After his very successful opening weekend in Australia, Jimmy Decotis sent us this story about how his first week Down Under went. Stay tuned for more updates from Jimmy D as he competes in the Australian SX Series.
Ehh folks, Little Jim D here!
I’m typing this at 9pm Monday night, October 12th Aussie time, which is actually 3am Monday, (Manitoba time). It’s been a full week since I’ve made the trek over here to the other side of the Pacific and we‘re still getting settled. This has by far been the most travelling I’ve done since going out West for the first four rounds of the Rockstar Energy Drink MX Nationals. Jamie and myself actually started this trip at South of the Border Training Facility (South Carolina) on Saturday, September, 26th. We packed up my old reliable moto van and made the 2510 mile trip to California. It was a long trip but 48 hours later we arrived at Mr. Vince Friese’s house in California. Although we were half delusional and running on minimal sleep, we woke up Wednesday morning, loaded the bikes into Vince’s truck and headed to the Starwest supercross track. I wanted to get a few last days of Supercross in me before I left. On Thursday, I woke up, hit Milestone SX track then headed straight to the airport. 16 hours later we landed in Melbourne, Australia.
Gavin Faith, a fellow American and now teammate, picked us up from the airport. The other team rider, A-Rod, didn’t land for another two hours so we waited around till he got there and then headed straight to the race shop to meet the team. It’s always exciting when you get an opportunity to travel to a new Country and meet a brand new team. Even though it was a long way to travel, Jamie and I know we were in for a great adventure.
After two solid days on my new Penrite Honda, I started to get pretty comfortable and began to feel like myself. After two days of testing we relaxed for a bit, and then on Thursday morning we jumped on the next flight to the first round in Bathurst. On Friday we had press day, some riding and I got to jump over a monster truck (laughs), so that was pretty cool.
After a slow start in the main event, Jimmy was able to claw his way to the front of the pack to take the win at round 1.
The morning of race day the weather wasn’t that great and there were showers on and off. During my first practice the track was super soft and technical. It was also pretty rough from the amateur races that went on during the day. During my second practice, just as I had predicted, the downpour came and the entire session was just survival mode. Although I qualified third, I was confident going into the night show that I had the speed to get the win.
By 7pm the rain had stopped and the track was still slick, but was in much better shape than practice. I was able to get a nice holeshiiiiiiiiiiiiiioooooooooooot (lol) and take the heat race win. The main event went a little different, as I came around the first turn in about tenth. I worked my way up to third by lap 3 and made a pass for the lead on Luke Clout with 5 laps remaining. The track reminded me of a Daytona SX track – pretty mellow but super rough and rutted, which made it extremely technical. I was pretty happy that after all of the travel, testing and half sleepless nights, I was still able to come away with the first round victory.
This week has been much more relaxing now that I have a base in Melbourne and have gotten familiar with the team and the Aussie way of living. We’ll be riding Tuesday and Wednesday this week before we fly off to the next round on Thursday – which is actually my birthday, October 15th. Well, technically it’s not because we are 17 hours ahead so who knows what day I’ll actually decide to celebrate on? I can’t wait to get my hands on a little ice cream cake, which is forbidden in the diet but it’s my birthday so I’ll eat whatever I want. Hopefully this weekend I’m able to get the same results – even though I’ll be stuffing my face with cake two days before the event. (laughs)
I’m very thankful and happy that I made the decision to come down under and race this series. As everyone knows, it can be stressful going to an unfamiliar place with a lot of unknowns, but the Aussies have taken great care of me and my wonderful girlfriend, and they have treated us like family. Being here actually reminds me of the Canadian way of life and how my second family, the MX101 crew, took care of us this past summer. I’m so grateful for this past year and experiences I’ve gained; expanding my horizons and racing all over the world. That’s about it for now as I’ll be heading to bed shortly getting ready for another week of 15 lappers.
Talk to you guys soon!
Jimmy D
