VOLUME ISSUE DECEMBER , P113
finish no lower than second until
the season's ninth race, nor off
the podium until its 14th.
If he was going to match
Parker's achievement, Mees was
also going to have to match Dan
-
iels' torrid pace and ceaseless
consistency—and surpass it.
And that he did. Mees ended
the season with nine victories,
15 podiums, including the final
14 in succession, and a ninth
Grand National Championship.
"We got it done. But it wasn't
a dream for me, it was a goal.
The modest approach of a
normal racer would probably be
to say, 'Oh man, I never dreamed
that I would achieve this.' My re
-
sponse to that is you didn't have
a big enough goal!
"For me, I'm not trying to
be cocky, but it really wasn't a
dream. Of course, dream, goal, it
can kind of go hand-in-hand, but
I worked hard to get that. Not
only did I dream about it, but I
made it a point that that was
what I was going to do."
While the spotlight is obviously
on the rider, particularly a record-
setting one, success at the
highest level of motorcycle dirt
track racing is a team effort. And
to his credit, Mees goes to great
lengths to explain that on each of
his many visits to the podium.
It's certainly more than lip ser
-
vice, and it would be his secret
weapon if it were in any way a
secret. Mees has done well to
assemble an all-star crew—each
one of whom had already proven
themselves with future Hall of
Fame potential—mold it into a
well-oiled machine, and then hold
it together for over a decade.
"I've got a great team and
Mees is a throwback racer if
there ever was one; he's gritty,
relentless, and adaptable.
