INTERVIEW
KAWASAKI MECHANIC – MIKE WILLIAMSON
P60
low mechanics Jeremy Albrecht and Dean
Gibson for showing him the ropes on the
road.
From there he continued contracting
with Yamaha working for its trackside sup-
port program and then worked for several
privateers including Doug Parsons, Danny
Smith and Josh Tarantino. In '98 William-
son moved to FMF Honda working with
Danny Smith. His first factory gig was with
KTM working with Brock Sellards. William-
son's first championship as a mechanic
came with Grant Langston in 2003. In '04
Williamson moved to Kawasaki and that's
where he's been ever since. At Kawasaki
Williamson worked with Michael Byrne,
Tim Ferry, James Stewart and for the past
several seasons with Villopoto.
Williamson was the mechanic for James
Stewart in 2008 when Stewart went un-
defeated in every moto of the AMA 450cc
Motocross Nationals. The accomplish-
ment was a major feather in the cap of Wil-
liamson, following in the footsteps of Mike
"Goose" Gosselaar (with Ricky Carmi-
chael) as the only other mechanic in his-
tory to be a part of an undefeated season.
>>What It Takes
to Stay On Top
In spite of his impressive list of accom-
plishments as one of the winningest me-
chanics in the paddock, you won't find
Williamson resting on his laurels. He said
a key to success as a technician is contin-
ued training.
"I'm still learning all the time," William-
son said. "You have to keep learning new
things all time if you want to stay on top
and stay ahead of the competition. As
Chemistry
between the
rider and
mechanic are
important for
success. And
Williamson and
Villopoto have
had plenty of
it during their
tenure together.
