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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128384
It's okay, we had never heard of him either. But we have a feeling we will be hearing a lot about Ryan Voase in the future. (He says it's pronounced "vase," as in "rose" with a "'I.") The 26-year-old rider from Great Britain, who rides for Team Green UK, turned a lot of heads at the WORCS race at Washougal, Washington, where he easily won Saturday's qualifter and ran second for a while in Sunday's Pro race before falling and eventually finishing sixth. This was just a one-race deal for Voase, but he hopes to land a full-time job racing offroad in the United States next year. en: First of all, tell us a little bit about yourself. ryanvoase: I grew up in England, and I was the British Schoolboy Champion in motocross. And then I moved into the GPs. I was like one of the most promising new riders, but when I was 18, I got lung cancer. I had just gotten a factory ride with KTM, and Kurt Nicoll was my teammate when I got the cancer, and that stopped the whole thing for three years - it took me a long time to get over it. When I came back, I struggled to get back into the GP circuit. I did it for a few years, but my best result was 16th. I got a little tired of struggling and to pay for everything myself, so I tried off-road racing and hooked up with Team Green England. Basically, I started two years ago. Each year, I'm improving and getting better. en: So what are you doing now? ryanvoase: At this time I'm winning two series back in Europe - the three-hour races. One of them is the Fast Eddie Series and the other is the Great Britain Hare Scrambles Series. They are kind of like the GNCCs - Fast Eddie's are about eight minutes a lap, and the hare scrambles series is about 15 minutes a lap. I also ride the British Supercross Series; I got second last year. I'm the top British rider in that. en: That must have been quite a blow to you when you found out that you had cancer. ryanvoase: Yes. Doors kind of opened, then I got this illness, and that kinda sucked. Now I look at it as a good thing, because when it happened, I just got the biggest kick in my ass ever. You quickly figure out what things are important. What I've learned from it is to make the most of every kind of opportunity that I can get. It was a bum thing to happen, but I think it made me stronger. I look at it as a positive thing. I've got one and a quarter of a lung, but I'm fine. en: How did this WOReS race come about? ryanvoase: It's always been my dream to come here and do a race. The Kawasaki guys spoke to the guys in America. I'm really excited about it. I came out to this race to see what I'm up against. It's going to be tough, but my excitement is what's carrying me through. en: What are your goals? ryanvoase: To race here. What I've seen so far is I'm just so impressed by everything - the teams, the organization, the venue, the people. Right now, though, I'm just living out a dream. If nothing happens after this, it's still been a brilliant experience. Ricky Dietrich: Pure Off-Roader might have pulled it off. Dietrich came up through the WORCS rank and, after the Washougal race, certainly labeled himself as the next star of the sport. We chatted with Dietrich after the Washougal race. Many off-road racers these days started off their careers as motocrossers. Very few, it seems, are actual homegrown offroaders, like 17-year-old Ricky Dietrich. Dietrich, who hails from Snohomish, Washington, is one of the hottest offroad prospecu in the nation right now, and in only his seventh Pro-class race, the Team Green Kawasaki rider nearly pulled off his fim win at the WORCS race in Washougal, Washington. Had it not been for a broken silencer, Dietrich en: Have you always considered yourself to be an off-roader? rickydietrich: In the beginning, I started off off-roading, then kind of got into the moto scene and didn't do that well, so I went back to off-road. That's kind of where my roots are. I'm just a lot better at it, so that's where I'm at. Igot into the off-road scene about four years ago racing the WORCS series. It was a new series, so we thought we'd try it. I've been doing it ever since. en: How did you do during those years? rickydietrich: The first [full] year I got fourth in the 12S A class, then the next year I won the 125 A, 2S0 A and the Semi-Pro - all three championships. This year, I'm just riding Pro. en: So how Is It in the Pro class now? rickydietrich: I'd say it's a lot more fun, there's a lot more competition. Last year in the A class, almost every race I'd get out in front, be leading and just cruise. It was like easy. This year, obviously, I knew it wouldn't be the same. But the competition, I have a lot more fun with it. en: What do you think of your competition now? rickydietrich: I kind of knew coming into this how fast they'd go, because in the WORCS series, you get to ride the Semi-Pro class, you start about a minute behind the Pros, but it kind of lets you know how fast they go and everything. You kind of get to ride with them, so when you eventually step up to Pro, you know what it's all about and how to do it. The Semi-Pro class is a real good class for teaching you for stepping up to Pro. en: How did It feel to lead and nearly win your first WORCS race? rickydietrlch: It felt great. You know, this whole season - a lot of the races I've had the speed to do it, but I've been getting really poor starts. So, to get a good start and to be up there with those guys and battle for the lead was awesome. That's alii want to do now. en: What are your plans for the future? rickydietrich: Pretty much right now I'm sticking with the WORCS series. This summer I'd like to get my AMA Pro license and try to do some Nationals [motocross], couple 125 races. But for riding for a company like that, my main focus is riding the WORCS series. This is where I want to stay. I'd like to do a couple of GNCCs, just to try it out, but I think the WORCS is more my style. en: Do you want to make a career out of racing? rickydletrich: My life is IDO-percent racing. I'm out of school now, I go to the gym every day, I work on bikes, and I ride every day.