Photo: Hoppenworld
This week’s Inside Story brought to you by MoxieMX.com
Coming into the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season fresh off an injury and new to the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki team, nobody really knew where Blake Baggett stood in the Lites Class. By the third round in Daytona, though, he stood on the top step of the podium. Throughout the rest of the 2011 Supercross series (where he won two Main Events) and the Lucas Oil Motocross Championship (where he won five overalls), Blake’s speed was often untouchable, but consistency seems to have been his achilles heel. Now after a successful 2011 campaign behind him, including being a member of the winning Team USA at the Motocross of Nations, Blake enters the 2012 Lites East Regional championship with a whole new level of confidence.
With the Dallas Supercross quickly approaching, we decided to get in touch with Blake and find out how he has been doing. This is how our conversation played out.
How you been Blake?
Oh, not too shabby. Pretty good.
Are you getting some riding in today? There’s just a week left.
Yeah, I went and rode at the Kawi track today. It was alright, nothing spectacular.
Who was out there today?
[Ryan] Villopoto and [Jake] Weimer were out there today, as well as [Broc] Tickle, [Darryn] Durham and Nick Wey.
When you’re out there with that group of talent, are you trying to gauge yourself with their speed?
Yeah, but it’s practice so you never really know. You won’t know until you get to the race. But you can always practice with people to make yourself better and learn from what they do different.
So how has this off-season treated you? Any injuries to speak of?
No, everything has gone perfect so far, so just keep going doing what we’re doing. I definitely feel better this year than I have in all the past years. Basically, I’m just looking back at all the mistakes I made last year in supercross and the outdoors, and I’m going to try and minimize them . We’re all human so we’re going to make mistakes, but I’ll try to keep them to a minimum and try to get that #1 plate at the end of the year.
Are championships the only thing that will satisfy you in 2012?
Yeah. If I have two championships at the end of the year, I’ll be happy. If I don’t, I’ll be disappointed.
Coming into 2012 is a big difference from going into 2011. You really had no idea where you stood last season. Now you have some wins under your belt and a really good outdoor season behind you.
Yeah, it had some ups and downs for sure, but when it was up, it was up. (Laughs)
You are still being trained by Aldon Baker in 2012, correct?
I’m still working with Aldon, and I wouldn’t ask for anything other than that.
Yeah, Aldon is a huge asset.
Yeah, between his program and the people that he picks to work with, you can’t get no better than that.
With Aldon it’s not just about you hiring him, is it? Doesn’t he basically hand pick the guys he wants?
Yeah. We sat down at a few meetings, and I went out to a few trial days, and yeah, it’s gotta be okayed by both parties. But, yeah, he’s not going to work with just anybody because that’s his name on the line.
Have you been watching the West coast races so far this year?
Yeah, I went to a few rounds.
Are you feeling any more pressure to bring home that #1 plate for Mitch Payton because the team is struggling a little in the West?
[This interview was conducted a before Tomac DNF’d and Dean Wilson took over the points lead in San Diego.]
No. I’m going to do all I can to try and bring it home. I can’t predict the future; I wish I could. But I’m going to do everything in my power to bring it home. That’s what everyone is talking about, “PC is struggling over here.” It is what it is, and everyone is trying as hard as they can.
Yeah, if PC is dominating, everyone wonders why. (Laughs) Did you want to ride East or West this year, and when did you find out which you would be?
I wanted to ride West, but Mitch likes to put me on the East, I guess. I was ready to go. I’ve been riding supercross since one week after Des Nations, so I’ve been riding supercross for twenty-five weeks now, four days a week. I clearly was ready, but I don’t know. I don’t really know what his plan was. He told me the week before Anaheim 1 that he still hadn’t made his decision. Then Wednesday night [three days before the opener], I said, “You have to make your decision now.” And he said, “Be on call just in case something happens because I’m not pulling your entry until Saturday morning.”
Wow, he really does not make his decision until the last second. (Laughs)
No, he told me me he would give me a call at 6 a.m. Saturday morning if he needed me to come down and bring my gear.
(Laughs) That’s as last second as it gets. One last thing before I let you go, I wanted to ask you about the Motocross of Nations. As far as I’m concerned, if I was asleep and could pick one race to dream of winning, it would be that one. How was it for you?
It’s definitely crazy and big. The track was definitely a lot different. Well, number one, they give you forty-five minutes to practice which is really weird because we only get like eight minutes or ten minutes over here. But Saturday went well which I think was just because I was used to racing Saturdays over here. (Laughs) Sunday, though, was a bit difficult. I crashed, it rained, then it stopped raining, then it rained and stopped raining. It was just a non-stop mess. It turned out to be really good, and it was fun. Definitely a learning experience, but 250 versus 450 is not the funnest thing in the world to do.
Yeah, if you don’t get the start, that has to be tough.
You’re pretty much just eating rocks and roost the whole time, and it was raining so they would just blow by you up the hills. You had to go outside at the bottom of the hills, and they would still pass you. But I went as fast as I could and won Saturday and qualified first, but Sunday, I found myself on the ground twice. That’s alright because it’s a team, and without them, we wouldn’t have gotten it done. But if I would have just wandered around, we wouldn’t have gotten it done. I definitely want to go again. I think I would be a lot less nervous this time going just because I already got one under my belt and I know what to expect and how those guys race.
What was the enviornment like? Were the fans and everything night and day compared to a national?
It was like the Superbowl. I don’t really know much about football, but I know the Superbowl is the biggest one. (Laughs)
Yeah, the fans are nuts about moto over there. I love seeing it.
Yeah, they really don’t care. They just want to party. As long as it’s dirt bikes, they love every bit of it.
Yeah, and being on the American team seems to give you instant rockstar status.
I felt like it, for a little bit. (Laughs) Saturday, I felt like a rockstar; Sunday, not so much. (Laughs)
Alright. Well, the Team USA won, so that, for us, is all that matters. Thanks for doing the interview, and good luck in 2012.
Thanks a bunch.
