Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

. ' ,.'. ·IN R IE James Dobb TE V W ix days before the 1996 AMA Supercross Series began, British transplant James Dobb wa s a man without a team, a goal. or even a country. Now, two months later, he is a Suzuki factory rider, tied for the lead in the 125cc Western Regional Supercross Series p oints standings, and considers himself "more of an American than anything else." How did all of this come to pass? For the first time in a long while, Dobb was in the right place at the right time. How did your current dea l with Suzuki come together? I wa s looking and tryin g to get bikes and parts from peop le eve r sin ce the end of last season , but thin gs weren't going too good, at least as far as gettin g bikes goes . I got with Quicksilver (surf wear ), but I couldn't really ge t any th ing else sit ua ted . It was a week befor e the first race, and I still didn' t kno w what I was go ing to d o. Roger DeCoster invited me up to his hou se wi th Greg (Albertyn) the Sunday before the first supercross and asked me if I wo uld like to have a go on Craig Decker' s bi ke. H e h adn ' t healed completely yet from his crash (in Las Vegas) last year. lt was a perfect opportunity for me to go prove m yself and make so me mo re opport uni ties for myself in th e future. Is th is Suzuki deal the first lucky break th a t y o u ' v e had si n ce you came to America? In th e si tuation that I was in, yes , th is was a really lucky break. I've been fortunat e to receive good help from Pro Circuit and Hon da of Troy in the past, but the way this worked ou t was trul y lucky. It w as a blessin g - maybe so meone up above was loo king d own on me when Suzu ki called . Wh a t wa s go i ng throu g h your hea d before the call came? I mean , th e series was starti ng in six days and you did n 't have a ride. Weren't you wo rri ed that you woul d ha ve to sit out the series? I w a sn 't that w orried becau se m y fri end Scott from In -Fli ght, a goo d friend and manager, had bou ght me a bike himself because he felt so stro ngly abou t the Quic ksilver sponsorship. He boug ht me the bike on the third of January , so I started riding righ t then an d was th inking that that's how it wou ld be in '96. Bu t then Ro ger called, and I was able to get started with their bike. Ho w have the rest of the riders at Suz u k i been treating you? Are they treating you as if you were a tru e factory rider or are you just a re p la cem e n t player until the other gu y gets back to the team? Everyon e has accepted me and they know wha t I' m there for . Th e y ' re all team players and they know that I'm there to help Suz uki ou t by filling in a spot an d putting the bike out there. Obvio usly it ' s h e lpin g m y career as well; I'm jus t thankful that th ey ' ve a ll accep te d m e to th e poin t wh ere they make me feel like I'm actually one of the factory rid ers. They're the only ones wh o don 't ask me wheth er I'm goin g to hav e the ride next week or not. I' m part o f the team, and I'm re ally enjoying it. Well, I hate to ask you this, but will you have the ride next week? (Laughs) I think that I will be riding the first 125 National at Gainesville and the rest of the 125cc West Supercrosses, the n we'll see how it goes from there. Hopefull y, Craig will be back for the Sacramento (Hangtown) National in early By Davey Coombs Photos by Donn Maeda a nd Kinney Jones nice to see hi m back. He's a good friend, a nice guy, an d w hat's h appe n e d to h im I w ouldn't want to have h appen to m y worst enemy. In some w ays it won' t be good, of course, but in the wa y that matters most I'm happy for him that he w ill soon be back. Aft er Sacramento I will probably be on my own. And then Quicksilver will tak e ov er as your big sponsor? Yes, Quicksilver will be the ma in spo nsor. I'm still tryi ng to find a sho p th at will help me out with a couple of bikes. I know that it' s late but I figure that with th e yea r I'm h aving, and-all the publicity that I'm getting that someone will step up and maybe he lp . That's all I can hop e for . I may end up having to bu y m y own bikes. I'm also looking to purchase a box van right now. ls S uzu ki su p p lyi ng yo u with a m echanic right now or are you pa ying for yo u r own tuner? . Su zuki ha s as signed Tony Berl utti to h elp me. He used to be Damon Huffman's mechanic and he will be w orking wi th Craig when he comes back. Tony knows a thing or two about winning supercross cham p ions hi ps... Yeah he d oes! H e ' s been there for a while and he knows exactly what to do . He definitely makes tha t 125 fast for me. Ton y and Roger an d everyo ne have been so helpful to me these past few weeks. I really nope th at I can repay them by winning the cha m p ionsh ip for them . I have other people helping me, too, like Tom, who will be my mechanic later in the year, an d all of the gu ys that I ride wi th and train with during the week. There's a lot of people that I want to win th is championship for. You seemed a little d ispleased with yourself af ter you finished third at San Diego las t weeken d . What h ap p en ed th at ni gh t? I' ve been kickin g m yself over that ever since and I apologize if I said anyt hing that offende d anybody. lt wa s just the spirit of the mom ent , I guess. I knew I sho uld have won the race in San Diego. It wa s such a perfect opportunity to win and I d idn't capitalize on it. The two m ain guys around me (Kevin Windham an d David Pingree) were bo th out and I had the chance to win and ge t the points lead . I was rea llyu pse t with m yself an d with so me things that happened in the race, an d I probably let it all bothe r me a bit too mu ch. It's just that so ma ny people have p ut so much effort into helpin g me and I should be doing a bit better. I haven't been ge tting good starts, bu t I've been worki ng hard on them. Hopefully by Houston (March 23) I will have my tho ughts and starts sorted ou t. I' m tied for the lea d in the 125cc West Region Championships, and I feel like I' ve got a good cha nce of w inning the title. Kevin's rid in g extremely well, bu t obviously he's going to be a question mark wh en he come s back (from his collarbone break ). He was rid ing with a lot of confid en ce b efor e he go t hurt and, eve n thou gh his break was small, smal l things can grow int o big thin gs further down the line. Will yo u be ri di ng th e 125cc class in the out door Natio nals as we ll? Yes, I will be on the 125. I will be rid ing Cr aig's b ike a t Gainesvill e, bu t th a t' s about it. After that I will be getting help from Mitch (Payton at Pro Circuit). He's always been there for me and says that h e al ways will be. I will a lso ge t h elp fro m M XA Gra phics, Du n lop, UFO, Works Connection, Applie d, VP Race Fuel, Shoe i, O'Neal and Qui cksilver and ho pe fully some help from a shop. How do you think you will do in the 125cc National s? I feel that I have a chance of winning. A lot of people probably cance led me out and di dn' t think tha t I wou ld be in the position that I'm in , in supercross. Eve ryone knows that I'm a better outdoo r rider than I am in supercross, and I feel I have as good a cha nce now than I've ever had. It will be tough with so many guys ou t there like Steve Lamson and th em, so it will take a lot o f hard wo rk. I feel like I'm get ting stronger and stro nger now that I've had the chance to rid e these las t two mo n ths . After I was do ne at the end of last year, after Steel City I only rode a few times until January . Now I'm back in shape and I'm really looking forward to Gainesville. Hopefull y everyt hing will go well th er e for me. What was it li ke ridi ng with Honda of Troy last year? It was go od. I had a few injuries th at held me back, so I didn't do as well for them as I would ha ve liked to. Honda of Tro y is getting b igger and better eve ry year and I think in the near futu re they will be a strong force - as strong as any-

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