When riders are forced to retire from racing at a young age, we often see comebacks like what we are seeing from Blake Wharton on the 250 or riders making some cameo appearances like what we saw out of Monster Energy / Yamaha’s Josh Hill this weekend in Seattle. Just 28 years-old, Josh had a good career, but some major injuries cut his career far shorter than he wanted, so it was nice to see him back at the races in front of his Pacific Northwest fans on Saturday night.
With Mother Nature blasting the circuit all day long, it was one of those “anything can happen” races, but Josh definitely showed he still has some serious bike skills. In the single timed qualifying session, Josh was 12th fastest and transferred directly to the main with a sixth place finish in his heat race.
In the main, the #751 Yamaha got out of the gate in 5th and quickly put the bike into 4th on the second lap. Unfortunately, just a couple turns after passing into 4th, he made a mistake in one of the flat rut corners and went down. It took forever to get the big 450 up, started and out of the case deep rut he was stuck in. By then, it was pretty much over. He remounted in 13th, fell again back to 17th and, without any real reason to keep going, called it a day.
While Josh was over at the Yamaha rig trying to peel 20 pounds of mud off of his helmet, we had a short conversation about his return to racing in Seattle. Josh did not give me a yes or no in the interview, but we don’t expect to see Justin Barcia back until Salt Lake and we hear Josh will be on the Yamaha for the next two rounds.
Josh, you’re back–well, at least for a little cameo appearance. How was it?
Fun, really fun. Man, I’ve had a smile on my face all day long. Being back at the races is one thing–that would have been fun in itself–but being back with factory Yamaha and my old mechanic Longhorn, I couldn’t think of a better scenario to come back with. It doesn’t seem real. It’s really cool.
You got good starts all day too and put yourself in good positions to battle with the guys.
Yeah, the new YZ450 is insane. The factory bike, it’s so fast. I raced the Yamaha Snowbike in the Snowbike series and won on it and it was basically stock. Everyone else put a lot into theirs. It’s just really fast. It’s really good and I’m just pumped to be hanging out over here.
How did you feel it went overall, as far as your bike skills and how you felt inside a stadium for the first time in 3-4 years? I guess it’s probably hard to really judge with all the mud I guess.
I think it would have went really well had I not fallen over. I feel like everybody that didn’t do good is probably saying the same thing: “Oh, I would have done well if I didn’t fall over.” (laughs) I mean, it was fun! I got a good start, I was riding in 4th for a few laps and I couldn’t really ask for anything better.
Yeah, and you weren’t being a road block either. Once Cooper [Webb] got by, there wan’t anyone pressuring you.
I didn’t have anyone breathing down my neck, no. I was kind of coming into my own and riding good. It was cool. I can’t complain at all. I’m bummed with whatever I got.
Yeah, it was 21st.
Hey, I had so much mud on my helmet when I got up that I could barely ride. (laughs) My head was 20 pounds heavier.
It was a new dirt tonight and it was a clay base. We’ve seen plenty of mud races where guys can still triple and jump things, but this dirt mixed with all that rain was making everyone single just about everything tonight.
This dirt would have been good in ideal situations, but when you’re in Seattle, it’s never an ideal situation, so this dirt wasn’t the best idea. Last year, they had that volcanic ash and all that kind of stuff in the dirt and it’s not as good for a dry race, but it’s way better for a wet race. It sucks the moisture in. Like tonight, the moisture wasn’t getting sucked in at all. It was just really slimy, and then when it stopped raining, it would get really sticky.
Do we see you again?
Ah, we’ll see. We’ll see how what happens throughout the week. This is Justin Barcia’s bike, so it all depends on how he’s feeling and all that.
Yep, it was simple. They just threw a number 7 in front of the #51 and called it yours for the weekend.
Exactly. This is just a fun thing. I’m just pumped to do them, and if they want me back out, I’m more than happy to do it.
Well, it was fun seeing you back out here, especially at Century Link Field in front of all the Pacific Northwest fans that watched you from way back when. I hope we see you back and at a dry event. It’s nice seeing you.
You too, Dan. Thank you.
Photos by: Octopi
