VOL. 52 ISSUE 2 JANUARY 13, 2015 P79
Until you meet the first friends—
got the first couple races out
of the way and could meet a
few guys and hang out—it was
difficult."
Even when the race season got
going, when you're struggling,
not having your support group
around you that you've grown
accustomed to, takes some
getting used to.
"I went from having all my boys
at the races, a support group
so big, to going to—yeah, my
team is behind me 100 percent
and there's no pressure, but
that pressure comes on you
because there's nobody there
to talk to. Unfortunately, it's not like you have
just the endless amount of support on-hand.
It's a different time zone, all you can do is get
conversations through a phone and help through
a phone. It's just tough on yourself."
And it's not just the not knowing anybody. Rispoli
moved to a place that couldn't have been more
opposite from where he had been living, Florida.
"Everything's so different," Rispoli explains.
"Even going food shopping is different, doing
laundry is different. The
accommodations we have in
America I think we take for
granted a lot. It's different. I think
that was the hardest thing. It was
compounded by the struggle at
the beginning of the year, which
made it even worse. It was a lot
of late night phone calls back
to America. But I've got a good
support system behind me, so
they kept me pushing."
If you spend time with James
Rispoli, it doesn't take you long to
realize that he's a people person.
So obviously he made some friends
and landed on his feet.
"The biggest change is when I
met some friends where I lived,"
Rispoli said. "I could go train again
with people and be happy and I
was having fun on dirt bikes again.
I was motocrossing and hanging
out with [fellow BSB rider] James
Ellison a lot. That was really the
change of scene and I got to be
that fun goofy kid again; having fun
racing instead of a serious, this is
a job. That's when results started
happening. "I couldn't imagine
moving to Spain or Italy, not
speaking anything and trying to do it. I would do it
in a heartbeat, but it'd be tough."
What was the biggest adjustment for the young
American in England?
"Driving on the wrong side of the road,"
Rispoli said. "I kept driving into hedges. That
was the first thing that was different because
when I went over there Suzuki gave me a car
and then just gave me they keys. So I just drove
out of there and was like, what am I doing? I
"RAINEY SAID
THERE'S NO BRIDGE
ACROSS AND THEY
NEED TO FIGURE
OUT HOW TO GET A
BRIDGE, NOT HAVE
PEOPLE LIKE ME
AND PJ [JACOBSEN]
SWIMMING ACROSS
AND DYING."
Rispoli sees working with
trainer Johnny Louch as one of
his ingredients for success.
