INTERVIEW
2015 AMA HARE & HOUND CHAMPION IVAN RAMIREZ
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Once on that trail, riders have to stay on their
toes practically the whole way. Remember,
they're not allowed to practice on the course so
every rock, G-out, rain rut and drop-off is going
to be a surprise. And if they're not anywhere near
the front like Ramirez and company, chances are
that they'll be enveloped in a wall of dust that Su-
perman's X-ray vision could barely punch through.
It kind of makes you wonder why anyone would
do it.
Yet this is the arena where the world's top des-
ert racers thrive and do so with far more limited
resources than Dungey, et al.
So why would a young man from Mexico want
to pursue a career in the U.S. chasing a dream
with such limited reward versus the huge risk?
To find out, we caught up with Ramirez, who
speaks better English than I do Spanish, just
before he took his brand-new 2016 KTM 450
XC-F for a shakedown at Pala Raceway, not far
from his American home in Temecula, Califor-
nia, (which is, conveniently, close to KTM North
I REMEMBER I WAS
STILL A LITTLE KID—I
WAS 14 YEARS OLD!
I REMEMBER I WAS BY
MYSELF IN THE MIDDLE OF
NOWHERE AND RACING. I
REMEMBER SEEING THE
CACTUS AS MONSTERS AND
STUFF! I WAS AFRAID.
(Above) Hare and hounds wins weren't
easy to come by this year, nor are they
any year. Ramirez celebrates his win at
the Check Chase National.
(Right) Ramirez got his start racing
motocross in Mexico but off-road racing
was his niche.
