By Allison Kennedy
Photos by James Lissimore

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Dusty Klatt in action. 2007 was a frustrating year for Klatt, one that ended with one last kick in teeth in the form of a broken collarbone just two weeks before Anaheim 1. The injury meant that Klatt had to put his Cernic’s Kawasaki debut, and his Supercross class debut, on hold until last weekend in Houston. After being back on the bike for only three weeks, Klatt finished 16th in the main event, and even grabbed the holeshot in the LCQ. It was a good start for Klatt, who says he’s more pumped about being on the bike than he has been in a long time. We caught up with Dusty to see how he felt about his Houston debut and the remainder of the SX season.

RXC: Long time no speak. It was great to see you back on the bike in Houston. How did it feel?
Dusty Klatt: It felt good to be back, to get back into things. It’s been a stressful year—the whole 2007 season pretty much—and I think it just wanted to take one last bite out of me before the New Year. It was good to be back but really, during the weekend, it was a lot different than I was expecting. I thought I was going to be able to do a lot better, mainly because I felt way better at the Kawasaki track during the week, than I did on the weekend. But that is how it always works when you go to a supercross for the first time in a long time. The tracks are so much bigger. I think a lot of the time they tame down the test tracks so the riders don’t get hurt, except for the factory guys who have tons of money and build their tracks like the real SX tracks, so they are prepared when the time comes. I wasn’t quite as ready as I thought I was. I felt good but I was honestly just riding the track, I wasn’t really riding like myself. Realistically, by the time the weekend was over, I was probably around 80 percent. I am pretty much sitting right there, so I just need to pick it up and try to improve from there.

Tell us a bit about your injury, and about how long you’ve been back riding?
The crash happened pretty much two weeks before Anaheim 1. I crashed in the whoops section at the Kawi test track. When they made the whoops, they didn’t clean up along the side so there were big clumps of dirt along the very edge of them. I was going through and my front wheel hooked one because I had a line that was pretty close to the edge of the whoops—it was a little smoother there and I could go a lot faster there. My front wheel ended up hitting one and just tossed me off the bike, threw me a few whoops and then landed shoulder first into the face of another one. I knew right away something was broken, in my collarbone. I heard a bit of a crunch. It was pretty stressful because it took pretty much three weeks to find out what was actually wrong with it. We went to some really good doctors but for some reason, no one took an x-ray from the top of my collarbone. You couldn’t see the break from the front, since it was along the top, so that’s why they figured it was my AC joint. When I went to Anaheim 2, I brought Doc Bodnar my cat scan and he came up and told me what it was: broken collarbone. Right after that I got back into the gym and tried to get as ready as possible before I got back on the bike. I started riding after Anaheim 2. So three weeks before Houston.

That’s not a lot of time to get ready.
I’ve been pretty excited to be back on the bike though. I feel a lot more alive than I think I have in a long time. I have been training really hard lately and I’m trying to be on the bike as much as possible. That’s a good thing for me; I am glad to be back on the bike and I just want to put in the best results I can for Cernic’s Kawasaki, we’ve been having a tough season so far but hopefully we can go forward from here.

How do you like the team? They’ve been very supportive considering your injury.
I’m sure me breaking my collarbone was not the start they were looking for, but I am happy with the team. I know the guys pretty well. I am pumped to have my mechanic, Glenn, helping me again this year. It makes things that much easier, and Kelly, he was the Blackfoot driver all the years I was there so it’s kind of like going home. And Billy is a really nice guy; he makes life easy around the tent. Everything is very good. And Derek, he’s a laid back guy, he’s not too uptight so that makes things easier around the tent too. I’ve been trying to go to all the rounds that I could drive to, just to go and support the team and sign some autographs when I was hurt so, I was just trying to do what I could to help out. I even helped with setup sometimes.

We heard Billy’s son, Parker, got third in the KTM Junior SX Challenge this weekend?
Yep, he got third so he was pretty pumped about that. [Laughs] The first thing he said to Billy was ‘Did you ever make a podium, Dad?” And Billy said, 'No, I never did make a podium.' [Laughs] It was pretty funny.

There’s no easy way to get back into race mode, other than racing. How did it feel to head out for practice?
Honestly, first practice was horrible. [Laughs] I thought my day was over then. I would do about two laps and my arms would be rock hard for some reason. It seems to be that way lately, my first practice is always tight and I loosen up as the day goes on. That’s pretty much how my whole day felt. The more I was out there, the better I felt. I just wanted to try and put in a good lap and try to learn some of the sections … and stay off the ground. I crashed last lap of my second practice though, washed out on a jump out of the rhythm section but it wasn’t too bad.

And your heat race? You ended up 10th.
I got a good start, I think I was mid pack and I was feeling pretty good but right from the beginning, I wasn’t really riding like myself. I was just trying to stay up and hold in there for a position. Paul [Carpenter] ended up getting me with two laps to go, so that was too bad. He was right in front of me the whole time but I just couldn’t get it back. I just have to go forward from here and pick it up.

Then you had to put it together in your LCQ and you did. Tell us about that.
I ended up holeshotting, so that was pretty good. It was good, the only reason I lost the lead was because right off the bat, in the second rhythm section I doubled out of the corner and my rear wheel went sideways and that’s where Vuillemin got me or I might have been able to stay in the lead a little longer. As soon as I knew I was in second I just tried to keep that pace and stay up so I could make the main.

And the main event?
I was on the far right hand side and it was a left hand corner. I just took a gate by myself and rode up the outside. I got a good jump but I got pinched out. After that I was able to push up until about the 14th lap, that was probably my highest point in the race, I think I was 14th. Then I just pretty much rode the track after that, I wasn’t going anywhere from there, I just wanted to stay up and finish. I had a couple of points so I just stayed there and decided to build on that next weekend.

Sixteenth is nothing to sneeze at. How did you feel about your result?
Well, yes and no. Realistically, when I am at 100 percent I know I can do better than that for sure. I still wasn’t feeling like myself out there so as soon as I can start riding like myself, it should be full on. I just have to keep on training and getting at it, and hopefully, I can keep on making the mains and move forward.

How did the team feel about your weekend?
Good, I think. They were just glad I made the main. That was Billy’s concern. He knew it was my first race back and he just said to make the main and go from there. We just have to progress a bit and work our results up a bit higher.

Well 16th at 80 percent is a good start.
Yep, it’s not bad.

What kind of goals do you have for the rest of the season?
I don’t know. I don’t see any reason not to be in the top 15. I have way higher goals for myself than that, but I think I’ll keep that to myself for now… As long as I can meet my own goals, I’ll be happy. I know where I sit but I don’t need to put that out there yet.

Well it’s exciting to have a Canadian to cheer for in the premiere class.
It definitely makes it better to have someone to cheer for, and we have Tyler Medaglia starting Lites next week.

How do you feel about racing the premiere class instead of the Lites?
Better. There isn’t someone trying to take you out every corner. They’ll make a move on you, but it’s not like they are going to throw you over the berm. It’s definitely better. Really in this class, if you can push really hard in those last five laps, that’s where you are going to make a difference and do really well. Around lap 14, I was starting to catch everyone, and then I slowed down. I just have to work really hard and be able to push for those last laps and learn to hold on a little bit longer. I think those last five laps are what’s going to count.

At the risk of sounding cheesy, it must be pretty cool to line up with Windham and Reed, and even to lead Vuillemin in the LCQ?
Let’s just say, if I’d gotten the holeshot in the main there, I think I would have just pulled off at the finish line and taken it all in. [Laughs] We were all joking about that. They are definitely pretty fast for sure and I am excited to be at 100 percent soon and running with them.

So are you having fun overall?
Yep, for the most part. I feel like I’ve found a second wind and that’s making things a lot easier. I look forward to going to the gym, I look forward to going riding, and it just all seems to be going pretty good right now.

Thanks Dusty and good luck in Atlanta.
Thanks.