This week’s Q and A is brought to you by the dirt bike loving men and women at Yamaha Motor Canada Ltd.
I’m not sure if you heard about what happened at round four of the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals in Regina last weekend, but in case you didn’t then let me tell you that it rained. Like a lot of rain, as in all day Friday. So needless to say the track and the pits were a complete mess. Even though all the riders and teams woke up to bright sunshine on Saturday (race day), the damage was done and everyone was in for a tough day.
Q. This week’s question comes from Kevin and he would like to know what the worst mud conditions that I ever had to race in back in the 1990s?
A. Well Kevin I can tell you that last weekend was definitely the toughest conditions that I ever had to witness other people race in, that’s for sure. As for racing in mud myself, a few certainly stick out in my mind as really bad.
The first one was probably Copetown in 1988. Back then we raced two days and it was usually Juniors and below on the Saturday and Intermediates/ Pros on the Sunday. That year I raced Junior on Saturday then moved to Intermediate for the following day. When we woke up on Sunday morning it was pouring rain and the track was a mess, a real mess! Since the Copetown track was very hilly, racing it that day was almost impossible to ride as the ruts and deep mud were everywhere. However, it did turn out good for me as I won the Intermediate class that day and my good buddy Brian Kelly finished second.
Another tough mud race was in Quebec in 1996 at the St. Hubert National. That was the year that it rained for like a week in Quebec and as you can imagine the track was a joke for race day. Like Copetown, the St Hubert track was very hilly and really tough to ride. I remember you had to take it real easy going down the hills and then pin it to try and get back up. We ran four motos that day and although it was bad, once the motos started and you got muddy and soaked, it actually was kind of fun.
Okay Kevin, the absolute worst conditions that I raced in was the Tampa Supercross in 1998. Storms rolled through the Tampa area all day so the open stadium left the track a mess. When it was raining the track was sloppy, and when the rain stopped the mud got so sticky that you could barely move (much like Regina last weekend). Also, to make matters worse the ruts were two feet deep. Once you got in one, you were pretty much in that same rut for the entire lap; since you were on a slow SX track, you couldn’t get moving fast enough to clean your tires out so there was no traction. This race was by far the most miserable day I ever had in the mud as I just never got it figured out. I believe Larry Ward won that night in the pouring rain.
I hope this answers your question Kevin. Racing in those conditions back in the ‘80s and ‘90s was a lot simpler than it is now. Bikes weren’t as finicky back then and were a little more bulletproof. In mud bikes obviously get heavy and run very hot. These are two things that the modern day four-strokes don’t need. Last weekend in Regina, I wasn’t sure whether I felt worse for the riders or the poor mechanics; both definitely had it tough. Thanks Kevin for taking the time to send in your question. If anyone else has a question please email me at chris@mxpmag.com.