Dean Wilson (15) battled with with Ken Roczen (94) before getting tired late in the 450 main event. Photo by: Hoppenworld

At the 2014 Indianapolis Supercross, Dean Wilson had a rough debut on Chad Reed’s Discount Tire Racing/Kawasaki, but at Daytona, he definitely proved he can ride the 450 on a supercross track with the best in the world. In qualifying, the #15 laid down the fastest lap of anyone. From there, Deano turned that #1 gate pick in his heat race into a heat race win and a #1 gate pick in the main event. The heat race win was huge for the Scottish-born Florida resident, as he withstood massive pressure from the former two-time 450SX Champion James Stewart for all six laps and never buckled.

In the main event, Deano grabbed the holeshot but was quickly passed by Ryan Villopoto. With Villopoto on another level in Daytona, there was no stopping the #1, but Dean held strong in second with the KTMs of Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen in his rear-view mirror for the first fourteen laps. On lap fifteen, though, Dean went from aggressively attacking the Daytona circuit to noticeably laboring—which was very reminiscent to his 2013 Daytona SX. This time though, Deano showed that if it had been the normal fifteen laps of a 250SX main event, that he would have been fine, but with five more laps and no gas left in his fitness tank, things got tough.

On lap fifteen, smelling blood in the water, both Roczen and Dungey got around Dean in one corner, and from there, it looked like Deano was in survival mode. Dean’s lap-times went from his fastest laps of 1:05-1:08 to running 1:13’s and 1:14’s, and with that, Broc Tickle, Andrew Short and Wil Hahn pushed him back to a 7th place finish on the night. While the last five laps were painful for Wilson fans to watch, there are a lot of positives they can take from Wilson’s performance in Daytona. The full-time 250SX rider showed everyone he has the speed to run with the best 450SX riders on the planet, and with some work, the kid will definitely be a contender on the 450 in years to come. Heck, if he can get his arm pump issue figured out, he could even do some damage in the weeks to come.

Wilson (15) was un-phased by Stewart's pressure in the heat race. Photo by: Hoppenword
Wilson (15) was unphased by Stewart's pressure in the heat race. Photo by: Hoppenword

After the race, we caught up with Dean to ask him about his day in Daytona. You can read what he had to say below.

Dean, it was your second ride on the Discount Tire Racing’s 450 and you were hauling all day today. Overall, what are you’re thoughts on your day at Daytona?

Yeah, my day was good. I mean, as far as first timed practice, I got fourth. Second timed practice, I ended up first which was awesome ’cause my two fastest laps, both of them were faster than anybody, so I was super-pumped on that. So I was feeling good, and I went out and got a really good start in my heat race and won that. That was awesome and everything was just going really good. Then, in the main event, got another good start, Villopoto was in front of me and I was trying to just follow him, but he was just on it and he left me. I was just trying to get twenty solid laps in me, I just didn’t have twenty in me yet; I had fifteen. Another five and I’ll be good.

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What did you think of the track tonight? It didn’t seem as gnarly as in the past, but still gnarly nonetheless. (laughs)

Yeah, it was gnarly, especially on a 450 for twenty laps! I don’t know, it was pretty good. I was having fun, but I just tightened up the last five laps. I’m not used to these twenty lappers, but I’ll get the hang of it. But the track was gnarly, for sure. I don’t know if it was where you were standing, but it was pretty gnarly. (laughs)

 

Yeah, I did track walk earlier and could tell that with how soft it was that it was going to get rough, but yeah, no twenty-laps on a 450. (laughs) We know you’ve been down at Chad Reed’s all week. Did he have a little Daytona section prepped up for you?

Yeah, he had a Daytona track all prepped up for us, so it was pretty awesome. I worked hard this week, and I was happy I could get some results. It sucks when you work hard and nothing happens. It was a good step. I just need to get on the podium. The opportunity was there, but I wasn’t quite ready for it—hopefully next weekend.

Deano showed his raw speed in qualifying by recording the two fastest laps of the day in Daytona. Photo by: Hoppenword
Deano showed his raw speed in qualifying by recording the two fastest laps of the day in Daytona. Photo by: Hoppenword

With two weeks now on the bike, was there anything you guys figured out on the bike that helped you this week?

Yes, actually, we a few adjustments on my clamps on my bars and we fixed that.

 

Hey, well, thanks a lot for talking to us, and you’re hauling out there which is always good to see.

Thanks.

Author

Dan Lamb is a 12+ year journalist and the owner of MotoXAddicts.