Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I r I r \'( f, Trog Lee: Supermoto Super Fan Mainly known for his helmet-painting skills and for his company Troy Lee Designs, Troy Lee is also a racer, a pro- moter and a team owner. His most .ecent venture has been into the world of Supermoto, which is rapidly gaininS popllariry across the country. Lee has been on the Supermoto bandwagon from the beSinning of its resurgence in 2003, helping to get the series off the ground, and he was one of the lirst to field a full-fledged Supermoto team. Today, Lee is a driving force behind the AMA Sr.rpermoto Series and is the promoter of the final round of the series in Califomia. Lee gave us his thoughts on the status of the reries, having lust retumed from the very successful round held in Detroit. cn: What is thc status of th€ Supcrmoto todau in th€ Unit€d StatcsP troyleer Supermoto is really coming together, and I am really feeling good about it. lt's iust been a matter of every- body workinS together as a tsrm, cnr What arf gour thoughts about th€ AMA and Sup€rmotoP troylee: The AMA has made some good changes, and they are really making this series happen. I have been working with the AMA and with Patty DiPietro, the new CEO for the AI4A, and she is awesome to work with and is doing great things to get the sport rolling. Gavin Trippe has also been on board, beeuse he is kind of the inventor of Supermoto, and he has done a great iob. Patty has given us the liberty to hire some people and to keep Gavin as kind of a director. Joel Grover [Al4A Director of Supermoto] has been a good addition to the series, as well; he has been getting in there and making things happen. He got the Urbancross metal ramps back, which we've been asking for all yea4 and he has been working with the promoters to make a better show- cn: What changcs do Uou think hav€ made th€ most lmpactP troy'eer Well, it's a little bit of wery- thing. Vvhen Gavin and I started workinS on this, there were anly going to be five races. Now there are l0 races. Now we have a purce for every chss. Last year there was only a purse for the 450 class. It's small, but at least they are getting a pat on the back all the way back to 20th, so they can buy some gas and dinner. Rocer X also kicked in a gas card for the 8uy that doesn't qualify. There has iust been a lot of little stuff that adds up. I think we have got to the point where we are goinS to start seeing these motor- cycles in the stores now. Europe has already got them - Suzuki is doinS pretty well with them, I am hearing. Also, sev- eral new teams are cominS together I spoke with Mike Preston at Kawasaki and he told me they would be putting a factory effort together for next year. And I called l'4el Harris at Suzuki and I think that they will put together a team. We are also puttinS on an event at Road America wirh the CHA|4P cars larer this year, which is the flrst time that open wheel and AMA Pro RacinS have ever worked together. We are going to have a night program there, under the liShts, and that is going to be a big step. troylee: lt's at the Queen Mary on November 4 and 5. lt's a great location, and we are going to have a party on the Queen l''lary after the races. Red Bull Honda, myself and the House of Blues are putting the race on. I talked to the Bostroms [Ben and Eric] and I think they want to come out. Tommy and Roger Hayden want to ride, and Pastrana said he will be there. We're hoping to get 10,000 people out there and put on an amazing race for the final round- We are hopin8 to have it broadcast live on OLN. Shon Moore I l! Tim Ferrg: Back Up To Speed For the first half of the year, you could say that motocross veteran Tim Ferry has been riding under the mdar, so ro speak. The new Unbound Energy/lYoro XXX Honda team rider seemed to have gotten offto a quiet start but has recent- ly started making some noise. Each week, the former factory rider has been getting better and bette( espe(ially at the last race at Unadilla. where he fin- ished in the top five in both motos. We chatted with Ferry about his new team and recent suc(ess. cn: You had qultc thc nidc at Unadllla. tlnrferry: Yeah, I got some decent starB, I rode good, I felt good. I rode corlsistent most of the day, I had a pretty good ride there with Chad Reed in the second moto. I passed him for a while, and he was getting me back. I think I have sepa- rated m;,self, on a weekly basis, from the rest of the privateers, and I'm now mix- ing it up with the factory guys. cn: So do Uou consld€r Uours€lf a prlvat€€n guu golnq up agalnst thc fa(torg gugsP timferrr[ Yeah, that's exactly it, actually. Things are good, but obviously we don't have the budget nearly like the factories have. We are doing good; we had two guF in the top l0 this weekend and two in the top l0 for the season. I'm pretty happy with my results, and they keep getting better. cnr What actuallu is th€ diff€r- enc€ b€twc€n gour blk€ and a works blk€? tlrrferry: The bike is a lot heavier. They [dl€ h6oD/ team] have a little more power, e\r'en though we can get good starts- The suspension they have is a step above us. I have the A-kit stuff, which is what 250F guys get in Supercross, lt's good, but it's the next step down. Our bikes are right there with the best priva- teers, if not the best. Our riders iust have to ride as last as the factory gufs. cnr Wh€n gou ar€ havlng a good dau and lt's thc s€cond moto.nd gou aP€ looklng at a top flv€. do thlnk about all th€ good thlngs that eI€ golng to happ€n to gou, llkc a blg bonus or som€thlngP timfern: Not really. Getting in fie top fle right now is my main goal. I finally achieved it this time, both motos. Beating guys like Nick [Wey] and DV [David Vuillemin] is a good step for me. Nick is having a really good year, and I beat him both motos, so.,, On a weekly basis, I was beating [fraMs] Preston. I wanted to be ahead of Davi [Mills+s]; I thought he was goinS to tade more, but he didn't; he was pretty strong. cnr You havE mad€ mang laps around th€ Unadllla track in gour carccn lt s€ems thls g€an with th€ changcs. th€g madG it shont€r and rough€r to slow down th€ impact of nocks at high sp€€cr. What do Uou thlnkP timferry: I personally like the tracks really fast, I think outdoor tia(ks need to be fast and wide. with a lot of lines. People get separated too much on the first lap. lt's hard to Sain aoy time. Everyone is so close in speed; it is hard to make up three or four seconds on someone that is going the same speed as you and really going for it. I prefer it the old way. I prefer it the way it was in 199 I , when it had a lot of sawdust. cn: Th€ n€xt round is Colorado. Ar€ gou going to g€t top fiv€ again? timferry: I hope so. I am iust goin8 to keep plugging away. I have had some really good week of practice. I have some really good guys that I am riding with. I'm ridin8 with Chad, lason Thomas, Troy Adams, and [Andrew] McFarlane is down there now. lthink that is helping me. Steve Bruhn 16 AUGUSI 2, 2006 , CYCLE NEWS MT Rtr a a a tr cnr You arc pNrmotlng thr llnll round of the r€rlG. Tcll ur about th.t 7 T I ) I I I,r\ ' I a a T I ,@, -t / [r rl L r f / \

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