Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128382
Doug Henry: Turning Blue Into GolCI After spending 2004 on the Troy Lee Designs Honda squad, 35-year-old Doug Henry finds himself back with the brand that engineered much of his motocross success, signing up with the new, factory-backed Graves Motorsports Yamaha 5upermoto team. The Connecticut-based Henry hopes to reward Yamaha's faith in him with the 2005 AMA 5upermoto Championship, although to do so he will face the toughest competition yet in the AMA series, including former teammate and reigning AMA Supermoto Champion Jeff Ward, transplanted AMA Supermoto Unlimited Champion Kurt Nicoll and reigning World Supermoto Champion Thierry van den Bosch, among others. Prior to the start of the 2005 series opener at Road America in Wisconsin, we chatted with Henry about his prospects for 2005. cn: How does it feel to be back on Yamaha? doughenry: I'm happy. Yamaha is putting some real effort into Supermoto this year. It's a lot of the same people I've worked with in the past. I've worked with these suspension guys in the past, and with Keith McCarty. There are a few new faces, but otherwise, it's a lot of the same people I've worked with before. cn: After the 2003 Red Bull Supermoto A-Go-Go in Las Vegas, you negotiated with Yamaha but said that if you were going to continue with them, they were going to have to step it up. You ended up on a Honda. Is the type of involvement you were talking about back then? doughenry: Yes. This is a really good program. This is what I was hoping for. Chuck [Graves1has been doing this for a while, putting teams together and putting good groups of people together to build first-class bikes. They're not holding anything back this year. cn: You won four races last year more than anyone else. but a couple of bad races cost you the title. Now that you've had time to digest that. how different is your approach to this season? doughenry: It's not really that different. It's going to take those wins and no mechanicals. You want to be consistent, right in that top three every weekend. If you can do that, you can come away with the championship. cn: Throughout your career. you've always seemed to be able to rise to the occasion. Now. with the World Champion coming here for several rounds. do you really think you can do it again? doughenry: I think so, and I love having the European guys come over. They're amazing riders. To me, it's a pleasure to ride with those guys. I can learn from Motorcycle Publication CYCLE NEWS SUBSCRIPTION PR CE: 1 YEAR (50 ISSUES) ONLY $45 Breaking News & Interviews National & World Motocross. Road Racing & Off-Road New Bikes & Products Comprehensive Shootouts & Tests Regional & Local Events 16 JUNE 15, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS Looking Back At Historical Moments Expert Opinions Weekly Event Calendar Bikes Of The Stars Weekly Championship Points Standings Classified Ads - Updated Weekly I / /