Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Relatively an unknown here In the U.S., Ashkenazi (838)filled In for the injured Robbie Reynard on the Primal ImpulseIBiII's PlpesIHonda team and finished third in the 125cc West Coast Supercross Champ ionsh ip. They have don e really, really well . It is good to see New Zealand produce some very good riders. We know each other pretty good. The Australian federation recently sent a large contingent of young racers to California to compete and pick up experience. Are you involved in that? Myself, Steven Gall and Gary Benn are the th ree real in itiators of this whole camp. We cond ucted a week-long tra ining cam p at home to elect the ride rs w e thought co ul d co me over. I guess we have trie d to be a dri vin g force at home in attempting to encou rage the younger kids of Au stralia to look to the future, don't just loo k at Australia. We wa nt to enco urage them to go as far as th ey can with th eir caree rs . I think Aus tralia is sim ilar to her e, but on a sma ller scale. The sport is ve ry, very narrow-minded, an d many people w ithin the industry need to ge t th eir blinker s off. I am a very big pusher of that. I am the num ber-one Au stralian rid er, and I am trying ve ry, very ha rd to ge t out and try and ge t th e blinker s off peo ple' s eyes and let them see how big the sport really can be. Not four or five yea rs ago, Au stralia was really producing some great riders like Jeff Leisk and Craig Dack who were gaining a substantial amount of international notoriety. Then you guy's kind of fell off the map. What happened? Well, I th ink a few things. Number one, the ne w ge neration, the kinds th at are produ ced these d ays, as far as atti tudes and stu ff like th at, I think Australi a is still a little bit beh ind Am erica. I gu ess it's hard when you lose icons like Steven Gall. It is h ard to p ick so meone up stra ight away. And whether I am a sixtime Nationa l Cham pion or n ot , it' s har d to push the spo rt to the next level becau s e y o u a re talking n ow with you nger people. Unfortu nately in Au stralia , if a young kid is doing well they are not encou rage d to d evelop, y ou know, to get moving. The y are just seen a s kids. It' s not th e same as here. A num be r of kids back home, you can't put them on television and expect them to do the sp ort proud. I guess in a lot of ways, the y don't think about what the y are involved in, the y just think of it as they ar e racin g. A lot of rough edges? Yeah . I have tried to be as very, very professional as I can over the years. I try m y hardest to not only help myself but to put back into the sport, no t just taking out. You sound ve ry mature and businessm inded, as if you want to do something within the sp ort when your racing da ys are over. It's funny you sa y that because that' s my nickname at home . They call me the "Businessman" (laughter). Well, that a n d" Ashca n ." I guess I' m always looked up to with that because my fathe r used to be Steven Gall's mechanic when he won all of his championships at home. The whole thing gave me a real good grounding as what to take out of the sport and what to put in to the sport. I suppose I' ve always looked u p to guys like Steve n and even Bob H an nah, Ricky Joh nso n, Davi d Bailey and Jeff Stanton; all of the guys in the years that have gone past. They are th e people that stan d ou t in my mind. When you lived back in Australia, did you ride in the 1992 Motocros s de s Nations in Manjimup (Au stralia)? I race d in the 125cc class. How did you do ? I placed a ninth and Llth, I think . Did you enjoy the experience? Fantastic! You know, I have raced the MX des Nations the last fou r years now, and I think it's the best race on the face of the earth. It is like th e Olympic ga mes. Do yo u think the U.S. riders are the best in the world? How can you ever say who is the best? Th e U.S. produ ce s m ore co nsistently better rid ers. Whereas as in Eu rope it see ms like yo u have these yo ung guys that come th rou gh like your Albertyn s, or you r Evertse s, o r you r Demarias, where the u.s. is consistently produ cing these great riders. In your future would you rather do very well here in America, or do you have any ambitions like Jeff Leisk did in going over to Europe and competing on the Grand Prix circuit? Right now, I reall y just want to pursu e m y career right h ere in the U n ited State s. I feel that if I can achie ve all that I want to achieve here, then ma ybe , yes, I .w ou ld venture ov er to Europe. But at present, I'm really just tryi ng to forget about that and concentrate on this year and working on being he re in the United Slates. What about Jeff Leisk. Did you know him at all growing up? Were you a fan of his? Does he still have a name back in Australia? Yes, by all mea ns . It's kin d o f fun ny because my fat her w as also the hea d technician for the team he was riding for back in Australia. I kin d of know everybodv in Australia because of that. He is still'pretty heavily in volved . For the last few years he has been racin g what we call the th umper class in Au stralia - he won that last yea r. This year he is riding the Austra lian 250cc Nationals. They say that Australian people like to enjoy themselves and drink their beer, perhaps a little bit rough around the edges in a charming way. Would you agree with that assessment? I g uess th a t is a fol kl o r e thin g tha t everybody has heard . But I guess th at Austra lia gets th at because of th e attitud e. You know, "fair d inkurn, " wh ich mean s ' for rea l: I guess we are pret ty laid back, but on the othe r hand, we also produce a lot of good athletes. Is motocross pretty well received in Au stralia? Does the general public know about it? They do and they d on' t. It's a trick situation . I suppose it is the sa me scale as here, bu t on a much smaller level. It' s funny, that's how the situation is in the U.S. Everybody kind of knows about it, but very few people know a lot about it. That's righ t. The thing that stu mps me is th at it has so much to offer to yo u ng kids. Sure it's dangerou s, but the sport d ictates tha t yo u ha ve to b e fit to be com pe ting, you can't be drinking, yo u can't be d oin g drugs and you can' t be goi ng out. There is also thi s th in g th at when you are at school, it is known that it is a tou gh thin g to b e ri di ng motocross. Tha t is good becauseit gives these kid s that ma ybe don't have a lot of se lf-co n fid ence something to strive for because th ey are show ing th eir mates they are tou gh for racin g a motorbike, yo u kn ow ? What do you th ink of the amateur scene in Australia? It's the same scen ario anywhere you go, or anything that you hear, everything is bigger and better in America. I gu ess to me, the mini thing here is pretty intense as far as parents and money and all that, but it is probably the same worldwide. Th e bi ggest th ing h ere I thinkis that they are all striving to be the next Jerem y McGrath and that's fine a n d it's good to think that, but don' t expect the kid to be Jeremy McGrath. You mentioned that Au stralia has produced a number of world class athletes. One sport that they are legendary for is surfing. Are y o u a fan of the sport at all? Sure, I gu ess when you live in Aus tralia, or where I h ave rig ht on th e beach for half of my life, yo u end up following it. Barton Lyn ch is prob ably the ma in person that stan ds out in my mind. Your countrymen like Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner, Troy Corser, Darryl Beattie and Anthony Gobert are amazing road racers. Are you a fan of that? Oh , by all mean s. I am actua lly good friends with Wayne Ga rdner. I think it is fan tastic for Aus tra lia in ge neral. I know all th ose guys. I grew u p racing with An thony Gobert and Troy Corser. We all raced motocross together when we we re younger. I just think it is gre at for Australia. Anything that is goo d for the country is a fantastic thing. ' What do you think of the American race scene and how the fans have taken to you? I have always sensed that Americans like Australian people. Do you feel that at all? Yeah, definit ely. I think people like Greg Albertyn or Bayle or Pichon find it hard beeause they are more European- like in cultu re. I th ink when the Americans find out I am Australian they are like "n o way. G' d ay mate." You know, all the usu al stuff. Yeah, everybody watched Crocodile Dundee. Did you s ee that movie? Exactly. For sure. Yeah, I guess ther e is a seed of truth there . You k no w, Au str alians are Australians, you li ve the w ay yo u d o . Su re we ta lk funn y, but you guys tal k funny too (laughter). What do you think of the American riders, have you been able to mingle with them? I h a ve mi xe d feelings abo u t th em. I guess Stant on and Lamson have been the two g u ys for m e, because every time I' ve come over here I've stayed with the two of them, you know, training and practicing . I have th e utmost respect for Jeff. I consider hi m a real good friend, he helped m e o ut a lo t when I was here in '94. To me he is an icon for U .S, racing. Businessman-like, trai ned very, very hard, very d ed icated. The only th ing he lacked a little bit was his media relations. He was the guy to me. What do you think of the speed of the American riders? Do you anticipate doing well? I like to think so. I think my style suits' ou td oor motocross a little better. I think, like anything, it will p robably take me a cou p le rounds to get in to th e swi ng of things. Gainesville was a learning expe rience . I ha ve wa tched n early e very video of American tr acks back h ome, and I am hanging to get ou t the re and ride them. I have nev er been to any of them, but I'm really loo kin g forward to it. What a re your long-term goals in racing? ' . To be as suc cessful as I can. I think I am the kind of person th at will probably still be racing when I am 30. Racing is all I love and all I've ever known, so I guess • it's my passion, you know? 1'X 23

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