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/1437138
INTERVIEW I 2021 AFT SUPER T WINS C HAMPION JARED MEES P116 "I felt good right out of the gate. It's always good to unload in a quick program like that and be toward the front. We just had to go through the motions, you know. We didn't make any changes." Despite his early ad- vantage in speed, Bau- man beat Mees straight up in their semifinal match-up. "We went out in the heat race and Briar beat us. It wasn't like he was way faster. He just put in a couple really good laps early, and I couldn't reel him in. I was basically the same speed as him." Mees then respond- ed in the Mission Chal- lenge ["Dash for Cash"]. "We came back before the Dash for Cash and made a few changes. I think some offsets on the front end if I remember right. Nothing too drastic. I felt better and we won." Prior to the main event, Mees recon- vened with his team to confirm their plan of attack: "It seemed like whoever had control of the race early was go- ing to be in the catbird seat. That was definitely on my mind going into the main event. "We spoke about things to make the bike better with my suspen- sion guy and my crew chief, Kenny [Tolbert], and went through the scenarios. But when it's time to put the helmet on and go out there, it basically falls on me at that point. "I knew the sce- narios. It was pretty simple. For me it was to make sure Briar was behind me, or if he was second, and I ran third, that was good enough, too. But in my mind, I figured the only way to stop Briar from winning was by winning myself, so I knew, 'Hey, better beat Briar.'" With the decisive race finally underway, it didn't take long for drama to strike—twice. "We took off and kind of diced up for a minute and got through some of the pack and there was a red flag in the very beginning. So, we lined back up and diced it up for a minute again, and he pulled out on me. "It was kind of like the semi, where 'Dammit, I can't make any ground on him.' It was difficult. "I started changing some things up. Com- ing off of turn four, I figured the only way to stop Briar from winning was by winning myself, so I knew, 'Hey, better beat Briar." Mees now has seven titles to his name, all of those titles coming scattered throughout his pro career, which started in 2005.