Team Suzuki supercross riders Chad Reed and Ryan Dungey are leading their classes in 2009 racing - Supercross and West Coast Lites - after 5 rounds in the Supercross class, and four in the Lites West class. I spoke with them both two days before the Anaheim 3 supercross while overlooking a track draped in tarp as rain started to sprinkle.
CHAD REED
PP: I see you limping around a little bit, can you give me the story on that?
CR: I hurt my leg this morning, I had a bit of a fall. That's about it.
PP: Are you going to be okay for Saturday?
CR: Yeah, should be. Hopefully.
PP: You mentioned on the TV broadcasts the last few weeks you haven't been feeling it or been riding 100%. Have you been working on it? Do you think you've gotten over that?
CR: Yeah, I think we've made some real positive changes this week with the bike and really, honestly, it's got nothing to do with the bike, it's all me. And I just haven't ridden very good from the first lap of practice. I've just struggled the last two weeks and took a lot of falls when that's kind of uncharacteristic of me and it's been a struggle to get going and stay on the bike. So I think the last two weekends getting seconds have been great rides for me, and I walked away bummed that I didn't ride great, but I was excited with the position that I finished because of how poorly I felt that I rode. And on top of that James has ridden really, really good, maybe the best that he's ridden the last few months. I think it's going to be an interesting series, and with five races in, as bad as my last two were, I still have a six point lead, and that's the position I want to be in. I want to get a win more than anyone, but you gotta be smart. You gotta be at the right place at the right time and that's what we're doing.
PP: Your starts have been making it a little harder for you. Have you been doing anything different? Practicing your starts?
CR: I think that it's my technique that's been letting me down. I do starts during the week and I kill 'em, I hit 'em good, then I get to the race and I think I get... You know when you get one bad start, then two bad starts, three bad starts, then it starts to get in your head. 'What the hell's going on?' You work on it, work on it... I feel great during the week, I just have to do that in the main event. In hindsight, my starts really haven't been that bad when you look at where I was. The first race I was third out of the first turn, the second race I was third again, back here (Anaheim 2) I was in the top four and then I actually got clipped from the rear and crashed. Houston, I was decent then I got tagged from the inside by James and then I got jacked up in the S-Bend (tight first two corners). So getting down into the first turn I feel like I've been okay, it's just 'wrong place wrong time' and that's me. You gotta get out front and go for it. So I'm working on my technique and watching Alessi, trying to steal some holeshots from him and see what we can do.
PP: How about the fuel injection bike. Has there been much adaptation you've had to make to it?
CR: The biggest thing that I would have to say is how do you deal with getting confidence after confidence after confidence? I had to adapt. I really didn't realize how much I would pull up on the bars (in previous seasons) because I was so freaked out that the bike was gonna bog or hesitate that little bit. A lot of people get that bog and hesitation (comment) as that you're bagging out the bike, but the reality is every four stroke with a carburetor bogs or hesitates. I personally have taken some big falls because of it and I get hated on because I say it bogged or hesitated. Fuel injection is amazing. I haven't had one issue with it. I'm looking forward to going back east and getting into the domes where the bikes are finicky. I think we're going to have a good advantage back there.
PP: It seems like you're cornering better. You just look better on the bike.
CR: I feel better so that's good that I look better. I just feel like this bike, the RM-Z450, just fits my style. It feels really light and nimble and it turns really well. And working with the guys, Roger and Goose and Ian, they're good, good guys that have seen a lot and they're helping me a lot with the bike and giving me the best tools to go racing. And that's what it's about.
PP: You've had to pass a lot of guys, like we mentioned your bad starts, but it seems like the tracks this year are particularly hard to pass on. Do you think that's the case?
CR: Yeah, it's been frustrating for sure. The tracks have been hard to race on. I think they're trying to make the tracks longer, and the tracks are turning out to be one big maze that we can't pass in. This year the lap times are higher than what they've been previously, but they have just no rhythm, no lines to pass on, and that's making racing, I think, kind of boring. As a fan, sitting on the starting line, I'm watching the Lites guys battle it out. My teammate Dungey, being half a second to a second faster in San Francisco, and he can't do nothing at all. That's disappointing a little bit to know that you work so damn hard, people put so much effort in, and then it's just... And it's really nobody's fault. Honestly it's not. I applaud them for trying to make the track longer, but maybe it's just something that doesn't work. When we go to San Fran, it's always short, potentially muddy, normally a 42 to a 45 second lap. Let's add 2, 3, 4 laps to the race and do it that way and have a great race track but still have the same time (race length). The fix is, let's concentrate 100% on having a good race track, see what the lap time is, and take it from there to see how long we want to go. For me, I don't care, I'll do 30 lap races. You work your ass off during the week to be the best on the weekend. The race is the easy part.