Photos by: Simon Cudby
Over the first four rounds of the 2017 Monster Energy Supercross, an FIM World Championship series, Dean Wilson raced a privateer Yamaha out of a Sprinter van and hovered just outside the top ten, and after the Glendale SX, he got the call he was hoping for. The Rockstar / Husqvarna team moved the struggling Christophe Pourcel out of the SX rig, threw a #15 on the factory Husqvarna, and Dean repaid them with his first top ten finish of the year in Oakland. It wasn’t always pretty—Deano was forced to qualify through the LCQ after a crash in the semi—but it was the first time all season that the team put two bikes inside the top ten of a 450SX main.
After the Oakland SX, I sat down with Deano and asked him about his debut on the Rockstar Husky.
Deano, tenth today in your Rockstar Husqvarna debut, not a bad start with the team.
It was a good day. The night show didn’t go that smoothly, but all things considered—the track was super gnarly—I think it went well. We made it through it, though. I qualified sixth, which was awesome. It was good to see the #15 on the board.
I think you were on the board in both sessions for a minute, but Broc Tickle knocked you off on the final lap of the final session.
Yeah, I got knocked off to sixth in the last twenty seconds of the last one. All things considered, it was good. I’ll take it. It’s all good.
Let’s talk about the semi. You were in a great spot, and you were doing that speed-roll then triple into the rhythm section. You kept doing it, but it ended up biting you. Were you really comfortable with that line?
Yeah, I was. It’s just with the ruts, you were using your legs a lot. So I just started seat bouncing it instead of standing up. I think I just got a little too comfortable with the seat bounce and it sprung me forward. The dirt was so soft that when I cased it really pitched me for forward. Then it overreacted, hooked up and the bike just looped out. I was just standing on the tabletop like, “What?” I’m looking at my bike and it’s just leaned up against the hay bale just waiting for me. It’s like the bike was just saying, “Come on, let’s go!” It didn’t start right away or I think I would have just qualified from the semi qualifier. Then I was in the LCQ.
How worried were you in the LCQ? The Rockstar / Husqvarna team has had a hard time in ’17 getting two bikes into the main and now they hire you to get it done and you’re in the LCQ. (laughs)
Yeah, right. I know, I know. (laughs) I wasn’t too worried, though. I think it was a little bit more track time than I wanted (laughs), but it kept me loose. It was a good night overall. I was in seventh for the majority of the main event. I just couldn’t hold the pace. I think I’ll be a lot better after I get more track time on the new bike.
Talk about that battle in the main you had. It was like a whole race battle between you, Malcolm Stewart, Blake Baggett and I think Justin Bogle was in there too.
It was going on for a long time. The thing about this track was, when one person passes you, the person that was just in front of you is not even in your sights any more. You really lost a lot of time when someone passed you. I was behind Baggett, then I passed him. He passed me back and then I passed Bogle. We were just all going back and forth, ’cause the track would throw you off. You would hit a rut funny and off on the side. I had a few moments where I’m just, “Woah!” Marvin [Musquin] got me with two laps to go, and I was bummed on that. I survived with a top ten. Better than last weekend, so we’ll take it.
I assume you’ll get some riding in this week and get a little more acclimated to the new bike?
Oh yeah, for sure. I’m going to ride a bunch a get familiar with the bike. I need to get comfortable and gel with it more.
How much time did you have on it before today? I know you were missing the testing aspect of being with a factory level team.
I rode it only twice before tonight. Yeah, I was missing it a little bit. The track was so gnarly tonight that it just threw everyone off. I think I would have done better if the track wasn’t so gnarly, but it’s just one of the aspects of racing.
Yeah, not a track anyone will learn much about a new bike on. (laughs) Thanks for the time, Deano, and good luck moving forward.
Thanks
