Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Yamaha of Troy's Ernesto Fonseca By Henny Ray Abrams O oesn't he know the rules? Doesn't he know that no one wins his first 125cc supercross? And his second, and his third, and his fourth, and ...? Didn't anyone tell him that you can't fall in the first corner of a supercross and still win? That you can't pass 15 riders in 15 laps on a course that turns in on itself more than fusilli? The short answer to all of those questions is no, no one told Costa Rican Ernesto Fonseca what he couldn't do so he did it. In his first-ever supercross, in Tampa Stadium this past February, the multitime AMA Amateur, Costa Rican and Latin American Champion simply won. "Yeah, I was a little bit surprised," the 17-year-old Yamaha of Troy rider said in slightly accented English during a break at the St. Louis Supercross. "But I don't try to think too much of that just thinking about myself, and know I can do it." "No, I wasn't surprised he won Tampa," countered Yamaha of Troy team manager Erik Kehoe, "just because of watching him during testing during the week. I think we were real happy, and I knew there were going to be a lot of good guys there On Tampa). I knew the competition was going to be steep, and to come away there with a first and second (Yamaha of Troy's Stephane Roncada was second), 1 wasn't surprised, because watching him testing " ~ < 22 during the week, he'd been riding really well. We knew that if he got a good start and he rode to his potential, he was able to do it." And he did. And he won again in Atlanta, and came from behind in Daytona, and came from way behind in St. Louis. So where did he come from? Ernesto Fonseca was born in the Costa Rican town of Heredia, population 75,000 and the capital city of Heredia, one of seven provinces in the Central American country of 3 million. Like all" successful racers, he started young. By the time he was 5, he had his first motorcycle and the encouragement of his father, a former motocross and street-bike rider. He began racing the same year he had his first bike, 1985, and took fifth in a Pee Wee Honda race. From there, he progressed steadily and rapidly, winning his first race about a year later, but he can't remember where. What he remembers is how he was influenced by American racing. The American races were shown on ESPN in Spanish, and he remembers watching Ricky Johnson race at Daytona. "My favorite rider was (Damon) Bradshaw all the time," Fonseca. said, "but then after that, when 1 started going to races more here, he's still my favorite rider, but not as much as it was before." Fonseca describes the tracks in his homeland as a mixture of American supercross and motocross tracks. "Because lap times are like 1:20 or something and they're like really, really long, like motocross races, but they have a lot of jumps, too," he said. "So it's kind of combined." Mostly, he raced in his homeland, but to contest the Latin American Championship, he had to travel to Brazil, Puerto Rico and Guatemala, which he did from 1996 through 1998. He came back with three Latin American titles and a few more Costa Rican ti tles, including two in 1998, which earned him the ride with Yamaha of Troy. "I've seen Ernesto ride many times in the past, and I watched the results of the amateur races, and tlle guys from Yamaha ha ve been watching hinl and bringing him along for a long time," Kehoe said. "1 met with him directly when he first came over here. He's been riding with Yamaha for a few years. They've been behind him and supporting him. I know that they really wanted to have Emesto (be a) part of the program." What Yamaha sees in Fonseca is probably what Kehoe sees. "Ernesto's very confident," Kehoe said. "That's very good, a very good trait. He's eager to learn. I think at the Yamaha track, when all the other guys are out there, he asks questions, he walches different things. A lot of times, some younger guys that have a lot of talent like that want to do it their way and that's it. 1 think that he's eager to learn and take other things into consideration and then make the choice which he thinks is the best." The choices have been wise. Fonseca has a smooth, confident riding style always in control, able to hit the same lines lap after lap or improvising as the track changes. "Right now, 1 think the biggest thing he needs to work on is just experience," Kehoe said, "just the time. Getting experience. And he's been getting great starts and he's been riding well, he's been training well. As long as he stays focused on his program, he'll be very successful. He doesn't have much experience now in setting the bike up. We've been working with ~, testing suspension and motor stuff, and he seems to have his own direction, and 1 think he's been successful at achieving a bike that works well for ·him." What has helped Fonseca immeasurably has been his ability to train and learn from the veteran Yamaha riders Jeremy McGrath, John Dowd, Doug Henry and Jimmy Button. "1 kind of try to 'hang out as much as 1 can with him," Fonseca said of McGrath, the five-time Sup·ercross Champion. "Jeremy is a real role model for everything, not only as a motocross rider. 1 just try to pick up every little thing that he does, and it makes a big difference." Fonseca has no personal trainer and sets his own training regimen. And what does he learn from riding? "It's hard to say," Fonseca asserted. "You can't tell every time, you just picked it every now and then. When you go out riding with Button and Dowd and all those guys, you can pick up a little thing, and then you'll get to do it when you're riding and it helps a lot. It's hard to tell. You just have to be watching and you'll pick it up right there. It's not like 1 can tell you right there." Whatever it is, it works, though he didn't do too badly.on his own. Fonseca first came to the United States in 1992, racing the Winter National Olympics in Gainesville, Florida, and winning the 7- to ll-ye!lr-old 60cc class as an ll-year-old. At the time, and for a long time afterward, he was sponsored by Beach Sportcycles Yamaha. He raced the Mini National Olympics again in 1993 and 1994. Then, in 1995, he won the Bronze Boot Award for being the most successful Youth-class racer a t the Olympics. Aside from becoming a four-time AMA Amateur National Champion, Fonseca also won the 125cc Latin America Championships from 1996 through 1998. and the Costa Rican 125cc title in 1997, a title he retained in 1998, adding the 250cc crown. The deal with Yamaha of Troy, Yamaha's unofficial 12Scc team, came togel:Jler in ew Orleans at the end of last year. Since signing, Fonseca has Yamaha of Troy's Emesto Fonseca has yet to lose a race since turning pro.

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