Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 17, 2013 CHAPTER 450 With the way the rules are set up in Supercross, unless you win a championship in your first couple of seasons, you are automatically bumped up to the 450cc class as soon as you win a 250cc SX title. So, although Wil has only won two main events, he was forced to move up to the 450cc class in 2014. He's excited about it. "Just to know that it's the next step of my career is exciting," Hahn says. "I mean, it's the final step, but it's a long chapter. So for me, that was the biggest thing. I'm like, 'Man, I'm in the last step of my career!' That was kind of humbling. I was at the test track a while back, actually, and I was like, 'Man, this is the last time I'm going to ride the 250 in my career,' which was kind of humbling. Because you're never on your 250 going, 'Man, I can't wait to make that next step.' Once it hits, it's surreal. It went by quick. I know I'm older for the class [23 years old] and I was in the class five or six years, but it went by pretty quick." He'll be joining Eli Tomac on GEICO Honda 450s with a dynamic very much akin to how the team handled two 450cc racers four or five years ago. Back then, Kevin Windham was the top racer who had full-factory support, but Travis Preston was racing with bikes built in-house by the team, including A-kit Factory Connection Suspension and the like. Preston spent a lot of time inside the top five on that equipment, indoor and out. It's good stuff. This year, Tomac is the new Windham and Hahn is the new Preston. "My equipment is fully Factory Connection," Hahn says. "They're building my bike and furnishing me a complete bike. Basically, it's the same suspension I had on my 250, but obviously for a 450. And the package comes in-house and all that, so I'm happy to continue with the same guys I was working with last year building me the same package that helped me win and get the same group around me." The lack of "factory" parts isn't as big of a deal as a lot of people think it is. The biggest thing about having access to factory parts is that you have seemingly endless adjustability and resources to get the bike working for you. However, factory bike or not, the goal is just to get the bike working for the racer, exactly how they like it. That can be achieved – and has been achieved – through A-kit suspension and in-house modifications, especially with an experienced team like the Factory Connection Racing team behind everything. "There's a lot of over-emphasis on factory stuff," Hahn says. "And not only that, I look at it like, if I were an amateur guy and got one of these bikes, I'd consider them factory anyway. Yeah, there's another step with different options, but for the most part, my bike will still be factory and I'm definitely happy that it's the same guys P173 building it. It's about getting it to work for me, and they know what works for me." He has still had to adjust quite a bit to the 450, though, especially on a Supercross track. "It's mainly just getting used to the power," Hahn says. "Basically, on a 250 rhythm section, it's pretty much everything that she's got. You've got to drill the corners and just go wide-open. And now it's a matter of just not going too deep into the turns. And the whoops are tough, too. I've felt like whoops have been my strong point the last couple years, and it still is, but on a 250 you get into them and you're pretty much wide-open. If you do that on a 450 you'll skip one or two." Just because he realized one goal – winning a Supercross title in the 250cc class – doesn't mean Hahn considers himself a success in his career, though. "Not to take anything away from what I've accomplished, but it's not a 450 title," Hahn says. "There's plenty of motivation to come, and the next step in my career is a long one and a big one and I want to prove that I not only earned that title, but that I deserve it. I want to go out there and be one of those guys. I just want to be on the stage with the best in the world and be competitive at that level." He's going to have that chance starting January 4 in Anaheim, California. CN

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