Five Minutes with ... Dusty Klatt
JUNE 13, 2007

Just where has National #1 been? Read on ...

 

By Allison Kennedy
Photos by Simon Cudby

While the focus here in Canada has been on the opening rounds of the Monster Energy Motocross Nationals, our own reigning Canadian champ has been working hard down south with the Star Racing Yamaha squad. He put in his best outdoor result to date with an 11th overall at Southwick last weekend so we decided to give Dusty a call to see how the battle goes south of the border.

Congrats on your best ride outdoors yet at Southwick. Tell us a bit about how that went?
Thanks. I wouldn’t really say it was anything to jump up and down about but it was just nice to finish two motos without being on the ground. My starts were horrible all weekend long—nothing new on that bike. I am just having a hard time right now getting things to go the way I want. It is just so much different riding down there than it is up there. Back home, the top 10 guys are kind of fast and then it just falls right off the pace but down here you have 40 riders that are all within 15 seconds…the majority are within 10 seconds easy. Fifth through 20th will only be four seconds apart. It’s kind of a tough game that way. You can slowly work your way through the pack, but you don’t work your way as fast as you probably would up here. It’s definitely a tough game but overall the weekend was not too bad. I stayed out of harms way and my strength paid off later in the motos, I started passing people usually at the end of the motos. It was a fun track. It was a lot different sand track than I was expecting; a lot different than Deschambeault and a lot different than Gopher. Gopher seems more wide open and rough, more tiring even, this was a lot of sharp sand bumps and rough through corners, and a little hard to pass. Overall the weekend was good, I made it out safe and now it’s just time to continue on with the journey and try to get some results out of myself here.

You discovered at the Prequel that you have the speed to run with the riders like Josh Grant. What’s it going to take to get up there at the Nationals?
It’s just a whole other game, maybe I just rode Glen Helen better because I knew the track, but it’s a tough game, I just have to figure things out. I know my pace is there to be able to run in the top ten, it’s just a matter of getting a decent start, which has been a really big struggle for me right now. I just have to work on it and hopefully get my results up a bit higher.

Matthes has a theory (well he has a lot of theories) that you need to pick it up in the timed practice earlier and get a better gate pick to solve your struggles with bad starts? What’s it like qualifiying through those practices?
I honestly don’t mind them. Usually my speed is pretty good so I don’t worry about making it in. I try to put in the best laps that I can but I seem to be further back. One lap time has nothing to do with how you are going to do for the weekend. Anyone can put down one fast lap but can you do that for forty minutes?

You must be feeling good about your fitness then?
That track was pretty rough and I held strong.  I think my program is a little easier to work at back home in Campbell River, so I think things should get even better. Hopefully I’ll just go forward from here.

 

Klatt put in his best outdoor ride yet at Southwick with an 11th overall. He is still hoping to crack the top 10.

 

What kind of goals do you have for the rest of the series?
Stay off the ground for right now and hopefully try to get some better starts and better results. It would be nice to be inside the top ten, I don’t see any reason why I can’t be. It’s just a matter of figuring out a solution out for myself. I just have to plug away and keep practicing.

I know you’ve been following what’s been going on up here in Canada. What have you thought so far?
I wasn’t sure what all happened at round one, and I was calling around to find out and I got through to JSR and I talked to him for an hour or so about how the weekend went. He said it rained, that’s kind of crazy, I don’t think I’d want to ride that track in the mud. He’s going to have a tough series for sure. Carpenter seems to be holding up really well and as long as his bikes are going to hold together, it should be a pretty good season for him the way things are going. I am definitely not leaving JSR out of the picture; he’s still easily got a shot at winning the title. I pulled a 33-point gap back in three rounds so I definitely don’t think you can count JSR out yet. He’s still got a shot. It sucks that they had that bad weekend at Gopher but it’s all new bikes and I guess they didn’t really see that coming. It’s interesting to see all the new names and stuff. JSR said there is a lot more depth than there has been in a few years. That’s good for Canadian racing, it keeps things a bit closer and tighter, new racers and new faces, that makes it a bit more interesting. I don’t think I’m missing that new schedule up there anyway. (laughs)

Do you miss battling up front here in Canada?
Oh don’t get me wrong, it was awesome winning races up there and I wish I could have gotten in a race or two this year and run the #1 plate. It’s just panning out to be a rough series for me. It’s just a lot to get used to and new faces to run with, it’s just totally different. I don’t think people really understand that whole bit, but that’s all right though. I just go out there and do the best I can.

Last week I was chatting with Willard about how different racing in the states is.  He was giving you full props for gutting it out down there. How much harder is it than you expected?
I knew right from the get go that it wasn’t going to be easy, especially in this class. I honestly know that if I was in that big bike class, I know for a fact that I would be doing better than I am right now, but I just try to put that out of my head and do the best I can in this class. It just feels no different than when I was racing the 250F in Canada. I was just struggling with starts all the time and I had to work my way up, but I still came out with championships. But down here that bad start, or falling and working your way through the pack is not as easy as it is in Canada, especially in the 125 class. It’s definitely a little tougher. I’m not giving up, that’s for sure. I’m just going to put my head down and try to put in the best results I can for the Star Racing Yamaha team and hopefully it will come around with time.

Will we see you at any Canadian rounds?
I think I will be at Calgary as a spectator. I’ll bring some posters to hand out, sign some autographs and I’ll probably be hanging around the Blackfoot rig.

Have you heard from anyone about the Des Nations?
No, and I was asking JSR and he hadn’t heard anything yet either. I am still keen to go; I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t.

You get to race the Des Nations track this weekend at Budd’s Creek. What’s the game plan heading there?
I heard it’s a bit more hard pack and gets kind of rutted. I don’t know what to expect from any of these tracks anymore. (Laughs) I just kind of show up and deal with what’s there.

Well, we are coming to cheer you on at Red Bud.
Sweet, hopefully I won’t disappoint there. I’ll do my best. It’s just a different place down here; totally different, and you’re not the king here like you are in Canada. But no regrets, I will just keep working hard.

Thanks Dusty and good luck at Budds Creek.
Thanks.