INTERVIEW
P168
EAST COAST AMA 250 SUPERCROSS CHAMPION WIL HAHN
to-wire romp in Atlanta to land his
first-ever win.
"It's funny because I've gotten
plenty of seconds and it's just
tough," Hahn says. "It's a really
small gap between believing you
can and knowing you can, but it's
a huge difference. I always felt
like I could win, but there was just
a small something there that I just
couldn't get past. When I finally
did it, I knew I could do it again."
But that realization didn't set in
immediately.
"It was so surreal at first that it
was hard to even process," Hahn
says. "Like, even that night, I
didn't sleep at all. I was with my
dad and I'm like, 'Man, I can't
sleep!' The excitement was just
too high and, I don't know, it was
just a feeling that's absolutely irreplaceable."
The fans were pumped for Wil.
The riders were pumped for Wil.
His competitors stopped on the
track to congratulate him even
though he had just beaten them.
Kevin Windham tried to keep him
grounded by joking that the second one would be harder to get
than the first one.
A week later, in St. Louis, Hahn
did it again, leading all 15 laps on
his way to another win. Windham began to taunt him, saying,
"It's not a streak until it's three or
more wins in a row, Wilbur!"
"Wilbur" showed a lot of speed outdoors but has yet to nab a win. He'll
have to get that first win now in the
tough 450 class.
It stalled out a bit after that,
though. In the next five rounds,
Hahn grabbed second place four
times, and third the other time.
Meanwhile, Marvin Musquin won
four of the five. Hahn started to
get concerned.
"I wasn't bummed with second
at all at first," Hahn said. "I felt like
I had passed Dean [Wilson] and
a couple guys toward the end
of the race [in Daytona]. Marvin [Musquin] had already gotten away and I wasn't bummed
about that. But then I felt like I re-
