Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Kyle Chisholm came into this summer with high hopes as last time he came to Canada to race he left with the 2006 MX2 East Championship. This year, however, has been different as Kyle showed up at round one in Nanaimo a little rusty and with very little testing time. Each week, though, he’s worked hard and never gave up. After a very promising ride to kick off the east at Gopher Dunes, Kyle finally found the top step of the podium this past weekend in Ulverton. We caught up with him when he was back home in Florida catching his breath after his whirlwind weekend.
Even though Kyle has gone through a few tough moments this summer, he’s remained positive knowing that all of his hard work would eventually pay off.
MXP: Hey Kyle, you must be one tired motocross rider tonight?
KC: Yes, for sure. It was a good weekend but definitely a tiring one. It feels great to be back home in Florida and resting. I’ll probably take a few days off here and recharge.
For the people that may not know what you went through this past weekend, can you take us through your travels?
Well, originally I wasn’t going to race Unadilla but when Michael Byrne decided to race for Chad Reed’s Team, his mechanic had to drive from Florida to New York. So at the last minute I asked him to take my bike up there. I flew in Friday and raced the Unadilla National on Saturday, I had an alright day but I ended up crashing hard in moto two. I was actually pretty sore from that crash, so that made the long drive north to Quebec that much longer. We rolled into the Ulverton area around 2:30am and went to bed; four hours later I was up and headed to the track.
That was quite the journey. You must have been tired on Sunday?
I was pretty sleepy but not exhausted. I wouldn’t have attempted this if I wasn’t ready to show up Sunday and give 100%. Racing the Canadian series is my number one priority. I’ve only been doing the AMA races for fun; up until this past weekend they haven’t conflicted.
Having raced the day before, did you actually feel looser on Sunday?
You know what, in a funny way I sort of did. Obviously at this point in the season I’m in good shape so I knew conditioning wouldn’t be a problem. The crash I had on Saturday didn’t help but overall on Sunday I felt great.
Can you take us through your motos on Sunday?
First off, I loved the Ulverton track! I thought they did a great job in preparing it and I like the way they let it get rough. The track got rough and they didn’t touch it; sometimes they mess with the tracks too much. So right away I felt comfortable on the track and that always helps you gain confidence.
In moto one I felt great but I was having trouble steering the bike as I thought I had a flat front tire. I actually stopped in the back and got off the bike and felt the tire, it wasn’t flat so I kept going. When I stopped I lost two positions so I charged back up and passed Nathan Bles late in the moto to grab third. After the moto we found out that the ignition box that sits behind the front number plate had fallen off and it was stopping the bike from turning.
In moto two I got off to a good start and again I felt good. I got into second after Colton had his problems and I could see Tyler in front. I worked hard to catch him and I had a passing spot picked out but some lappers messed with me and I lost time. I would’ve loved to have won that moto but I knew the overall win was mine so I settled for second.
After the up and down season you’ve had in Canada, it must feel awesome to finally get a win?
It feels great!! I’ve been working so hard this summer down in Florida. I’m lucky enough to be able to practice with Reed, Byrne and Dean Wilson every week; we all trained hard in the heat down here. At the beginning of the series I struggled a little bit with bike set up and was a little rusty at racing outdoors. Each week I feel like we’ve made gains with the bike and I’ve been able to feel more and more comfortable. I had a good weekend at Gopher Dunes so that gave me confidence knowing that I was doing the right things. To finally get it done in Ulverton means so much to me, also I’m glad we could celebrate as a team with Shawn (Maffenbeier) winning also. It was a great weekend for the Rockstar Energy Drink OTSFF Yamaha Team
Being a Florida guy, Kyle has felt much more comfortable on the sand tracks of the east.
Your team is a pretty close knit group aren’t they?
Yes, we are. The team is great, right from Andre, Stu, Iain, my mechanic Josh to everyone; they’re a great bunch under that tent and I can’t thank them enough.
Other than maybe some obvious geographical things, what are the differences between racing in the USA and racing in Canada?
There are definitely a few things; the first thing is that the tracks are different for sure. They really till them deep in the USA so there ends up being more lines and a lot of deep ruts. For instance at Unadilla on Saturday, the ruts were almost two feet deep. It ends up being much harder to go fast on tracks like that. In Canada the tracks are a little easier to go faster on, I like that though as I think it makes for good racing.
The other big difference is the depth of the riders, in the USA there’s probably 20 riders going really fast so if you get a bad start it’s really hard to catch up. In Canada, while they’re all great riders, there aren’t as many guys going really fast. It feels like the top seven or eight riders in Canada are all pretty close. I think you’ve seen in the motos up here that the same guys are always battling together.
It’s actually hard to compare the two as they’re very different. However, I’ve really enjoyed my time in Canada this summer and I hope I can come back up here next year. The riders are great, the people are great and the tracks are pretty good. I’ve learned a lot this summer and I think if I come back next year I think I’ll be better prepared. This summer I lost way too much ground in the first few rounds.
Speaking of the tracks in Canada, have you had a favourite, I mean other than Ulverton?
Yes, I definitely enjoyed that track. I don’t know, I’m more of a sand guy so I liked those tracks a little more. Even though I struggled a little bit on it, I did really enjoy Kamloops, the track was great that day. After that, I’d say Gopher was pretty good, and I thought Sand Del Lee was good when I rode it in 2006 but this year I didn’t like it as much. For the most part all the tracks have been pretty good.
Well, hopefully you can get back up here next year and take what you’ve learned this summer and go for a championship in 2015.
That would be great, I’m going to try and have a good week and come up to Walton and go for another win. There are a couple guys battling for the title and a few battling for third, so hopefully I get a couple holeshots and come out with another win.
The moment every rider looks forward to. Congratulations Kyle!!
I have to ask you, in all of your racing days have you ever seen drama like you saw on Sunday?
Yes and no! I’ve definitely seen a lot over the years, but from what I heard the stuff on Sunday was pretty bad. I’m not in a position to really say anything because I didn’t see it myself, but I’m sure what I heard was true. I’m the type of guy that gets along with almost everyone on the track and in the pits so I don’t want to say anything bad, but it seems like drama always seems to follow some people around. Maybe they weren’t guilty on Sunday, but when you’re guilty 90% of the time, people aren’t too sympathetic. You should be able to race hard on the track and not take each other out, that’s not racing.
Thanks Kyle. I will let you go and get some rest now. Have a great week and we’ll see you at Walton.
For sure, thanks for calling.
