Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ricky Carm ichael Ricky Carmichael meet Roger DeCoster: New ride r a nd team manager get aquainted. A I blew my right knee out when I was 13 years old, #-\and I ran that for three years . When I did my knee this time , I knew I would have to take out a series. I was going to try to run it th rough supercross, because I figured outdoors it wou ld be a little worse because there are so many turns and you're dragging your feet so much . You know, it's just so rough and gnarly, so (wanted to get through supercross, and I figured as soon as it bugged me one time outdoors, I'd call it quits - just be cause I knew supercross was so important. Then I tho ught I could make it through supercross, and that 's w hy I waited so lo ng. I didn't blow my knee out until Se pte mber. Even if I would have had it [the surgery] done in September, I still wouldn't have been ready for supercross. So, I think I did the right thing. I still wou ld have missed supercross, and I wouldn't have been Supercross Cham pion. I could have come back for so me races, but I wouldn 't have won the series, so wha t did tha t matter. What happens if I would have got going halfway through the supercross season and had a proble m with my knee? Then I would have missed half of the supercross season and I wouldn't have been ready for the outdoors. Then both seasons would have been gone, so I salvaged th ings pretty well, I thought. Why d id you sw itc h fr om a CR2S0R twostroke to the much heavie r CRF4S0R fou rstro ke? I thought tha t was the bes t bike that Honda had to offer me . Their two-stroke was n't at the top of its game. Yamaha had advanced so much, and the bike didn't have any low-end power and torque. So we had to go to a bike that cou ld make me perform and make me w in. That's why I switched. T here have bee n re ports t hat you rode Mike Brown's YZ2 S0 in 2003 a nd r e a lize d t hat you r w orks Honda wasn't compe t itive. Is that true ? A Yes. He just had a stock bike with a Pro Circuit pipe #-\and silencer, and some suspension, and it seemed to Q A Q 42 oaOBER 13 , 2004 • CYCL E NEWS be pretty goo d. We did some split times throug h the whoops, and I was about a quarter-second-a-Iap faster on average. And if you add a quarter-second over 20 laps in a supercross, that's five seconds during the race . I knew then that we had a lot of work, and that's when I started thinking that I shou ld ride a four-stroke. There w as a n un comfortable point in you r career when you d idn 't hav e a lot of su pport from t he fans. Wha t w e nt w ro ng? A I th ink everything has always been good . I was #-\always popu lar, but I swear, as soon as I went to Ho nda, every body just painted a picture. I think it was rea llydirected towards Honda, and not so muc h for me . It was tough for me - I was like, "Dude , what have I done?" They loved me last year [200 I] when Jeremy [McGrath] and I were racing at all of those Anaheim races - they were just super, super pumped. But I still blame it on Clear Cha nnel a litt le bit when they brought me down in this cape and kings hat, and I told them , "This isn't me ." Th is was at the U.S. Open, and I think Jeremy was in a cage, and that totally isn't me . I was still quite a bit younger and didn't defend myself, and when somebody made me do something I didn't want to do , I kind of did it - and that is where it started. Ever since then I've stood up for myself, and if anyone has crazy ideas o n things they want me to do, I won't do it if it doesn't feel like me . That was a mistake that I made , the combination of that and the switch to Honda; it was a bad deal . As soon as people heard that I signed my Suzuki contract, you wouldn't believe at how things turned around. I feel like I'm back where I was at with Kawasaki and kind of the underdog trying to beat Jeremy. I love it. I'm rea lly happy. Q Q What promp t ed you t o le ave Team Ho nd a? A I left beca use I gave them the be ne fit of the doubt ",",,0 many times. I wanted to be at Honda. I loved their four-stroke , and I didn't feel that I needed to go 40th Anniversary anywhere. We tried to extend my contract a year and a half ago at the San Diego supercross, and time just ticked by. Roge r [DeCoster] came to me at the AMA banquet and said that he wo uld be inte rested in talking to me , and I said, "No problem. I'd be happy to talk to you be cause Honda was suppo sed to be redoi ng my contract and they are just procrastinat ing." They kept saying, "We'll have you a co ntrac t by this time, " and they didn't. So I gave DeCost e r my manager's number, and they started having meeti ngs. We to ld Suzuki what it wo uld take, and they came back with a pre tty solid deal, and Hond a has a first right of refusal, and I was thinking that Honda is just waiting to see w hat Suzuki will do so they don't have to spend any extra money. This kind of ticked me off, be cause I felt like I dug them out of a hole and wo n championships fo r them. [At the time] I gave them a pe rfect season and two supercross titles. But the whole time, in the back of my mind, while I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, I kept thinking that I bet they want Bubba [Stewart] or something. Look at how much I've won , how much mo re can I do , and it starte d to hurt me deep down, like my heart. When Igot the Suzuki offer, we had to present it to Honda, and Honda said, "This is where we are at, we are not offer ing you any more," and the Suzuki deal was so good fo r me . I can bring in my own sponsor, and there is so much fre edom. It's a real ho mey company, like Kawasaki. At Suzuki, you are somebody there, w he re Honda is really, really corporate. You are just a name and a number. Look, the y let [road racer Vale ntino] Rossi go - how could you let Rossi go? The guy is unreal. It was a bittersweet dea l for me because I wanted to be on Honda, but my Suzuki dea l is great. MySuzuki deal is structured a little diffe re nt. I could have made more money at Ho nda. My Honda deal was structured all on bonuses, and if I had another 24-0 season next year, I would have killed it and made more money. But you know what? It's not about money. The whole time too, I kept looking back, and Honda never really stepped up. And it wasn't because they weren't trying, but my twostroke wasn't that good for supercross. It's sad, because they were really trying. But I kept looking at the Suzuki and kept saying, "This th ing is really good ." It's getting good reviews, and I said, "You know what, this isn't a bad place to be. I might just catch th is at a right time ," and that kind of persuaded me to go there. I just wanted to be so meone special at Suzook, and not just a name and a number like at Honda . Another thing: W hen I was down and out [after my surgery], Suzuki had confidence in me. I bet you if I was winning supercrosses that Honda would have hired me and made things happen. We were supposed to have the Honda contract a long time ago, but they were waiting until the very last minute . Q How doe s yo ur new Suzuki d e a l wor k? I get my own semi wit h my image on the side. They want to win the supercross title, and I think I have the best shot. I have more pluses than negatives , and I have a lot more freedom there. It's not as corporate, and that goes a long way. Ifa Pro Circuit pipe works better than a factory pipe, we can use that, at least to my understanding. And there are so many other details. but I don't want to get too crazy. I haven't really been told what I can say and what I can't say. I have a three-year contract. and the third year is optional. I'll race two years fo r sure , and if everything goes we ll, then I w ill continue on. If not , we'll probably do selected events after that. This is a place where I'm go ing to retire. This A

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