Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

"Most of my contracts are on a performa nce basis - wh en I perform, I make money. It depends what you call a good living, but I' m 21 ye ars old a nd next year I'm going to buy myself a house. I think it's a pretty good livin g, " said Hamel. But, as hundreds of wanna-be racers have learned the hard way, it takes more than just dedication to earn a living racing in the dese rt. Wh en yo u ask Hamel the secret of his success, he w ill stop and think - for a lo ng time. Wh en the answer finall y comes, it sounds like somethin g ou t of a Betty Crocker recipe book. Take one part experience... "A lot of it is my ability to read the terrain, and that comes fro m gro wing up in Nevada," says Ha mel. "There's nothing to do out here but rid e in the desert, so it came naturally to me. That's the only thing I've ever known." Take two parts Dan Smith.. . "Dan taught me a lot. From him I learned a lot of riding techniques for high-speed riding - Baja-type riding; that's not something you learn in Nevada. Between him and Dave Chase (the KTM team's mechanic at tha t time), they both tau ght me everything I know about m o torcycles from every aspect of a motorcycle - the riding, keep ing it going - everything." And finally, add a measure of selfcontrol.. . . " I would never r ide beyond my means. It 's just not worth it," says Hamel. "My contracts are based on performance, but there's no reason to take any chances trying to accomplish a small goal. You could jeopardize your whole career for one stupid mistake." As carefully considered as it is, however, Hamel's recipe for success seems to be missing some vital ingredients. A lot of racers started riding early. A lot of them had contact with Dan Smith. And for most of them, refusing to take a chance would lose far more races than it would win. The factor that stands in the way of getting a full list of ing red ie n ts is Hamel's modesty. No matter how often you ask, Danny Hamel refuses to in clude things like natural ability, strength, sk ill and talent on his list of ingredien ts for success. Hamel's competition is less closedmouthed. When you ask the top racers in the desert circles why Hamel goes so fast and why he is so often so far out in front, you get some no-holds-barred opinions. According to Kawasaki Team Green'sPaul Krause, his KX500 teammate, Hamel, is fast because he has better eyesight than anyone else. "Danny can see better than we can. He sees ribbon so far away it's unreal. I've never driven with him in a car or truck, but people who have say he can see things wa y ahead tha t they haven't seen," said Krause. "Plus, he has super balance. "He can hit stuff and stay going straight. If he decided to ride one of those bucking broncos, he could stay on it better than the rest of us." Hamel simply admits to having 20/ 20 vision. Ted Hunnicutt, another of Hamel' s Kawasaki teammates, sa id Hamel ' s secret to winning is just that - winning. "I think it's his self-confidence level, which is extremely high," said Hunnicutt. "It's like once you're winning, it's hard to knock you off that pedestal. Plus, I think his youth has a lot to do with it He has a natural ability and a lot of strength. His self-confidence works with the combination of everything else." desert, said Hamel is fast because he has never been seriously hurt during a race. "He has never really gotten off hard and gotten himself hurt really bad. It slowed me down the first time I did it - I definitely don't go as fast as I used to, a nd I think it would slow him down too:' said Morris, who pilots a KX250 for Kawasaki Team Green. "He is in a gotta-win attitude. He is reall y aggressive and has a stro ng desire to win. A few years ago he used to ride every da y. I d on 't know if he still do es, b u t that helps a lot." Hamel says his worst injuries were a broken arm that required plates when he was 15, and knee d amage from a crash during last year's hare and hound series . Hamel currentl y ri d es two or three times a week. KTM racer Greg Zitterkopf, who has gone head-to-head w ith Hamel in the National Hare & Hound Series and Nevada's Best in the Desert Series, said the key to every Hamel win is his ability to get out in front off the start. "He is always first at the bomb and that means he doesn't have to worry about coming up through the dust or passing slower people or taking chances like the rest of us do:' said Zitterkopf. "H e goes well at the beginning and is able to cruise the rest of the way. The rest of us just ha ven 't mastered the technique for being first at the bomb every time." • • Hamel says he goes into each race with confidence, "...but not in a cocky sense." "I approach every race the same and just give it 100 percent effort. I'll take it in stride however it comes out, whether it's first or fifth:' said Hamel. Fellow KX500 racer Ty Davis believes Hamel's size is the key to his success. "He is just really big - a really big boy. Look at his hands - they're humongous:' said Davis. "Going across the fast stuff - the rough stuff like through Lucerne Valley, where you have to hang onto the bike as tight as you can - he has an advantage over other guys because he can manhandle the bike. I could manhandle a 250 the same way, but a 500 is too big for me. If I got sideways, I wouldn't have the strength to pull it back around, but he can do it. The other reason he's so fast is because we're all out there pushing him." At 21, Hamel stands 6-feet-2-inches tall and weighs 210 pounds. He says he has stopped growing. Las Vegas racer Scott Morris, who · watched Hamel grow up in the Nevada Hamel estimates that he is first to the bomb in 90 percent of the races he competes in. The secret to getting the holeshot, he says, is practice. "I spend a lot of time out there learning my trail prior to the event," said Hamel. "But I don't know that leading is that much of an advantage. I think it 's almost harder to lead because you don't know how to pace yourself." The verdict from the racer who has studied him the closest, Hamel's exmentor Dan Smith, was "reaction time." "He can see things and react to them way faster than anybody I've ever met.t'says Smith. "When you're doing anything, like driving a car or riding a bike, your eyes give you in p u t from your environment and your brain has to be able to process that input and put it into physical action. Hamel's brain just does that faster than anybody else's. It's not really X-ray vision, and it's not really thinking either. The input just goes straight from his eyes to his body and tells it what to do." Since he retired from motorcycle racin g, the ex-ruler of the desert has watched Hamel's progress with interest - and with respect. "I quit jus t in the nick of time, and ' you can put that in the paper:' said Smith. ' "He didn't ever beat me, but he came close. There were a couple of times when he should've beaten me and it just didn't work out. It was just a matter of time. "He is ruining everything for me:' said Smith, with a smile. "He is going to catch my five-time National (Hare & Hound) streak - there's no doubt about it. I had a word to him at the (Baja) 1000 this year. I told him to slow down. He's going to ruin my record." But as long as he is enjoying his job, Hamel has no in ten tion of slowing down. "If you don't enjoy your job, it's time to do something else, but I'm still having fun:' says Hamel. "And when my racing career is done, I'll have my degree to fall back on. I realize this can't last forever, but if I make myself more marketable through getting an education, maybe I can stay in the industry. "This is exactly where I want to be." C'I 25

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