Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

my goal was just to make the 40-rider cut, which I didn't do all the time," Voss says. "Then my goal was to make 125 mains. I rode both classes [in 1997], because my dad used to tell me, 'You need to be behind that gate every time it drops. Racing is the best practice.' Then I started making 125 mains, and then 250 mains, in the same night. Basically, I came from not being able to make a 40-rider cut to being able to race with the top five guys in the world." I'll take those long nights, impossible odds, Keeping my eye on the keyhole. If it takes all that to be just what I am, Welll'm gonna be a blue-collar man. Through dogged determination, Heath Voss has become a capable top-10 contender on any starting gate in the world. His best AMA Supercross Series finish to date is sixth, the result coming in 2003. He slipped to seventh last season, but he also cracked the top lOin the AMA 250cc National Championship in 2003, making him a bona fide all-around competitor. That's all well and good, but Voss says that he feels the AMA Supercross Championship is the most important title a motocross racer can hold and the most difficult to attain. He is realistic about his chances against the current crop of A-level supercross riders, and he is awed by their natural talent. "I don't ride the bike as someone like Dames] Stewart, Ricky [Carmichael] or Chad [Reed]." Voss says. "It's not that I haven't done some of the things that they do, but it's just frustrating because I can't put it together lap after lap like they do. When they make a mistake. it's like nobody sees it. They still get out of the turn just as qUick or still do the triple. When I make a mistake. a triple turns into a double. That's where I lose time." But that doesn't mean that he will ever quit trying to make up the difference. Make me an offer that I can't refuse, Make me respectable, man. This is my last time in the unemployment line So like it or not... Unlike Carmichael, Reed or Stewart, the story of how Heath Voss landed his factory ride with Team Yamaha is a bit unorthodox as well. Instead of being tabbed as the next hot thing worthy of a factory deal, Voss wound up in the Team Yamaha truck merely because if he didn't, he might not have been able to race at all. Voss first began to receive factory support in the midst of his battle for the THQ World Supercross GP title in 2004, while riding for Mach One Motorsports. After winning the title, Voss was assured a factory bike for the 2005 season, but the deal was that he would have to come up with the funding for his own team. When a potential big-ticket sponsor faltered late in preparations for the 2005 season, Voss was in a pickle, but Team Yamaha came to the rescue. Rather than see him parked or riding without the proper support, the factory elected to add Voss to the team, pitting him out of the factory truck at the races. The result has been beneficial for both parties. "It was a great opportunity for me. and it's funny how things work out - through my own misfortunes I wound up with a factory deal," Voss says. "It's great. It's really serious and competitive over at Yamaha, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to win. I'm really happy with the developments that we've made on my YZF450 since I have been worlking with the factory, and I think that in another year's time, the 450 will be just incredible. Right now, it is really close to the 250 in supercross. It's good enough to put me on the podium. Mentally, I just have to put it together. I still have to ride the bike." I'll take those long nights, impossible odds Keeping my back to the wall " it takes all night to be just who I am Well I'm gonna be a blue-collar man Even if it means racing his ass off every night, every weekend, every year. A willingness to race is really what earned Heath Voss the THQ World Supercross GP title in 2004. With defending champion Reed opting out of the series to focus strictly on the AMA Supercross Championship, and with very little in the way of support from the rest of the top factory stars, Voss was the best of the rest. He contested the two overseas rounds in Holland and soggy Spain, though it is interesting to note that he didn't really start to get a leg up on the rest of the World title contenders until the AMA season began in earnest - among the toughest competition. The tougher it got, the better he went. Top-lOs and two solid top-fives once the concurrent FIM/AMA rounds ran stateside were what landed him the title. But even with the World crown in hand, Voss has no illusions about who the real man in supercross is, though that doesn't mean that he wouldn't like to see the World GP become a true World-class series. "That title is only worth what you make of it," Voss says. "I'd like to see it become a true World Championship where you had eight races and they weren't combined with the U.S. [AMA] Championship. I'd like to see it go places like Australia, Japan and Hawaii. There's talk of taking it back to Holland next year. That's a great stadium. and a great place for a race. It was unfortunate that the race in Spain was a mud race, because that's a great stadium, too. It's a lot of fun going over to race in Europe. Having it in the fall would be good." That's probably a hard sell, as the motocross contingent already races about 30 weekends a year now, when you add the THQ World Supercross GP, AMA Supercross and AMA National Championship MX series. and the U.S. Open. An eight-race World series would leave little time to regroup. Voss says that he is aware such a series in the fall would pretty much force those who chose to chase the World title to race almost year-round, but that wouldn't bother him one bit. "As long as everything ran smoothly," he said. "Because when it does, you just get into a routine, and it's fun. I understand that [burnout factor], because there have been times when racing wasn't any fun for me either. Those were the times when I had to do everything on my own. I had to get my truck to the races, and if there was a problem, I had to sort it out. It was stressful, and it always kept me on my toes because you never know what is going to come at you next." The up side, Voss says, is that it has made him ready for anything. including racing year-round. "I love going racing, going to ride different tracks all the time," Voss said. "When you race... You'll never be able to go as fast in practice as you do when you're racing, when you're bike is perfect and the track is perfect, watered, and the conditions are right so that you can ride as hard as you can. Practicing, there's always something. The track is too wet or too dry, and you've got to maintain your practice bike, but that can be a good thing, too." Keeping my mind on a beller life, Where happiness is only a heartbeat away. Paradise, can it be alii heard it was? I close my eyes, and maybe I'm already there. During round one of the THQ AMA Supercross Series at Anaheim Stadium, THQ World Supercross GP Champion Heath Voss found himself being introduced among the sport's elite. When his name was announced, the silence was deafening. By contrast, after his strong fifth-place finish at Phoenix, there was an audible buzz when his name was announced at Anaheim II. At Anaheim III, it had escalated to a dull roar. The fans appear to be warming up to Voss. "It's great that the fans are behind me like that," Voss says, "because I'm no superstar. I'm just an ordinary person. What I have done is because of hard work and persistence." That could be the reason the fans are cheering. Voss says it's hard to say. "I don't really think about it that much," Voss says. "People are entitled to think what they want to think and say what they want to say about me, and those that do support me, I appreciate that very much." Regardless of what the fans think of him, Voss continues to work hard at his trade, and he is beginning to notice the improvements. During round two at Phoenix, he gave teammate Reed just about all the Australian could handle for much of the main event before dropping to finish fifth. "Phoenix was a great track for me," Voss says. "My YZ450 was working really good there. The track was more wide open, not as tight. The last two weeks [Anaheim II and San Francisco] the track was more tight, and it is a little bit harder for me to ride the bike when the track is so tight." If he can get tougher on the tighter tracks, Voss says that he might be able to realize his next step on the road: a heat-race win. "That would be awesome, but this year it will be really difficult because you're always going to have Ricky in one and Chad in the other, and Windham in one or the other" Voss says. "It will be difficult, but it would be gre;t, because if you can win a heat race, then you can win the main event. What would make me happy is to put together consistent fourth- and fifth-place finishes and get on the podium. and that's within my reach." And maybe that's the best thing that you could say about Heath Voss's career to this point: He may not have the star power of RC, Reed or Bubba, but just like them he has set goals, reached for them and - slowly but surely - made it to that next level. Not bad. Lyrics from the Styx song "Blue Collar Man," Lyrics wrillen by Tommy Shaw. CYCLE NEWS • FEBRUARY 23, 2005 31

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