u ld go into a race knowing I didn 't h ave to win (to maintain points advantage). You said th at you weren't feeling well late in the season. What was wrong? Goi n g into Ohio, with only three ro u n ds remaining , I wa s training really hard and I think I overworked myself. I was co nsta nt ly runnin g , if I wa sn 't doing that I wa s riding, and if I wasn't ridin g I was o n my bi cycle. I think I burned my self ou t and after that ra ce I was really weak. The last two race s I felt really bad, and I a lmost didn't go to th e last race. Do you feel that as l25cc National Champion you s ho u ld've been chosen as the 125 rider fo r the Motocross des Nations team? I was h oping th at I'd be picked, but looking a t wh o th ey ch ose, th e team looks pretty stro ng, so I'm not too di sappointed. I would've liked to have go ne , but maybe next year. Who do you see as your main threat in the 125cc class next year? I still think Keh oe will be a big threat, Guy Cooper will be up th ere, Donny Schmit goes good a nd th ere's a lo t of you ng kids who are going rea lly good. If Cooper hadn't missed the first two rounds, how do you think it would have changed the chase for the championship? It 's h ard to say. Wh en h e ca m e ba ck he was rid ing hard a nd was a ggressive , bu t he came into th e series with nothing to lose and a lot to gai n. He was ridin g all o u t, a nd I wa s ri ding so me o f the races to protect my lead. ' What are your future race plans? I'm goi n g to start putting more time . into riding th e 250. I wa sn 't happy with my 250 Supercross rid es th is year, so n ext yea r I'm going to ride th e 250 a lot m ore. I definitely want to win the l25cc ch a m pio n shi p again next year. If I do then I h ave to go out (a rider who wins two l25 cc titles cannot compete in that class again), so I wa nt to show everybody that I can ride a 250. If you do win the title again next year, where wi ll yo u go ? Honda has Johnson for a few years, an d look wh a t happened to Micky Dymond last year. I think that's one reason why I have to put in good rides on the 250. I have to show Honda I can ride the bigger bikes too. I'm not going to worry about it, though, I'm going to think about winning the championship another year. Honda 's honest, and I know it's a business, so I know I won 't be kept in the dark. Why did yo u leave Suzuki last year? I thought Honda had a little better effort, and I thought they had a little better bike. The team is real strong with Dave Arnold, Roger DeCoster and my mechanic Cliff White, so I figure th at with th e com b ina tio n I'd be hard to beat. I was confident and that helped a lot. Plus when I was . a t Suzuki they had a lo t of riders and we had a problem with parts; whoever won got th e best parts. I knew if I went toHonda I' d be th e number one rider and get all the attention. What ki n d of co ntract did you get from Honda? It was a one-yea r co ntra ct with a twoyear clause. If I won th e cha m p ion ship th en it would a u to matica ll y be extended a year. H ow was the transition fro m Suzuki to H on da? When I got my H ondas I was p ra cticing a lot but not racing because I was still under co n tract to Suzuki. I was off for four or five months, and I had problems gettin g used to racing again a nd sta rted th e season real slow. Holland (3 ) was pu rsued by Suzuki's Erik Kehoe in the points . throughout most of the season . You got m arried in the off-seaso n last year. H as th at h elped your racing? Yea , I married Dana. We've kn own each other since grammar school, an d we were going together in junior high. I think it 's definitely helped me . It 's nice because she goes to almost all of the races. When yo u' re on th e road you'r e by you rself a lot and it gets lonel y. What do you like to do when you're not racing? The main th ing I like to do is wa ter ski and and ride a J et Ski. I like to golf a lot and gen erall y just sta y active. I like to ride bicycles. What will yo u be doin g in the offseason? I'll ra ce a supercross in Holland, come ba ck for the Honda deal er show (a t Las Vegas in early September ), th en in November I'll probably go to Japan for a supercross. I'll come home for a week then go back to Europe to ra ce the Paris Supercross - and co up le o f o ther races , and finally I'll co me home and get ready for next season. •

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