Five Minutes with … Joe Skidd
NOVEMBER 29, 2007

Joe Skidd and JSR on the line at the 2007 Motocross des Nations in Budds Creek.

By Danny Brault
Photos by Allison Kennedy


I originally called up Blackfoot Yamaha’s race director Joe Skidd for some info on his business, Superior Suspension Settings (S.S.S.), but it quickly turned into an interview on the team and what we can expect from them in 2008. Not surprisingly, Blackfoot is already well underway preparing for the Monster Energy Monster Nationals.


RXC: Joe, you keeping busy?
Joe Skidd: I’m going flat out here with customer work, and racing stuff, believe it or not. We have the schedule figured out; there are only 2 rounds that are tentative, the rest are fixed. We have rooms booked for all of the other rounds, we’ve hired another mechanic, and we’re looking for a truck driver, and building new parts.

So you guys are already getting things organized for next year. I read in Allison’s interview with JSR that he will be racing next year, maybe not full-time, but we will see him at a few rounds.
I would suspect that he might want to ride at Walton and maybe Montreal SX. That’s probably one of the hardest decisions he’s made, is to let go of it. That’s like splitting up with your first love. There’s a physical limitation to what we can fit into our situation. Putting Dusty under the tent at Walton, we were only able to do that because Nick Evennou was hurt. With enough planning we could put JSR under the tent at Walton, but personally, I will persuade him to leave the motorcycle stuff to a testing level opposed to racing.

Is Blair Morgan returning next year?
Yes. Blair had a little bit of a discouraging time at the Des Nations, and then his six weeks of healing after. He started riding as soon as he could and started getting motivated and ready for next year. Blair is Blair. I would like to see him on the podium next year—I don’t think he will set the world on fire—but he’s a great role model for the three kids that are on the program. JSR is going to move into a mentor role as well, and he’ll be at all of the rounds. He’ll also be passing down some tricks of the trade to shave some years off of the younger guys' learning curves.

And Jimmy Nelson is going to move up to the 450?
Yes.

I’ve never seen Jimmy ride a 450, but considering his success in MX2 the last two years and his work ethic, he will no doubt be a contender.
He’s earned a right to have a go at it. As far as 250 or 450 goes—the skinny wheel is still on the front and the chubby wheel is on the back. It’s just a matter of him getting used to the difference in speed. I think a lot of 250F riders, like somebody at Jimmy’s level, is going to be a strong 450 rider because they’re used to carrying so much corner speed. If he can retain that and then tame the rest of the beast, he’ll be fine. I think consistent top fives would be a great goal, and maybe the odd win here and there would be awesome.

Now Colton Facciotti is your #1 guy!
I would have to say Colt is getting the nod. It’s going to be his to inherit. He obviously has a lot of talent and he’s really a great kid also. There was quite a bit of baggage out there in the world about Colton. People in the wings—they seem to know a lot more than the rest of us. The only question with Colton when we picked him up was his will, his heart. I think you even mentioned that in a report that he seems to have found his heart. After hearing Colt’s side of the story when we brought him out to Calgary to talk about the job, I had no doubts about his potential.

I was probably one of the worst people for throwing him under the bus until 2007. But he definitely impressed this year with come from behind efforts in Ste-Julie, un-lapping himself at Nanaimo, and then his team leading finishes at the Budds Creek MXdN.
He was awesome there. The thing with Colton before was—and in his defense—he was on Darcy’s [Lange] team and he was always treated and meant to feel that way. I think people always forgot how young he was and I think they are still forgetting he’s only 19. When you remind yourself of that and realize that he still needs a lot of guidance—and whether you like it or not—on our team you get a lot of it. Some people call it control or rules or whatever—it’s all of that. Another young Canadian rider came up to me at Montreal and said, “What are you guys doing next year, as far as MX2 guys?’ I didn’t even answer the question. I said, “I don’t think you would like how many rules we have.” And he just went, ‘Oh,’ and walked away. If you want to talk about heart, someone standing in that situation might be better off saying, “What’s it going to take to get on your team?” Those who have chosen to come to the team and accept the guidance, if you will, have succeeded. It’s nothing cocky or talking crap, it’s just the way it is.

If it weren't for Skidd--and the entire Blackfoot team's--efforts, Team Canada probably wouldn't have had the results they did at Budds Creek.

There’s no denying that you guys are the best team in Canada. Your guidance comes from experience and it’s only to benefit the riders and the team, not hurt them.
Exactly. And it is a team. I don’t know what people think out there. I think it’s funny; every once in a while, I get to meet a new person that has their preconceived idea of the team or what it’s like to be there. But when they come inside, they see something completely different. When we grabbed Anthony Turner a few years ago, now Blair’s mechanic, he thought the team seemed unapproachable from the outside. I’ve heard the same comment from a few other people too. Then when he got on the inside, he realized—sure, the work is serious but— there is no shortage of fun and horsing around. It’s actually pretty light on the inside.

[Laughs] Okay, I have one here for you, Joe: what about those privacy tents that Steve Matthes always brings up?
[Laughs] I think you just answered it yourself there! I appreciate that the guy is funny and he’s entertaining, but I won’t let him in our tent looking for dirt and then write some funny BS at my expense.  There are times when you need to get the job done in a timely manner with no distractions.  I don’t think you can argue that our team does not hold back when it comes to pleasing the fans including the kids with the posters, sticker sheets and so on, that we hand out at every round. I believe in responsible journalism. It’s not very productive throwing the entire Canadian MX community under the bus, putting everybody down because things aren’t perfect, just for the sake of a few laughs.

What’s your take on Dusty Klatt returning to Canada next year?
I think it’s great. It’s a perfect ride for Dusty. To still have a chance at supercross is something he still needs a go at. It was a real bummer with him last year on the 250F. We found out the year before how insanely competitive that Lites class is. Our bikes were really strong, but they were barely enough. It’s so much about the bike; the bike needs to haul around Dusty at probably 185 lbs with gear on. I think the 450 is way more up his alley and the class is not as cutthroat. He has a great team and great group of guys behind him. It’s a perfect opportunity for Dusty. We cut him loose in `07 to do the Star Yamaha thing and Dusty was still pretty tied up in a contract with us, but we still let him go. Our team isn’t about holding back guys; it’s about sending them up. That’s why at the moment we are investigating all of the angles to make sure Colton remains eligible for supercross without going through that arenacross hassle.

All right, thanks, Joe.
Thank you.