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/127268
e'INTERVIEW, Motocrosser Rick Johnson a roll a nd o n his wa y to winning th 250cc World Championship. But J ohnson sh owed everyo ne he, was ba ck whe n he swep t both motos, And a ft er Bob H ann ah to ok hi farewell ride a ro u nd th e gra ssy, rolling . co ur se, he proc laimed J o h n so n th et new King of Unad ill a, a ti tle give n to J o h ns on , as it was to H annah , for hi s, ski lls on th e to ugh tra ck a nd fa en dea ring himself to the en th u siastic fans wh o pa ck th e faci lity every year. This year J ohnson wi ll be aiming· to make a nothe r spectacu lar co mebac k ride a t U na d illa , onl y this time he's co m ing o ff an injury to his right hand ,' suffered ea rlier in th e year a t th e Day ton a Supe rc ro ss. H o wever ; J ohnson on ly began riding again aft er being rel ea sed from hi s doctor on June 28 a nd a s th is issue went to press h is. status for th e J ul y 15 event was still unk nown . We ca u gh t up wi th J ohnson j us t a fter hi s broken hand ca me o u t of th e cast, between h is wr ist th era py a nd hii trai n in g for a tria th lon . " m * * * * ' Vhat are th e circu mstances th at have: kept yo u ou t o f acti on this year? At the sta rt of the year I was having trouble with m y han d . wit h pain, lack' of strength, a 1 of problems I though t: 01 would 've naru rallv cured th emselv es. I went to a wri st sl;ec ia list a nd he gave' me Ihe had new s that it wasn 't go in g' 10 gel a n y bet ter. Then I started tak in g a nt i - j n l la m a tori es so' I co u ld g"t stro nger a nd - Ih in gs sta rte d ge lli ng lu-uer. My perfo rma nce start ed go in g' np a nd th en whe n I crashed at Daytona I hroke a hone in m y hand . 'H made the mistake of pulling it out of the cast too soon and riding." T I • Familiar terntory By Nate Rauba Photos by Ken Faught and Kinney Jones ick J ohnson will be in a very fam ili ar si tua tio n if he returns to Una d illa Valley Sports Ce nter for th e U.S. 250cc MX GP this yea r. H e u nd oubtabl y would like to have a sim ila r o u tco me wh en th e two 40- R 18 minute-plus-two-lap rnotos are over. La st vear the mu lti-time Nationa l a n d Su perc ross Champion ca me to U nad illa just aft er recovering from a serio us ly broken wri st , and hi s cha nces of win ning were qu esti onab le . Although J o h nso n had raced a 250cc National event and the Mammoth Mountain Mot ocross, his wrist was still so re and hadn't been tested o n a ro ugh tra ck suc h a s Unad illa. P lus Fren chman Jean-M ichel Ba yle was on Dr. Da vid Ki" ffer sa id it shou ld he p inned or sn"wed . I ca m e hom" and m y physician sa id it wou ld he bett er to pu t il in a cast and kt it hea r naturall y. I mad e t he mi stak e o f p u ll ing it o UI o f th e cast too soo n a n d r idi ng. Tl u- probk-m started wi th n on un ion , when' ti ll" hone ma rrow shou ld he gell ing ha rd In n it sta rts g" lIi ng li ke je ll y. a nd il staru-d to look lik" a not h"r l liu le joi nt. \\'I)('n I went to T ampa (fo llo wing the Poiu iar Su pe rcross ) I d id a tire l es ~ alit! it hUI t. I had the ha nd X-ra yed a nd it showed nun -uni on . The doctor sa id I had a 5% cha nce of heal in g if the hand was kept in cas t fo r eig h t w' 't'ks a nd didn 't mov e. The natu ral ' thin g would 1 10 ha ve a hone grafl' )(' and p in . so I d id tha t a nd ha ve been wailing Io r. it 10 hea l. I got th e pin s out th e first wee k of j une and sta rted r.lng'· of motion a nd str en gth rehabilitation -;The su rgery wa s surressful a nd I'm lookin g forward to th e 500cc Nationals. Did yo u rebreak th e bone in Pontiac? There's no say ing. IL never gOl a cha nce to comp letel y heal. I went riding too soon a nd raci ng Pon tiac was a mistake-. I co u ld n' t drive into turns or be aggressive. I shou ld 've got lapped. The broken hand came at the time when you got back to speed. What did than do to yo u r con fiden ce? Any ti me yo u dea l with pain it becomes a factor. The first -day I ro de a super-. cro ss Irack I did jumps a nd everyth ing. That 's ra re for me a nd I wa s su rprised I co u ld do it. BUI at Po n tiac, it kept huning mor e a nd more. I still think I can win . There 's a lot of peop le, even people at H onda . who