Cycle News

VOL. 51 ISSUE 41 OCTOBER 14, 2014 P71 of Kawasaki and Monster is also a huge part of my program. Ob- viously, Monster has a very big presence here in the U.S., but what you see over in Europe is KTM/Red Bull. On Monster's side of things, they want to have the same presence they have here in the U.S. over there. And that's what they're trying to do. I think they have traction, but now, with me going over there as a partner and having Kawasaki on board, we just got a whole lot of traction. I am so grateful to Mitch Coving- ton and all of Monster manage- ment for seeing this opportunity, supporting me in pursuing it and for being instrumental in making it happen. Without Shinichiro Yo- koyama [General Manager, Kawa- saki at Motors Corp., U.S.A.] and Mr. Ondo [Motorsport Manager, Kawasaki Heavy Industries] there would have been nothing. I prob- ably would be retired right now. Thanks to those two, and I'm sure a lot of late hours they put in push- ing numbers and doing the things they had to do to get everything lined up, it all happened. You know I never thought I'd retire on one brand. But like I said, I have some great relationships with the guys at KHI, and whatever hap- pens, I will be retired after next year and I will retire as a career- long Kawasaki rider. That's some- thing that doesn't happen very of- ten. From Mitch at Pro Circuit, to KMC to KHI - that is pretty special. Were you concerned about the opinion of the American fan base of you going to Europe? You know, the sport and I have great fans in the U.S. They have supported me throughout my ca- reer, so yes, what the fans think is important. At the end of the day though this sport is a tough sport. In racing, you're only as good as your last race. I'm sure that it hurt some fans' feelings to hear that I'm going to Europe. about the move. I think that in the long run it will be good for the racing over here. Not to say that just by racing I would go out and win again, but, maybe it opens up a spot on the podium for some- body else. [laughs]. Was the money a factor in whether you did or didn't take the Grand Prix deal? Um, the money wasn't a factor. It can certainly be argued that your move to MXGP will bring all the eyes of the mo- tocross world onto the sport. In other words, what you are going to do is great for moto- cross as a whole. Is that im- portant to you? Was that my agenda? No, it wasn't my agenda. Yeah, I defi- nitely think it's going to give the sport a boost all around the world. And like I said, from a com- pany side, I think Kawasaki is go- ing to sell more bikes over there. And for Monster, we're hope- fully going to surpass Red Bull over there and make it to where Monster has all the momentum. That's the goal. And being with some of the other companies I'm with, they also want to have brag- ging rights on some of this stuff, for sure. You and Kawasaki are both going to win, aren't you [laughs]? Oh, for sure. First of all, to have an American win in the first year would be huge. That would be a big deal for them. And it's not going to be easy to just go over there, you know? It's going to " IN THE BIG SCALE OF THINGS, THIS IS MY JOB. THIS IS WHAT I DO. IT'S NOT MY LIFE. THIS IS JUST WHAT I DO. " But from most of the stuff that I've seen and from the stuff I've heard, most people are saying that they're looking forward to it. You really can't read into it. Rac- ing is a global market now. What sort of vibe have you gotten from the U.S. MX indus- try? As far as the industry, I'm sure there are a lot of guys that are happy and there are some peo- ple who have not been excited

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