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/127731
.f ยท.. INTERVIEW Damon Bradshaw By Davey Coombs 10 he accent seems th inner, the hair d a r ker . His bod y is still thin and sleek and the goatee is back in pla ce. The riding style hasn't changed a bit - fast , aggressive and sometimes out of control. This is the new good 01' boy o f motocro ss, Damon Brad shaw. He's just 22 years old but back from a yea r and a half in sel f-ex ile, or semiretirement, or whatever yo u want to call it, following his surprise announcement a t the end of the 1993 seaso n, basicall y blaming his sudd en departure fro m the s por t o n a b ad case of m oto rcycl e bu rn out. And th e on ly rem ed y was a lon g time.out on his ranch in his homesta te of North Carolina. After three months in the rumor mill Bradshaw's long-awaited comeback finally took place at the third round of the 1995 AMA National Championship 250cc MX Series at High Point Raceway in Mt. Morris, Pennsylvania, and here's what Bradshaw had to say before the gate dropped for his first race since September '93. So where have you been? Where have I bee n? (Laughs.) Not at a motocross trac k, that's for sure. I've just been enjoying life, do ing so me different things, basica lly jus t doing wha tever comes up. There was not hing in par ticular that I did every day or so met hing that I couldn't do while I was racing. How many races have you gone to just to watch since your retirement? Well , I wen t to Atlanta one tim e for press day but that was jus t to see all the guys with Yama ha . I didn't stay for the race. I wen t d own and wa tche d Cha rlott e las t yea r and I got ther e just before the ma in even t, so I watched tha t race. Then I saw Charlott e this year and that' s about it. Did you miss the sport a little more after you saw those race s? No, I didn't. I thi nk it took me to miss rid ing itself before I thought about coming back. I could miss all the peo ple and all that bu t I had to miss just riding a mo to rcycle befo re I wanted to get back on one. How long wa s it after your retirement before you threw your leg back over a motorcycle? It was a little over a year. I didn't ride nothing ex ce pt for street bikes. After that - I think it was right at the end of the '94 season, I guess - I told those guys at Yamaha that I wanted to get a bike. They sent me a '95 Yamaha and I rode it a couple of times before winter at hom e. Once it got cold it sa t all through th e winter. Once it s ta r te d warming up again I rode it a couple of times and I've been p retty much riding every da y since tha t. What did it feel like the very first time you rode again? I didn't even feel like I had been off a bike at all. I go t tired pretty quic k but as fa r as m y tim in g a nd all tha t goes, it w as pre tty mu c h o kay. Th e s peed w asn' t th er e and I was n' t that stro ng but my timing and the way I felt was all good . When d id y ou start ri d in g ser io u s ly aga in? About two and a half months ago. During your time off did you develop an y bad habits or were yo u stilI taki ng good care of yourself? I still took care of myself pretty good . I didn't do anythi ng that wa s really out of th e ordi nary. I didn 't ha ve to worry about being in bed and getting rest and all that kind of stuff. I spent a couple of late nigh ts ou t wit h m y friends , just doing different things. But I didn't start nothing that I had to quit when I started racing motorcycles again, except for get ting better rest ! So what brought you to that decision to start racing again? I just missed ridi ng and everything that we nt along wi th it - the competition, the peo ple, I missed all these guys at Yamaha. To have all that I had to want to ride a mot or cycl e again. I do want to rid e, and that's the reason I'm here. You once said that the reason you quit was that you were completely burned out. Yes I was, an d tha t was the bo ttom line. I got burned out on everything. I wasn't happy to be the re at the ra ces a nd I didn't look forward to it anymore. I said when I started this: The day tha t I quit looking forward to being here is the day I'm not going to be her e, regardless of an yth ing. That's kind of the way I felt. I a lso told everybod y th a t if th e re was ever a time tha t I missed it, I'd be back. You also said in your retirement statement that you would not be back until yo u co u l d give y o u r fans and your team 110 percent. That's right , and I'm read y to give 110 percent. I kn o w that, a n d I' v e been training. I want to win and that's wha t I'm looking forward to doi ng. What about your family? How do they feel about your return? I don' t even know . I d on 't communicate wit h my mom and dad a wh ole lot , so I don' t kno w how they feel ab ou t all this. I'm su re they know abou t it but I don' t know how they feel and I really don' t care how they feel about it . I' m doing this for myself and not for anyone else. When you decided to do th is, did you approach Yamah a about coming back or di d th ey ap proach you? I've talked to those guys periodically eve r since I left and they never said anythi ng like, Wh en you comi ng back? or Why a ren ' t you ra cing? They n ever asked me an ything about riding. When I called.them that one time and told them I wanted a bike to play on - that I had some guys aro und my hou se that wanted to do some riding - they said su re. I told them th at it didn't m ean that I wa nted to start racing again but that it was just so I could ride for fun and kind of stay in shape. They d id n't care. They sen t me a bike. I rode it maybe four times the first four days th a t I got it and I said to myself, no, I don't really miss it enough to race again. I pu t it u p and it sa t all winter but when it started warming up I got to thinking about it agai n. The first time I rode I sa id , ma n, this is fun! I thi nk it took that amount of time for me to really miss it. At Dayt on a this year I wen t d ow n to just see everybody and I knew goi ng d ow n there that I wanted to start riding agai n, a nd I k ne w th at I wa nte d Yama ha's help. I told them that I wanted to co me ou t to California a nd rid e w it h th em . I was worried about how th e y would feel a bo u t it but th ey seemed to f eel real g oo d a b o u t the w ho le thing. They basicall y op en ed the door for me and sa id, we're here, we want to help yo u. Th at' s th e way it's been si nce Dayton a. Have you spoken to Jeff Emig or John Dowd 'ab out how they feel about your comeback? No, not really. But a big concern of mine from th e b eginning was th at I d idn' t wa nt to int erfere with the progr am they h a d going . They h a v e a te am a nd I didn' t want any thing to cha nge wit hin it. I didn' t wan t to see any a ttitudes cha nge towa rd th ose guys tha t were already there. I just wanted to race again and I tried to ma ke th a t clea r to the other riders. If I can be of help to them , I'll do what I can . Are you now an official member of Team Yamaha? Yes, yo u could say that. I'm riding one of their bikes, I' m in their tru ck and all of their people are h el p in g m e. It 's almost like I've never been away. The only thing that is an y different is that I just don 't have a locker ! (Laug hs.) Do you have a salary ? No , th e re ' s n o contrac t t h a t ' s been worked o ut yet , a n d I' m not rea ll y even co ncerned abou t th at yet. Like I said, I wa n ted th eir help. I wan ted a good bike and I wa nted to rid e. Tha t's w ha t I'm doing. I'm su re all that bu siness s tu ff will be taken ca re of real soo n. Wha t are your expectations for th is weekend at High Poin t? What kind of finish wo ul d yo u be satisfied wi th? I'd b e s a tis fied w it h winning! Tha t' s