VOL. 50 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 17, 2013
P165
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE COX
A
sk around the pits at any AMA
MX/SX event and you'll be
hard-pressed to find anyone
who'll say anything negative about
Wil Hahn. The guy lovingly referred
to as "Wilbur" always has a smile on
his face and never fails to make time
for anyone who requests it. Actually,
he's so positive and his disposition
is so sunny that it can almost come
across as sarcastic.
Because of his popularity in the
pits, though, when he pulled off his
first-ever AMA Supercross win this
year even his fellow competitors and
rival team-members couldn't help
but cheer.
It's been a long road for Hahn on
his way to his first win and, ultimately, first championship, though.
HONDA TEAM CONTROVERSY
Wil Hahn has spent a lot of years riding Hondas. He was a Honda racer
for much of his amateur career, and
although he started his pro career
on Yamahas, then spent a year on
KTMs, he eventually gravitated back
to a Honda team. In 2010, he made
the jump to the Troy Lee Designs
Honda team. Seemingly overnight,
he became a contender.
After starting out the AMA 250cc
West SX Championship with a couple of top-five finishes, he snatched
the holeshot at round three and led
for a while before succumbing to
pressure from Jake Weimer on his
way to a second-place finish.
In the final five rounds of the 2010
series, Hahn stayed in the game
