Marco Dubé at the Toronto World Supercross GP.

By Allison Kennedy

A few months back, we heard a rumour that past Canadian National champ Marco Dubé would be riding the western region supercross rounds with support from Yamaha of Troy. With the help of his former mechanic Luc Caouette, better known north of the border as Frenchie, Dubé got hooked up as a test rider with the team. He’s been helping Frenchie fine tune the 250Fs for Brett Metcalfe and Andrew McFarlane and this job has a definite perk. Dubé will be racing the first six SX rounds. Dubé didn’t make the main at A1 but he’s optimistic about this weekend in Phoenix. We caught up with Marco to see how his first taste of the Lites class went.

RXC: Hey Marco. How are things?
Marco Dubé: Things are good. I just finished at the test track right now, fixing some stuff that I didn’t like on the weekend. So it should be good for Phoenix.

How did A1 go for you?
It went pretty good. It was my first race on the Yamaha. Practicing and racing are two totally different things. There were just so many people going fast. I just rode smooth and tried to get through the weekend. I didn’t push myself. I’m getting older and I’m getting smarter, I guess. [Laughs] I don’t have anything to prove here and I just want to help the Yamaha of Troy guys out, to get the bikes ready. I want to do well, but maybe this weekend… I just felt like I wasn’t in a rush to hit the corners as fast as those guys, everybody was forcing me to the inside. It’s a totally different game, riding supercross with the 250F—those bikes are strong—but I am so used to the 450 after the last five years. You’ve got to be really aggressive. The whole thing is probably going to be really good for me. I will get up there in the summer and I will just be on it. It’s all new for me and it’s just good. I’ve never done this much riding before and it’s just a dream come true.

What happened in your heat race?
I was riding pretty well. I didn’t get a good jump, I was around 11th and Akira Narita cut my front end and I fell on my ass … I guess. From there I was dead last and I just rode around, there was no way I could get back up there. There were only six laps and the last chance is only four laps—and I had the last gate pick. I got a decent jump but I was still probably 8th out of the first corner and I fell back to finish 12th, after casing the triple. I was trying stuff too late. Like I said, I wasn’t in a rush. I was just there to get a taste of supercross last weekend. I wish I could have made it in my heat race, and I think I could have. I had some all-right lap times. I’ve been working on stuff from last weekend and all I can say is Phoenix will be another story.

What is your schedule like down there with Yamaha of Troy? Are you at the test track every day?
Pretty much, but I think things are going to slow down a little bit, because Metcalfe and McFarlane already think the bikes are pretty strong. Anaheim 1 was pretty much the ultimate test against the other teams and everybody is really happy about the bikes and everything is working great. Now we are just lacking a bit of suspension, so that’s why we have been at test track since yesterday.

Has the testing been a good experience for you?
For me it’s a training camp. I’m learning as much as I can, I’m having fun. I’m learning a lot about four stroke technology and how to modify stuff with the chief engineer, Frenchie. He’s my old mechanic actually. We are building stuff and trying stuff. For supercross, it is pretty much all set now. The east coast riders are going to come after Phoenix and test the bikes. If they don’t like it, I might try some more stuff with supercross, but so far, things are okay. Before Christmas though, I was out everyday, Monday to Friday, at the test track, except the week before A1 it rained a lot, so we didn’t ride for four days. But I’m at the gym and taking stuff seriously—I want to get back into the best riding shape ever. When I get to Canada, I want to kick some ass at the nationals; I want to be up there.

What are your plans for the summer?
Right now, I don’t know. I still have an offer with KTM and I like the bikes, but if I am testing the Yamaha’s all winter, we’ll have to see. If I want to test all winter, I probably can. After Phoenix we’ll start working on the outdoor bikes already. It’s all really good for me. That’s what I want.

So how long do you think you’ll stay in California then?
I am going to do the first six rounds for sure. After that, when the guys go east, I will fly back home and see. I want to do Daytona, Orlando and Detroit on the 450 … but we’ll see. It just all fell into place so well for me here. It’s awesome here, there are bikes everywhere and outdoor tracks everywhere. Today Chad Reed was riding here and Heath Voss was riding here earlier.

Thanks Marco and good luck in Phoenix.
Thanks. See you at A2.