"I had a lot of fun in Brazil winning championships there, but I felt like I had to go for something bigger, and that's why I'm here trying to give my best and I think that's where it comes from, my family and just how tough it was for me just to start riding.... It's my dream come true, and I'm doing what I love to do. That's where all my heart and my strength come from."
-Antonio Balbi
"When you're out there and you can see the person ahead of you and you can tell yourself mentally to dig down deep and just do it, you only have five more minutes, just punish yourself for the last five minutes, that's what I call heart.... Everyone behind me [on the team] gives 110 percent and that's what they expect out of me, and that's why I try to give it my all and sometimes I dig down deep and sometimes I don't. And when I don't I don't do anything, and when I do I do."
-Davi Millsaps
"I think it's just naturally in your DNA because every male loves to fight and he loves a challenge, and that's my way of expressing what's in me.... If you're on and everything's clicking, you don't think, it's all just part of the flow, and it just happens. When you're struggling, that's when you're talking to yourself, going, 'Man, what's happening?' And as soon as you start thinking, you go backward."
-Andrew Short
"Confidence comes from results and results come from hard work, so it comes full circle. You put your time in, your training, then you're gonna get results, then you're gonna get confidence, and you can get it steamrolling from there. It can go both ways, too."
-Ivan Tedesco
[Christophe Pourcel recovered from a crash that left him temporarily paralyzed in 2007, which still causes him health issues.] "It's from my stomach pain and headache and [being] pretty tired sometimes since my injury... it's not easy before the moto and then when I just go on the bike I'll feel really good. I just focus on the bike and then I'm like 'Yeah, OK, I feel good, I don't have stomach pain or something like that so let's ride!'"
-Christophe Pourcel
"That's where I can do my best, and I just feel more comfortable at the races. Like when the pressure's on I feel like I deal with it really well."
-Wil Hahn
Outdoor bikes are subject...
Outdoor bikes are subject to more abuse than SX bikes, so we saw plenty of pipe shields for delicate titanium tubing. Ti is notoriously fragile when hot, so Yosh protects the Team Honda headers with carbon fiber.
The long motos, deep soil...
The long motos, deep soil and monster hills found in motocross create serious heat problems for 250cc-class machinery. The use of oil coolers is common in the class to extend peak performance.
Outdoor motocross puts peak...
Outdoor motocross puts peak power at more of a premium than SX does, and the teams were on the hunt for ways that keep the bikes quiet enough to pass sound and still make outdoor boost. KTM and FMF used mufflers with this odd chamber added. They were quiet and fast.
"I think I have more talent than heart, but it depends. Sometimes I feel like I have no talent and am just riding over my head! I think I have a pretty good mix of both, I hope."
-Josh Hill
"For me, I start digging deep on about lap two! I just think about all the people who sacrificed a lot for me growing up, all the family and friends I've stayed with in the past who have given me money so I could eat. That's what makes it click that I'm not doing this for just me anymore, and then I start having fun! That is what motivates me to find the heart to keep riding hard in a long race."
-Tyler Bowers
"I'm not the most talented, but anything I do I give it everything I've got. It doesn't matter if I'm riding a skateboard, motorcycle, bicycle or if I'm in a car, no matter what I do I give it everything I've got. That's how I've been brought up. My dad is the same way. I think if you grow up with that around you, you will do the same thing."
-Mike Brown