Regarding Suzuki, I never thought it would happen. I thought I was going to be there until my retirement. What I wanted was to do another 3 years and then retire and maybe do a little bit of part-time stuff. After that I don't know, it would depend on if I'm still healthy or not. Actually it came about indirectly. Usually I don't start talking about my own situation that early but our team sponsors and the riders including Ryan and Ken Roczen from Germany they were asking questions, was I going to be onboard the following year? I told them that I didn't have an agreement yet but I assume it's not going to be a problem especially with the year we had. Then Ryan and Tony had a meeting at Suzuki and asked them specifically who's staying because there are rumors about budget cuts and this and that and they told him no everything is going to be the same. Then, I had a list of items that I needed to discuss regarding the support team, budget stuff, then support from Japan, long-term stuff and also my own agreement with them. They told me I had to speak to so and so which I did but they could never give me an answer. It was always, "Well we'll tell you next week. We'll get together and we'll get back to you next week." So finally it started looking like maybe it was going to be a problem and then we got to where we were close to clinching the championship with Ryan and I put a little bit more pressure on them that I wanted some answers. They finally they told me that they could only do a one-year deal and that they did not see a problem the following year but they only wanted to do a year at a time. I told them that I wanted more than that and that I wanted a more long-term commitment and that it was too difficult for me to work on a year-to-year basis because I was doing the sponsorship negotiations with RockStar and Makita and also the technical sponsors and with the riders. It's very difficult to negotiate with somebody when people that are counting on you to be there and make promises if you don't know that the following year they're not going to be there. I don't like to do a one-year contract with sponsors or with riders because in the middle of the following year you're already negotiating again and it's not a good atmosphere, especially with the riders to negotiate a new contract in the middle of their championship. It starts happening right after Supercross now. Then Sel Narayana (KTM) and I had been friends for many years and we talked many times about the sport, about Europe and this and that. Then he had asked how things were with me and I told him I was a little bit worried. He mentioned something to the Factory guys and they asked me what the deal was. Would I be open for anything else and I said you never know, maybe. Then, finally Suzuki made me an offer for one year and I told them I was not interested in one year. I gave them another week and they didn't come back. Then I told KTM I was interested and the next day there was an offer-- In one day. Then I made the commitment with KTM and this is it.
You recently made a trip to Austria to the KTM Factory, tell us about the organization and how much different it is compared to what you have been accustomed to with Japanese companies.
Well with Japanese companies like Suzuki and Honda and the others, the off-road part is a small percentage of their production. At KTM their product is much more geared towards off-road and much more towards racing. The percentage of bike ready to race with KTM compared to a Japanese company is way, way more.
What are your expectations at KTM and how close will you be working with people like Stefan Everts and Pit Beirer on the European side of the company?
I'm going to be in contact every day with Pit and pretty regularly with Stefan. Stefan came to the factory last week also and he has been very instrumental in the development of the 350 and especially the linkage system on the KTM. He's a very good rider and he's still fast and he's really helpful as a test rider. He's always been very fit and on it so he works closely with the European riders' fitness program.
What is more important when it comes to building a championship team? The rider, having a big enough budget, or having the resources to build a competitive motorcycle?
The rider in Motocross and Supercross has always been and always will be a very big factor. Bigger than any other motorsport, but you have to also be close with the bike. The rider can compensate for some shortcomings of the bike but if you put two riders that are at the same level on two different bikes and one if 5% better than the other, that's the one that's going to win. I think the preparation and the ability to match the bike setting with the rider and build the rider's confidence is a big factor. Motocross and Supercross is so much about the rhythm and confidence of the rider in his bike and in his team. So the confidence and trust between the team, the bike, and the rider is a big factor.
Is this the first time you have worked with a non-Japanese manufacturer since you rode your CZ back in 1971?
Yes, I've been with Japanese companies since the beginning of '71 so it's the first time back with a European company.
Did you actually work for CZ or were you just a racer for them?
I worked for the distributor in Belgium and at the time it was pretty much the center of motocross. I took care of warranty stuff and was going back and forth to the factory a lot and at the same time racing. Suzuki came to me the last GP in 1970 they showed that they were interested. They contacted me and we made a deal to start the 500 open class.
With news traveling so fast via the internet, were you amazed how so many people and fans were on pins and needles waiting to see what Roger DeCoster's next move would be? Would he go with a new team or possibly retire?
I couldn't believe it. My e-mail got flooded. I reached the limit of friends on Facebook (5,000). I was surprised also about how positive people were. I was more worried about it but I had so many people come up and wish me luck and tell me things are going to work out, things are going to be good and change is good. There was so much positive stuff. I was really surprised.
Over the years being a manager is only one of your passions, the second has been race-bike development. You've always taken a pretty hand-on role in working with the bikes and riders and getting all the new technology. Will you bring some of your expertise to KTM and bring more of the development over to the US opposed to using European-based race bikes start with?
Yes. KTM has been very successful in Europe this season and now we have to try to duplicate that in the US here. Especially in Supercross, they don't have much experience and that's where our focus needs to be. It's also the first thing that comes, it's the beginning of the season is all Supercross so that's what our focus is going to be. The factory has promised me to work closely on the development of the bike. I do want and believe that we will have a good amount of influence on the direction of all of their products.
Why is European rider bikes set up so different from American rider setup? Even in Outdoor Motocross it seems like rider setup differs an what works in Europe does not always transfer over. Is it the tracks, or just different rider styles?
I think it's a little bit of everything. It's not one thing specifically. The American riders are influenced so much by Supercross. That's why the French are closer to the Americans in Supercross and in riding style. Many times because it's pretty much the only country that there's some kind of a Supercross series and so I believe that Supercross is a big factor on the direction of the development of the bike and rider technique. In the US it's always very competitive also, and I think there's a difference between the European companies also because the Japanese they look at each other a lot more and when one company does something usually the other one does it too. I think the European bikes keep their own personality a little bit more and although with development with testing it's inevitable you're going to go the same direction in the long run and overall there will be always more difference between European and a Japanese bike than between two Japanese bikes but if the application is the same and you do your testing it's going to go that direction.
What is it going to take to elevate KTM to a championship-winning American team? I know KTM has already won multiple championships in Europe and they are often the team to beat. In America how are you going use your experience and elevate this team to that level?
It's going to take just basic work and for the team to build the bikes with settings that show the potential so that the best riders are wanting to come. The first year is going to be really tough I think because KTM is not known as a contender in Supercross but with what I've seen in Austria and the equipment they have and the dedication that they have to develop and make the product better and better, I really believe that we can succeed within a reasonable amount of time.
What is it like for you to think back at all of the amazing riders, great teams and championships you have been associated with? The names are never-ending. Going back to Donnie Hansen, David Bailey, Jean Michel Bayle, Ricky Johnson, Jeff Stanton, Jeremy McGrath, Greg Albertyn, Ricky Carmichael, Ryan Dungey and now names yet to be announced? Do you ever realize the amount of influence you've had on this sport?
Yes. We talk about it sometimes and we look back at the guys that I've worked with and I feel like I've been very fortunate and lucky to have been working with all those guys and I have great memories about year's past and the things that we have done together. But I don't live too much in the past. It's like with many of the vintage guys they want me to come ride with them and all that. I love the old bikes and I like looking at them and I have a bunch of them myself but I don't want to go ride them. I want to remember them how they were when they were the best in their time in their generation. If I go ride one of my old bikes from '72 was probably compared to the competition by far the best bike but I don't want to go ride it now because it is going to feel terrible compared to what's available today. So I want to look at the future. I want to look at tomorrow and what we can do next. Maybe one day I will start counting and making notes about the past but I'm too busy now to.
You aren't conceited. You don't talk about yourself and have an amazing work ethic. A lot of people believe you alone have had more influence on the sport of motocross and your accomplishments are unprecedented.
Yeah but it's only your last results that really matters. It's more about what I can do today and the next day and next week, I don't like to live in the past.
I like to move ahead. I know I was pretty successful in a lot of the things I have done and I'm really thankful for that and I'm thankful for a lot of good people I have worked with and I have come across some really fantastic people. But the feeling of today and the next accomplishment, that's what's attractive to me.
There is a lot of history that some people may not know about you. You were part of a winning Motocross des Nations team in 1969 and you've actually won an ISDE, which is an off-road championship, long before you were even a name on the map. How did you know motocross was your calling and not off-road?
I started with motocross and when I had my first little season behind me I felt so good going to the races on the weekend and racing in Belgium. The motocross season was between the end of March to early September and then there was the winter. I could not imagine not having some kind of an event or race to go to and I decided to ride trials in the winter because the seasons did not overlap so I rode trials and then somebody from the CZ importer actually contacted me and said, "would you be interested in riding the 6 days?" Or course, you know. It was the fall of 1964 and that's actually where I met a lot of people that became my friends in America, Bud and Dave Ekins and McQueen and those guys. When I first came to the US I went to visit them and ended up staying with Bud and with Dave for weeks at a time when I came to the west coast. I was always attracted by the US and so when I finally got to come here it was another dream come true just like the des Nation race. When I was a kid I read the magazines and the des Nations was always the biggest event of the year it seemed to be in Motocross. I looked at those guys like they were Gods. At that time the English were very strong and the Swedes. In Sweeden one time they came over the line with 5 of their riders across.
When you first raced on American soil back in 1967, did you or your fellow riders have any idea that those meetings helped create the sport of motocross in America?
Obviously I didn't know where it was going to go but I had a feeling that Motocross was something that fit well into the American way. It was a big, open country and I felt from the beginning that this was a good sport for this country and I was surprised it was not bigger here than it was at the time. The people were so open and so interested in it that you could feel that there was potential there.
You guys were so much faster than any of the US riders are the time. The Euro riders raced one of the first events at Saddleback Motocross Park. People still remember that day and realized that we had a lot to learn at that time.
Yes. The big difference was that we were accustomed to racing that kind of track. Dave Dickerson and myself we laid out the first track at Saddleback Park. The Americans were racing different forms of the scrambles and they had the dirt track and all that which was at the time with similar bikes except that they did not use the smaller narrow tire. They usually used 18-inch on the front and run sort of trials-style tire in the rear when we first came over. So we had a big advantage because that's what we were used to but Americans adapted quick to the Motocross. Guys like John DeSoto from Hawaii, the Jones brothers (Gary and DeWayne) , Brad Lackey, Mark Blackwell and all them. They learned quick by within 10 years the Americans were very competitive.
Was that part of your trips over here to the Inter-AM and some of those races was kind of like one of your goals was eventually to come here and race or work?
I did not think about coming to work in America at the time but I was always eager to travel and take the sport to different countries and that's why I have probably raced in more countries than any other Motocross rider. I used to go racing in South America, I raced in Japan. I did schools in Greece. I did a lot of promotional kind of tours. At the beginning that's what the US was kind of something like that. With Edison Dye, he saw the business potential in the US and brought Torsten Hallman over the first year and then he brought a bunch of us over the following year. He say the the potential and I from my side, was always eager to go to another country and America was especially attractive. When I was a kid growing up most of our movies were American movies. At that time, it was not that long after the war actually and I was only 16 years old and the war had only been over for 15 years. A nice car was an American car at that time in Europe. The Americans had nice cars and if you saw a nice truck in Europe it was an American truck. When you went to the movies it was an American movie. In American movies at the time were all very positive and always ended nice and beautifully. It was nice and positive. When you saw an American movie there was always swimming pools, there were always palm trees, everybody drove a nice big convertible. So in the back of your mind you saw in America that everybody was rich and everybody had a swimming pool and a Cadillac.
You would have to put Antonio Cairoli on it, maybe Marvin Musquin and Ken Roczen.
Are Andrew Short, Mike Alessi and the other factory US KTM riders going to race the 2011 USGP and/or more GPs?
No, we don't have that plan. The focus is trying to get ready for Supercross now and I think, we and the position we're in, need to put all the focus on the races in the US. Later by the end of the season potentially we could consider it. One of our Lites rider Ken Roczen he's going to be doing West Coast Supercross then go back to MX2, so I would like to go see a GP at least. So potentially with the dates if there's on conflict on some weekends it could be done but that's not in the plan now.
Is your position here an international position or will you be working with KTM at any GPs in Europe next year or is your primary position a US-based program?
Yes. My responsibilities are US and I will have some relation with Europe because we have some European riders coming over here and like I said Ken is going to be racing here and in Europe so there will be potentially some American KTM riders participating in Europe.
Is Short going to be your number-one 450 Supercross guy or is there plans to bring in another rider?
No as of now we have Alessi and Short and in the Lites we have Musquin and Roczen. We are still unsure right now about Alessi riding SX. The current agreement says that we have to mutually agree on what we are going to do there and I have not spoken much with Mike because he left to Australia just before I went to Austria.
There was a rumor that Dungey was so bummed that you were leaving that he wanted to find a way to follow you over to KTM. Is there any truth to that?
I think it's not a secret that Ryan want to come and follow us but he also is a guy that respects what he has signed in his agreement. If Suzuki would have been willing to release him I think there was a good chance he would have come our way but he didn't want to get in a fight. Of course he was bummed out that his crew was kind of falling apart but he also realizes that it's also a business and that I had to do think about my situation also.
Is it nice to be on a team whereas the Japanese manufacturers are kind of pulling back some of their race program whereas KTM is still looking to move forward. Some of the other teams are looking at where they can save a dime but KTM almost wants to keep building their momentum.
I think the big thing for me is the attitude. I feel that, especially with Suzuki that the economy is bad for everybody and you can keep crying or whining about it or you can say well this is it and that's the way it is and we have to work in this atmosphere now and think forward and find a way to make it work and hopefully things will improve again and they always do. The economy has gone up and down since the beginning of time and I felt that with KTM there is some optimism and there is a feeling of going forward and finding a way. With Suzuki in this last year or 15 months have been all gloom and doom and I tried to not be like that and I tried to help our team but there was so much negative feeling and people got laid off in Brea and it was hard not be influenced by it.
In closing, when you decide to retire and look back on your career what do you want to be remembered as? A racer, a manager, someone who helped create Motocross in America, or a combination of everything?
A little bit of everything. I like to think that I had a little bit of influence on the development of the bikes over the years. That's the part that I really like and of course as a racer there's nothing better than being a racer. There's no more intense feeling as winning and luckily I had some of that. And I had some of the next best thing also which is being part of working with young riders and helping them reach their goals. I'm just really thankful that I've been able to make a good living on basically doing my hobby. That's all I can hope for and I've been lucky to be healthy and I can still do things and hang out with young people.
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