Five Minutes with ... Doug DeHaan
OCTOBER 24, 2006

Doug DeHaan has signed on with Butler Brothers for 2007.

By Allison Kennedy Photos by James Lissimore

When the AMA released their list of 2007 race numbers, only one Canadian made the cut. Thorndale, Ontario's Doug DeHaan earned #77 for the upcoming season and has inked a deal with the BTO Sports/Butler Brothers Honda team for another season. After putting in his first full summer in the AMA Outdoor Nationals, DeHaan signed on for this third supercross season with the team. We caught up with DeHaan to see how life with the Butler Brothers has been treating him.

RXC: Hey, Doug. How are things?
Doug DeHaan: Not too bad. I’m heading to Florida shortly. I haven’t been doing a whole lot of riding because the weather has been so wet. It’s been kind of a downer. I haven’t really been up to much since the Montreal Supercross.

The Montreal final ended prematurely for you. What happened?
I think I was battling around ninth or tenth and I was just wheel tapping out of the whoops and I missed the wheel-tap and I kind of just throttle locked off the side of the track and laid her down pretty hard. I kind of face-planted a little bit and left with a broken visor. By the time I got going again, I was a lap down, so I just pulled off. It sucks; I felt like I was riding decent and I had done a lot of riding before the race so I was hoping for a good result, but that’s the way it went.

Do you have any other races scheduled before U.S. supercross?
Yes, I am going to do three races in Europe. The first is in the Czech Republic, then Stuttgart, Germany and Vienna, Austria. After that, I’ll be between Florida and home until the supercross season starts.

 

How did the outdoor nationals go for you?
They went pretty well. I kind of slowed down after that shoulder injury at Gopher Dunes, but I felt like I was getting a little better every weekend after I came back. I would have liked it to go a little better. I didn’t have any real stand out motos or a top finish or anything. I was hoping to get a career best finish, but I didn’t have any of those. I just kind of had steady motos. I rode well, but I just didn’t have any big moments. Next year, hopefully I will have some top finishes.
 
What was it like spending the whole summer down there?
I liked it. As far as the racing goes, I really liked it. It was cool just doing the whole circuit and racing against the best guys every weekend, and the tracks—I liked the tracks a lot.

Did you miss Canada?
I didn’t miss some of the tracks; that’s for sure. But, yeah, in some ways for sure, it’s always a fun summer racing up here. I missed the atmosphere more and the teams I’ve been a part of in the past.

So what were you happiest about in your SX and outdoor seasons?
I definitely picked up my level in supercross. I didn’t have the results I would have liked, but I think the way I felt on the track was there. Sometimes you ride really well on a night that you don’t even qualify. I did make a few mains and I think I rode well in those. Any time I made a main I was happy with it. Outdoors, I felt like I rode really well at Colorado. That was probably one of my better nationals of the year.

What are your goals for the SX season?
To get into that top fifteen, that’s definitely what I am shooting for. I finished fifteenth in the World Championship, but I would like to be inside the top twenty in the AMA series this year. I would be happy with that.

So are you in for World Supercross?
Yes, for sure. I think the whole team will be up for those. I’m sure you’ve heard we signed Jason Thomas and we’ve got Shaun Skinner and Bryan Johnson, so it should be a good team.

 

 

DeHaan's Honda sits under the Butler Brothers tent. He'll be wearing #77 this year.

 

It seems like the team is continually growing.
Yes, with Thomas coming on, definitely. That has stepped things up the with the industry sponsors. I think it’s just elevated the whole team. We have a brand new practice track in Florida and they’ve hired a professional builder. We have a really nice track to do all of our testing. We are just way ahead of the game this year, compared to the last two. Things are going in the right direction. We have Rick Case behind us now; who is building a huge, new car dealership in Florida and then BTO Sports is involved. They are a mail-order/internet company that does big business. Pretty much all the products we’ll use are available through BTO so that ties it all in.

It must be nice to be on the same bike all year round for once?
Yes, I even noticed that before Montreal. Just getting back into supercross, and being on the same bike was such a relief. I think sticking with the same equipment will be a lot better for me and I love the bike too, so that helps.

Thanks Doug and good luck this winter.
Thanks.