Matthes SX Observations: A San Francisco Treat
JANUARY 29, 2007

By Steve Matthes
Photos by James Lissimore

DV12 is sporting a chest protector now; he has a cracked rib and is fighting through it. That should end any French toughness questions, where’s Sean Avery now?

Speaking of David Vuillemin, he was complaining about bike vibration after practice, so when I went over there his mechanic Brent Myron, was just finishing changing a frame out. This made me remember my how good my new job is!

Close but yet so far, Klatt was running in seventh early in the race before getting tangled up with Josh Hansen and bending his brake lever.

I noticed that our boy Dusty Klatt has 50mm kit forks—these forks are now available for sale to the Lites riders. The forks are really close to the forks on factory Yamaha bikes. With the success of Nick Wey, DV and other privateers, the gap between machines is narrowing.

I was talking to Michael Bryne and he was telling me how stock his bike is. I was pretty amazed at the things he has left untouched. He did say that the Suzuki guys were coming around and helping him with his jetting, funny how a 5th and a 4th will change things around.

Jason “Cheater” Thomas was upset at the circumstances surrounding his DQ. I guess BBMX tested their drum in the truck and it has been illegal every week. They just picked it up from VP and didn’t know any better.

I checked VP Fuels website and the headline read “VP bolsters tech support.” I couldn’t make this kind of headline up if I tried.

Brady on his post Brady-gate Honda.

Brady Sheren had a rough debut, after “Brady-gate” blew up the internet all week; it had to be tough for him to get adjusted to his surroundings. He had some trouble getting through the first corner without altercation and cased the triple in the heat and limped off. He did line up for the LCQ, so he must have been okay.

The first Lites heat was awesome. First, Josh Grant moved over and took out Josh Hansen. While a track worker performed some sort of arm massage on Hansen (serious), the next lap Jason Lawrence slammed into Grant and sent him off the track. While trying to get back onto the track, Grant spun and crashed on the slippery pavement not once but twice. He also cleaned out a flagman in the process. So, of course, with these three, hi-jinks ensued after the finish. It made for a great show.

It was really cool at the beginning to see Bader Manneh out there battling at the first few rounds, but now it is like watching Evander Holyfield in the ring. You just want to look away but strangely you cannot.

Doug DeHaan got involved in a first turn crash in the LCQ and didn’t qualify. He has yet to make a main this year, and maybe he is suffering from a lack of track time due to the loss of the semis. He is capable of doing so much better

 The Supercross class LCQ was, once again, stacked. It came down to a last lap, last corner stuff of JT to get DV into the main. But it didn’t really matter as DV could’ve just used his provisional to get in. It’s too bad he had to blow up JT to qualify. After the race the AMA lightened his pocket book by $1,000 for the move. Poor JT, first the fuel, then a takeout in the last turn to miss the main. That’s a rough couple of weeks for him.

Word is that Broc Hepler knocked himself out at the Yamaha test track and was out for seven minutes. If it happened on Tuesday and you add a minute for every time somebody tells the story, he was out for three minutes. Still, very scary; I hope he’s okay for the east coast.

The storybook season of Manuel Rivas came to an end in San Fran as bad starts did him in. He charged to the front and just missed it in both of his races. On another note, I tracked him down for an interview … you’re welcome Racer X.

Lawrence makes his way past a downed Josh Hansen.

After doing so well in the first three races, Evil J-law surfaced. First, that move in the heat race that sent Grant off the track, and then in the main he again tried the old can’t-pass-so-I-will-ram-you move. He sent Kyle Partridge flying and sailed off the side of the track, cart-wheeling in the process.

The always popular Wonder Warthog Racing guys were in front of me in the press box and I thought how odd for a team that relies on rider charity to call top guys “piece of s***” and also make fun of a kid they just dropped. I didn’t know which guy said what but none of them were wearing capes.

Dusty had a bad race; he was in seventh for a while before being gobbled up like the pellets in Pac-man. He still could’ve salvaged a pretty good finish but a bobble and a run in with Hansen didn’t help. Come to think of it, neither did flying off the berm and hitting the wall, literally. Keep your head up DK, it will come.

Speaking of Dusty, I had a good talk with his agent Tony Gardea, and trust me when I say that this guy is straight up and has nothing but the best intentions for our Canadian hero. He is one of the good guys.

Talk about a bad season, Ryan Clark has not had a good start so far, making only one main event. This from a guy that was top ten quite a bit last year. Every time I look, he is picking his bike up in the first turn.

 

Wey, Tedesco and Ferry had a great battle in the main.

 

Tim Ferry, Nick Wey and Ivan Tedesco had a great three-way battle. Tedesco folded first, going over the bars after landing sideways off of a triple. Then Ferry hounded Wey until the end with Red Dog winning the “B” main. I know I sound like a broken record but he is riding great this year, who knew that I might have been holding him back all those years?

Funniest thing I have heard in a while was from a rep who told me that Jeff Dement’s motors are being done by the same guy that does Michael Schumacher’s motors (?!?). I am thinking the AMA drug tests should extend to industry people.

Josh Summey once again rode a strong race in the main. He is also in the top ten in motoleague.com picks. After the race Tyler “Hulkster” Evans stopped by and was upset with something that Josh did. He told Summey that he will “break his legs so he can never ride again.” He didn’t rip his shirt off, so maybe he was just kidding.

Talked to Ross Maeda for a while in the Kawasaki truck, he is always good for some stories. He has been around for a long time, and is very smart. He told me that he remembers Ross Pederson crashing at Saddleback and pile driving his face into the ground. Maeda says that when he went by the mechanics’ area the next lap, he was spitting blood and teeth out … but still kept it pinned. Think Josh Hansen would do that?

Speaking of Hansen, he actually rode pretty good. He was 20th at the end of the first lap and finished a very credible eighth.

I meant to go over and speak with the AMA in regards to getting Kyle Beaton a Supercross endorsement on his pro license and also to find out what, if anything, the AMA going to do about the privateer rule. This could get me in trouble with some friends of mine, but Nick Wey, DV and Travis Preston are all classified as privateers. I would also bet that they each make around $500K a year when it’s all said and done. Am I crazy for thinking that they don’t need a trailer and $25K at the end of the season for being top privateer? As stated above, the gap is closing and, in the case of Preston, he is literally under the same tent as a factory guy. I am thinking that we need to see some tax returns to determine privateer status. Seriously, I am not sure how you do it, but I think it’s something that should be looked at.

Without a doubt, the trickest thing in the pits is Team Honda’s magnesium chokeless carburetors. They are a thing of beauty when you get up close. However, it does make for some laughs when the mechanics try to start the bikes cold.

I got to go on the webcast with Jason Weigandt and Jim “Hollywood” Holley, they must have been really desperate for guests. I wonder who could have possibly been after me? Danny Brault?

I spoke with Steve Lamson and it is true: he’s coming back for Hangtown on a CR 125. Can we get this guy a 167cc kit? I tried to press him for more details but he just kept saying that he needs a man-friend for that race.

Kevin Windham rode better this week … kind of. There is something wrong with him, no doubt about it. I heard he is suffering from arm pump. Maybe he should stop vacuuming his 18 bajillion square foot house? Maybe not doing the WSX rounds hurt him more than he realizes?

I sat next to Mitch Payton all night in the press box; we spent the whole time cracking each other up. He kept telling me that the exhaust note on RC and Bubba’s bike sounded perfect. I kept reminding him that, hey, if FMF can’t win on the track, between J-Law and Hansen we will always keep it interesting. Then I reminded him that FMF doesn’t buy championships, he nearly spit out his water at that one.

 

The Big Three put on a great show in the main.

 

The three amigos had a great race, with the excitement of Stewart and Reed giving it away with RC ending up with an emotional win. The track was sketchy—it got slippery and, with the ruts, guys were shooting sideways off the track to the left and right. It was very exciting and kept the crowd on its feet. Bring on A3!