Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Coming into the opening round of the 2016 Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals presented by Motovan, few riders arrived at Whispering Pines Raceway with as much hype as KTM Thor Racing rider Davi Millsaps. For over a decade in the USA, Millsaps has been one of the elite riders in both Supercross and the Outdoor Nationals. However, with no plans for the summer, Millsaps decided to travel north to try his hand at winning the Canadian MX1 Championship.
As the gate dropped on Round 1, things couldn’t have gone any better for Millsaps as he used the first moto to build some much needed confidence, and then came out swinging in moto two and never looked back. His 2-1 moto score gave the KTM rider the overall win in Kamloops and kicked off what could be a glorious summer for Davi Millsaps. We caught up with the fan favourite moments after his thrilling second moto victory.
MXP: First off Davi, I feel I should say ‘Welcome to Canada!’ You certainly got thrown right into the fire today, how was it from your perspective?
DM: It was definitely tough coming up here with so many unknowns. I didn’t know what to expect from the track or the schedule, not to mention that I haven’t really ridden two national motos since 2012. So to come here and have the results that I did, it really feels good.
What did you think of the track today?
The track today was brutal and it was definitely one of the roughest tracks I have ever ridden in my life. It felt super tight compared to what I’m used to and it was a different type of rough than we get in the USA. In the States the bumps seem to develop further into the corners whereas here today there were bumps everywhere! The only time that we didn’t have to hit bumps in Moto 2 was when we were jumping. So, with the track and the heat, it definitely took it out of you today.
With your personality and with all of your experience, is it hard coming up here with so many ‘unknowns’ as you call them? Or, has this uncertainty been a little refreshing for you at this point in your career?
The team wanted me to come up here and ride some of the tracks beforehand so I’d know what to expect. But honestly, that is part of what is so fun about this summer. I didn’t want to know what anything was like. If I like the track or don’t like it, everyone has to ride it and I figure I can learn it on race day. This weekend I really enjoyed the track, next weekend everyone says I’m going to not like the track. Either way, I won’t find out until it’s time to go racing.
A few people have actually mentioned to me that they think you’ll be at a certain disadvantage because you don’t know these tracks. However, in my opinion, you don’t get to the level that you’ve been at for so many years without knowing how to learn tracks quickly.
The way I look at it is that every track has at least one fast line around it. Whether you’ve raced on it 100 times or never before, all you have to do is find that line and you’re good. Today, especially in Moto 2, I found some good lines and was able to click off the laps pretty good.
Davi was happy to finally be in Canada and was also very impressed with how relaxed everything was. Photo by James Lissimore
So it must have given you a lot of confidence this morning when your lap times were good right away in practice?
For sure it did because I sure didn’t feel good this morning. The turns here were weird, they were really wide coming in and then they’d tighten up quick. It was hard at first to judge where to begin your braking. Once I got all of that figured out, as well as some of the big jumps, I started to feel better.
You finished second to Goerke in Moto 1 by a few feet; that must’ve made you feel really good. Were you sitting here between motos thinking that you could go out and win?
In that first moto I got off to a horrible start. We had my holeshot device set too low and I just spun off the gate. We changed it for Moto 2 and I got a much better start. From there I took the lead and found some really good lines that allowed me to pull away. I pushed really hard and built a good enough lead that I was able to back it down near the end and still take the win.
When I saw you in April you’d only been on the bike a few times since your injury in Daytona. To be able to come out here in this heat and do what you did, you must’ve put a lot of work in during the past month and a half?
Oh man, the past month I’ve been really working hard with Tyla Rattrey and riding with the TLD guys trying to get ready for this series. I’d say that the last three weeks have been absolutely brutal as far as the amount of training we’ve done, and it’s just the beginning. I’m still not where I feel I need to be, so we’ll keep pushing and hopefully have a few more days like this.
Millsaps thought the Whispering Pines track was one of the roughest that he’s ever seen. Photo by James Lissimore
Other than the racing on the track, how did you find the atmosphere up here?
It was very cool, everyone has been so nice since the moment we arrived yesterday. I’ve had so many people come up to me and wish me good luck and say that they’re excited that I’m here. That sort of stuff really means a lot. Also, down on the starting line, all the top riders were talking and even Colton wished me good luck. I mean, you don’t get that in the USA at all. So, that part of it is really cool and I’m looking forward to more of that good old Canadian hospitality next weekend.
Well Davi, great job today and we definitely look forward to seeing more battles next weekend in Nanaimo. Hopefully it won’t be so hot!
It wasn’t that hot today, there wasn’t even any humidity so we caught a break there. I’ll go home this week and keep working and we’ll see everyone next weekend.
