Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INTERVIEW AMA National Hare &Hound Champion GregZitterkopf t a time when "Crusty Demons" roam the tracks and the pro motocrosser role model is a sensitive subject, Greg Zitterkopf sits in his quiet home in Chino Hills, California, with his wife and his AMA National Hare & Hound championship plate. At 32 years of age, Zitterkopf became only the third man ever to win the prestigious plate (Dan Smith and the legendary Danny Hamel are the other two), but his list of accomplishments is inspiring and diverse. His garage is filled with trophies, plaques, medals and other awards, his career spanning over 15 years. Supercross, motocross, ISDE, enduros, deseIt - it's all there. A few years ago, Zitterkopf brought his motocross skills to the off-road scene, mainly in the California and Nevada deserts. Along with his sharp and aggressive riding style, he brought with him a sense of professionalism and dedication. that is a celebration to the' sport. After spending the year racing for Team Green, Zitterkopf has opted to ride KTMs in 1997 with a deal from Vosburg Racing, a Las Vegas-based company. New KTMs will not be the only new arrivals to the Zitterkopf household, as Greg and his wife Elizabeth are expecting a baby in mid-'97. During the interview and in the desert, Zitterkopf is easy to talk to and comfortable to be around. Like th'e movie says, "Desert racers are good people" and Zitterkopf backs up that claim every weekend with his personality and wiru'ling style. Congratulations. How does it feel to be National Hare & Hound and Baja 1000 Champion? It feels awesome. It's·taken a lot of work, but I feel very fortunate to have won those titles. It's just a wonderful feeling. Was this your first Baja 1000 win? Yeah, actually I've only done the 1000 four times. Two times it was with Garth Sweetland and Paul Krause. One time we rode an ATK when jt went all the way to La Paz and we were going for the overall and, like 50 miles from the finish, Paul stalls the bike and he didn't know how to start a four-stroke, so we ended up getting third. So that was disappointing. The other time we ended up 'getting third also. And then 1 rode once before in '91 with Larry (Roeseler) and Ted (Hunnicutt), and unlortunateJy our Kawasaki blew up when I was on it, so it made me look like the spade. It was my first time I got to ride with a good group of guys. It was really neat to be able to go down there and ride with those guys. When was the first year you rode Baja? In 1989, when it went down to La Paz and it was reaUy something. It really opened my eyes. I mean going down there and spending like three weeks down there riding. I think .my section was 450 miles imd it was really, really tough getting up at like 5 in the morning, gettin' on the bike at 6 and riding until it was dark and then we'd hop in the van and drive aU 400 miles back up and go to bed at like 1 or 2 in the morning and then getting up again at 5 the next day. To do that for three weeks, to put that kind of effort in, I reaIly admired those guys for that. It was a lot of work. People don't see that part of it. Do you think you'll be going back next year? Team Green is considering not going back and KTM doesn't even seem to be too interested. It's up to my new sponsor. If he wants to go down there, then we'll go down By Matt Freeman I Photos by Tom Van Beveren and Freeman there, but as of right now we don't have any plans to go down to Baja. Casey Folks· is going to kind of step up to the plate and he's going to have three big off-road races in Nevada next year. I know we're gonna be doing those three and I'll be riding with Destry Abbott, so I'll try to.gear up for those. Next year are you going to be riding two-strokes? Yes. I'll be riding KTM 360s for Vosburg Racing, which is a gentleman out of Las Vegas. In defending your National Hare & Hound championship next year, it's obvious who your fiercest competitor is, but are there any others that you think could be a threat? Greg Zitterkopf at speed during his 1996 AMA National Hare & Hound Championship assault. Ty (Davis) is the only one... I think the rest of the guys go pretty good, but they're not quite Ty Davis' and my speed, so I think he'll be my main concern next year. As far as him riding a 500 and you on a 360, do you think that is going to be to your disadvantage? No. ActuaUy, I've ridden the KTM a couple times and I was really surprised how good the bike is stock. It's a really good motorcycle and Pro Circuit is going to do the engine and suspension on it. I think it's going to be very competitive because most of the races out here in California are more tight and technical and our bike is mme like a 250 through that stuff. It will even out. Do you do a lot of testing for Pro Circuit? Yeah, ;;, a couple of weeks when they get back from the Mini Olympics, we're gonna be going out and doing a lot of stuff on the KTM. They haven't done a KTM since Mike Fisher rode them in '91, so they're kind of anxious to get a good guy riding them again and help KTM . out. How did you get into racing and test riding? Actually, I was like a lot of kids, I think. When I was a kid, we used to go out to the desert with the fa:rnily and go trail riding and stuff like that. One thing led -to another. In high chool we had high school motocross and on Friday nights everybody used to go to Corona Raceway and race. That's where I got started. It was a lot of fun. So, you've grown up around Chino? Yep, I've lived here my whole 32 years on the same street. My parents just live on the other side of the freeway. I'm a Chino native. . When you got into motocross, how serious did that get? I went and did all the Nationals and the supercrosses and everything. I was pretty fortunate. I was a Honda test rider for two years. And then I got hurt and broke my back at GainesvUJe, so I didn't ride for a couple of years and then I got a real job and realized that it's not quite what I wanted to do yet. So I started riding again and I got hooked up with .ATK. Things started all over again. I started racing again and here we are. How did you get into test riding fo.r Honda? I was doing local motocross and I was becoming a pretty good local pro, and one of the Japanese guys was out at Saddleback and asked me if I would come out and ride. One thing led to anothei; and I became pretty much their maim test rider. Doing all the preproductioJ;! stuff for the following year and riding them at all the national motocrosses] That was in '87. That's when I fell and got hurt and broke my back. Did you get to ride all the works CRs and everything? , Not actually the works bikes. Mostly the stuff that they were thinking of putting into production two years down the road. J did all the evaluation for all that. Back then, they didn't have a production rule, so in '86 I'd be riding like a 1988 CR500. It was a really big deal for me. It helped pay all the bills. When you hooked up with ATK, was that for off-Toad? , No, actually it was still to do motocros I rode an ATK at the U.S. GP and J did a pretty good job for them the one mota. I got ninth, I think, on a four-stroke, so they were reaUy excited. Later on I just showed up at their doorstep, "Hey, maybe you got a bike I can ride or some'thing," 'and they said, "Hey, no prob, lem, we'lI try to help you out." When did you make the change from motocIOSS to offcroad? It was just about two years ago. Pawl Krause kind of got me started when] was at ATK. He had me go down and ride the Baja 1000 with him and that was really pretty much the only desert race that I did. That and a couple of Casey Folks 'fBest in the Desert" races. I sti II strictly did motocross. Before, on the Kawasaki when I was a test rider, 1 strictly did motocross except for the 1000. And then KTM kind of had me do, more of the off-road stuff, yet I still did.

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