Photo by: Hoppenworld
The sport of supercross can chew you up and spit you out the other side at a very young age, and while it’s happened a time or two to MotoSport.com/Kawasaki/Team100’s Josh Hansen, the #100 seems to have no quit in him. Since turning pro back way back in 2003, Josh has come and gone more than a rabbit in a magic show, but he has consistently defied the odds time and time again with his ability to pick right up where he left off.
This time, though, Josh decided to forgo offers from teams like Monster/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki and do it on his own with some choice people around him. With the hiring of Ty Kady to work on his physical setup and Dan Castloo to handle the turning of the wrenches on his machine, it was now on Josh’s shoulders to prove he made the right call.
At round one in Anaheim, Josh came out firing. The #100 lead right out of the gate in the first heat race of the year, but after finishing a solid second in his heat race, the veteran struggled with arm pump and a setup issue in the main. So while there were some definite positives to draw from at the opener, he left Anaheim with just ninth place points.
At round two of the 2015 Western Regional 250SX Championship in Phoenix, things went from bad to worse for Hanny. After qualifying for the night show with the 10th fastest time—an improvement over round one—and qualifying for the main with a solid 4th in his heat race, Josh was involved in a first turn pile-up that had him starting his round two main event in dead last. To Josh’s credit, he put his head down and charged for fifteen laps to finish 13th, but you could tell in Josh’s post-race demeanor that his charge forward was little consolation.
After the race, MotoXAddicts caught up with Josh to talk about his Phoenix SX and his 2015 season thus far. It was apparent Josh was down on himself but far from through with the fight. You can hear what Josh had to say in his “Race Rewind” interview below.
Josh, two rounds and the 2015 Phoenix SX are behind you now. How are you feeling?
Nah, it wasn’t good—first turn pile-up and then we had a little bike issue in the main. I don’t know, but this is definitely a weekend I could forget. I need to start to back it up, and I have a lot more goals for myself and I’ve fallen a little short both weekends.
It seems like lack of speed is definitely not this issue so far, but last weekend you talked a little about arm pump. Was that still an issue today in Phoenix?
Yeah, a little bit. It’s more we’re chasing the bike man. We have some issues there we gotta get figured out. On both weekends we’ve had bike issues, so that’s something we have to get figured out. I don’t know, motocross, nothing can be perfect, but luckily we have a next weekend. You’re only as good as your last race, and we have a lot to improve on and hopefully make it up for next week.
You’ve obviously been to a lot of Phoenix Supercross’ in your day, but today was a very different Phoenix SX. The dirt was a completely different animal tonight. Did you struggle with setup up for the ruts?
I did. I kind of struggled with everything. I don’t know; I really like Phoenix. Phoenix has always been really good to me. I’ve won here.
The fans seem to love you here.
Yeah, it’s cool. I really love it here, but I was my own worst enemy. I don’t know; I just gotta make the best of it. I know Ricky Carmichael used to have good days and bad days, and that’s something I need to do. There’s no excuses for anything. It’s just part of racing and you need to push through it.
The series is now heading back to Anaheim for round three. I know you were super excited heading to Anaheim for round one. Are you still excited or is the frustration setting in?
Yeah, I’m frustrated, but I would like to do a lot better coming back there, especially in front of my local crowd. I’m really looking forward to heading back to Anaheim, so it should be good.
Thanks for talking to us and good luck moving forward.
It’s all good.
