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/128627
th ing tha t can 't be learned ov ernight . For Americans to be fast at th e ISDE, it doesn 't m atter what k ind of rac ing th ey have here in Ameri ca , they'd ha ve to go to Europ e and ra ce Wo rl d Champion ships for a year befor e th ey co ul d ho nestly th ink th ey co uld have a full team of rid er s ca pa b le of winning at the ISDE. If you were to give m e one t ip of how I could go f aster, wha t wo uld it be? I need t o wi n t he Sportsman class ! That's a bad question. There's m any things that have t o be righ t in order for you t o make the best lap around a co urse. It's your position on the bike, lin e selection , c ontro l of th e th rottle. One tip? It wou ld be to concentrate on sm ooth pow er del ivery . Ride behi nd a Euro pean rider and yo u' ll see the m roll the throttl e on very sm ooth and st ra ig ht en o ut th e c orner. A meri can rid ers , and thi s rea lly both er s m e, tend t o tw ist it wid e ope n in the co rn ers , and the back end fish t ails all around and th ey spray ro ost all ove r you. It's ju st a b ig waste of ener gy . Roll it o n and find the trac tion , and c arve a gr adu al , smooth arc throu gh the co rne rs . As th e f ormer Wo rl d Endu ro Champ ion and overa ll w in ner of the ISDE, what do y ou t hi nk of the GNCC Series? I bel ieve the GNCC Series is t he biggest and m o st p rof essio na ll y run off-road series in th e world - not just in Ameri ca , I thin k it 's importa nt to e v er~o n e. For me, it' s where the biggest chance of earni ng an in com e is. We m ust rea lize I o nly have a few years of earning an income fr om m otorcy cl es, and then it' s ov er . But ov erall, in terms of p rest ige, organ ization , money behind a ser ies , th e effo rt put into it , it' s probabl y the m ost prest ig iou s off-road ser ies in the world. A And wha t ar e you getting out of it? I' m getti ng o ut of it th e op po rt un it y t o see the world , have a blo od y good time wh ile I'm doing it, enjoy riding a m otorcy cle , m ak in g a living - hop efull y eno ugh to set me up for the fut ure. Th at's pret t y mu ch it. Q IS there anything you would change with the GNCC Series? I th ink the GNCC is the greatest seri es in the world , bu t I think for the Pro class , the structure shoul d be cha ng ed w here each rac e counts, a nd th ey shoul d go to th e AMA scoring system where yo u g et 30 po in t s for a w in , 25 for seco nd, etc ., rathe r tha n 20 fo r a wi n , 19 for sec on d. I th in k th e Amat eur gu ys s till n e ed throw a w a y s , bec a us e th ey 're all working , and trying t o travel from home in Ohio to Florida and such, but for th e Pro cl ass, we're th ere every week , and throw aw ays fo r us just m ak e it un fair. If you win and so mebody gets second , yo u o nly pi ck up one point on h im . A nd then , if yo u're the most co nsiste nt rid er out there and finish every race , l eading in th e po ints, and yo u fa ll and hu rt yo urself or miss an event , you co ul d be knock ed out o f th e lead even t houg h you 've sc ored poi nts in e ver y othe r ra c e and the guy who 's now in t hird D NFed three of th em . In ev ery other pro series I've ra ced · the En du r o Wo rld C ham p i onsh i ps, all m oto c r o ss eve nts , pro ro ad rac in g • every ra c e c o unt s. Where would J eremy McG rat h be if all the other pro rid ers ha d throwawa ys to fa ll back on? In th e GNCC, it 's emba rrassing . Peopl e ask me how I'm going in the GNCC, and I say I've won more of th em than a ny bod y else, but if y o u fac t or in the th rowaways I don ' t know , I' m about two po ints ahead or something . A How do you get al o ng with t he ot he r riders on t h e t our , a nd ho w w o ul d you rate them ac cording t o t heir ab ility to t h reat en y our chances of a win on any given weekend? A I th ink I get along w it h t he riders on th e tou r fai rly well . I ha ve a good ap preciatio n for them . I don 't k no w m o st of them all that well , and m ayb e that's a good thing . The less yo u know someone , th e less chance th ey have of pissing you off. A s far as co m peti tion goes, I'd have to say my m ain wo rr y is Paul Edmo nd son . Most peopl e would agree tha t he's abo ut the m ost g ift ed rider out th ere . Rodney Sm ith is also up th ere, he's al w ays one of th e leader s. As Watts is also eager for a new challenge, to the extent that he sometimes makes things unnecessarily difficult. Here, he attempts to qualify for the Southwick National MX on a stock KTM 125SX. A h , fo r su re , that' s one added bon us abo ut it , and I suppose th at' s o ne of the goa ls at th e end of the tunnel there. To try and then wi n a charnp io ns h ip , th a t do e s mea n yo u put t he be s t y ea r t ogeth er. A lo t of peo ple say I should have wo n th e c h am pi o nshi p l ast y ear, but I bel i eve I p ro bably w a sn 't th e b est r id e r last yea r bec a us e I inj ured m ys elf. If that doesn 't happen th is yea r, th en I can stand up o n the pod ium and leg it im at ely say that I wa s the bes t rid er of the sea son. A for the other gu ys , the y all possess the pac e t o get a goo d result ; on their da y they ca n win. Bu t th ey 're no t m uch of a thr eat for th e ch amp ion sh ip because t hey 're not that c o ns iste nt. They'll h ave one good res ult and th en two bad results. One could argue t hat w ith all of your wins this year on different bikes, you 're dominating the season . Is there something t hat drives you? w ell , that's p rett y m uch the way I operate. I set goal s fo r m y sel f , and the y 're u su a ll y p re t ty heft y goals. No t only that, but I feel like I have to m ak e a po int about so methi ng, I need to p ro ve to m yself. I continuall y tell m yself th at I' m not as good as I rea ll y am , so I kee p goin g out th ere and keep trying to get better and be tter. A Do the World Champi<:nship Enduro wins you rece ived m ea n l ess to y o u than a possible GNCC Championsh ip ? T o tell th e tru th , th ey all m ean the sam e. If I'm rid ing bac k home in Austra lia at a local club day, and there's a -rea lly go od rid er th ere , and we're both right on th e gas, if we' re having a reall y good battle and I don 't w in , I'll be pretty an noye d wi th m yself. It d oesn 't m at t er wh er e and wh at it is, it's just compe tition. Ju st tr ail rid ing with m y m ate s, out on th e mountain bike, do ing a j ump or som eth ing , co nt inuall y , everyth ing is just co m pe tition to m e. I get th e sa m e sa t is factio n from doing the highest j um p o n a m ountain bik e as I do from wi nn ing a GNCe. Q Q B ut you'll make good money from winning the championship if you do , right? c Q What about the injury? Are you doing anything special this year to keep your knees intact? N o noth in g wh at soev er , it' s a th ing of the pa st. M y knees feel a million dollars , I d id m y rehab , I' m bac k up to speed . I was totally passed by the do ctors , and they say I'm a hundred percent, and I'm j ust bac k t o a no rmal li fest yle. A So what do you do for train ing? w ell , it all depends on wha t week it is. O n some wee k s I won't do a th ing , and on other weeks I' ll ride fou r days a wee k . Other than that, I reall y don 't d o an yth ing , j u st ride. I rid e m y m otorcycl e, and really , th at's ab ou t it . I don 't like goin g to the gym or li fting weights. I enjoy riding a m ountain bike if I'~ riding w ith somebod y else - I am pas t th e point of having the m ot ivation to do it by m ys elf. Wh en I'm wi th friends, once agai n it tu rn s into a co m pe tit io n, and I find that much m o re enj oyabl e. It seems like fu n then . A You 've won f ive d ifferent GNCCs on five basica ll y stock bikes. How hard is that? It' s not hard what soever. It's very sim ple . Mo st of the bikes I get. I ride th em for m ay be 15 or 20 minutes befo re th e rac e. E ven th ou gh they' re brand new , I ada pt rea ll y quickly t o th em. I don 't need to do an y suspensio n work , I don 't need to do an y motor work . I still believ e a 125 is too powerful , and all th e other KTM bikes in th e range have more power , so I don 't need to find m ore power. I just need to go out th ere and rid e a smart ra ce to get a good result. ue I e n e _ S • A UGUST 23 , 2000 41