Five Minutes with ... Dusty Klatt
MARCH 10, 2008

This must have been pretty early in the main ...

 

By Allison Kennedy
Photos by Simon Cudby

The funny thing about a mud race is that anything can happen. It can be a huge opportunity for a lesser-known rider, and it can cost an established rider everything. BC’s Dusty Klatt is no stranger to riding mud; we’ve seen him win motos in Mission and Nanaimo in some pretty nasty conditions. So when he set some good lap times in practice and followed that up with a holeshot in his qualifier, Canadians were hoping for a breakout night. While his 13th place finish doesn’t reflect how well Klatt was riding, watching him run top-five in the main was a moment Canadians won’t soon forget … and one they’ll be hoping to see repeated on a dry track again soon.

RXC: Hey, Dusty. First of all, congrats on making another main at Daytona. It sounded like a huge adventure.
Dusty Klatt: It was crazy. It was really awesome and really crappy all at the same time. It could have been a phenomenal weekend for me, I think.

Let’s go back to the beginning. The track was much different in that first practice than during the race.
Practice was pretty much a regular race; it rained the night before so there were sections that were a bit mucky and it was making it hard for some riders for sure. I was looking forward to coming to Daytona anyways, it’s a bit more outdoor style and the track was fun, I remember the last time I rode there, I liked it. I really liked the course this year; it was a super-fun layout. As for lap times, in my first practice, I definitely could have pulled out easily another second, which I figure would have put me in 10th to 13th I thought, but then second practice was cancelled. I figured as long as I got a good start, there was potential. I’ve been pretty confident in my starts. I’ve been holeshotting everything since I’ve been back on the 450. By the time they cancelled second practice, everyone was expecting the rain. It came down hard, big time, all day long. It would hit super hard, then let off for a bit, and just come right back again. When it came down it left two inches of water everywhere, then it would run off and then let off, and then come again. It was crazy.

Have you ridden in conditions like that before? Is there anything you can compare it to?
You know, honestly, it was super-mucky but it wasn’t that bad. The first race I was out there—my qualifier—it was just like Mission but without the water on the track. It was definitely a bit muckier because it wasn’t sand but it wasn’t mud that stuck to your bike. It was like Kamloops would be if it were underwater.

And your heat race, you got the holeshot and then fell into a huge hole, at least that’s how Matthes described it.
I’ve only seen the 450 main on TV, but Jim says I got some huge TV time for that qualifier. They showed my whole first lap, until I got stuck. I got stuck in a giant hole; that pretty much sums it up. I saw one rider in the Lites class get stuck on the inside of this corner, and he was hauling so much butt, he pulled a full-straight away on Villopoto. Then the poor kid got stuck in the same hole I did, he had to go to the LCQ and then didn’t make the main. I think he could have won.

Who was it?
[Laughs] I don’t know his name to be honest. Anyway, back to my heat. I got a wicked holeshot, like nobody’s business, and I came around and I was riding really well. Man … it makes me so mad; there was no reason that couldn’t have been a win for me in that heat race. It felt like I had an easy seven seconds by the time I got stuck. Derek said I had a full straightaway on everyone by the time I got stuck. It was a bummer for sure. I just took an inside rut and I went through a huge hole and as soon as I was coming out of it the bike was just ‘baaaaaahh’ and I wasn’t going anywhere. Maybe if I had gotten off the bike right away and just tried pulling it out, I might have made it to the main straight from there but I tried to kick it for way too long and then had to get it pulled out. So I was dead last, and I got back up and passed tons of people and if I had a couple more laps, I might have made it. I caught back up and missed it by two spots. I was bummed because I could have easily made it out of there and LCQ’s are never fun so, especially in conditions like that. If you get a bad start you are done.

Dusty leads teammate Jeff Gibson in the LCQ.

 

So did you think that was the end of your night, heading to the LCQ?
I came into the LCQ feeling pretty confident that I would make it in. I knew my starts were pretty good. I just had to get a start—which I did—I swung outside, which I did all night long, just because it was super mucky if you wanted to try and slow down and take the inside. Gibby took the inside and then swung right in front of me, so he got the holeshot on that one. I ended up passing him on the first or second lap and I ended up grabbing the win in that, and we both made it in so that was good for the team.

So by the time the main was set to lineup, what were the conditions like?
Oh … man …it was pretty good for TV; I’m glad it actually did it justice somewhat. I could just go on and on, but there were sections of water in between the rhythm sections and you couldn’t even hold it wide open because the water would almost pull you right off the bike. It would go right over top of your helmet and you’d get soaked instantly. It was pretty much like having a five-gallon pail being dumped on you, easily eight times a lap. It was really bad. They had two triples, but they leveled the lip off one of them, coming up to the second triple that they left, there was an S corner before it and there was a foot and a half of water, you did not know if there were holes under there or anything, you had to grip so tight and have your feet out because you didn’t know if you were going to go over the bars or what. It caught a few people. Really, I rode the track well all weekend, I never fell once; I just got stuck, which was pretty crappy.

And then in the final, you got another great start? Tell us about how that race went.
I got a third place start in the main and I was doing awesome. I was in fourth, and fifth place was long gone; we were way ahead of everyone. Then Davi Millsaps just got in front of me and I was steady, staying right with him, then we came around after the mechanics area and Gibby was stuck in a hole. Davi came around the corner and he just grabbed a handful and just roosted the crap out of me. I couldn’t see at all, it was tough enough seeing already. I couldn’t get a tear off so I just pinned it right behind him and I ended up hitting Gibby’s handlebar with my throttle hand, my hand came off the bar and my bike stalled right in that hole, and I was done. I kicked probably 30 times at least in the hole, trying to get in neutral and go. I thought my bike was done, I got off and tried getting it out, I muscled my way out of there and kicked another 15 times and it started up. I was like, okay, whatever, I went back out and just tried to finish the race off. I passed a whole bunch of people and made my way up to 13th. Then last lap, I was lapping Sorby and I came right through that section where Reed’s bike crapped out on the last lap, if they had zoomed out you would have seen me because he just went by me. His bike blew up and then there was part of the track where they had dug down into the ground, so there was probably two and a half feet of water right there, you couldn’t see what was under there. I tried to take this one inside line and I drove right into the biggest hole there was on the track. My bike just went ‘Baaaaahh’ again and I had it wide open trying to get it out and all I could hear were fart bubbles coming out of my tailpipe because it was right under water. There was not a chance I was going anywhere, so I just had to get off and leave it alone.

So that was it? You never crossed the finish line?
Yah but I think it’s good how they run their system—with lap times—down there. At least if you didn’t finish the race, I had made nine laps of 12 so I was able to salvage 13th. At the same time, if I had held that fourth place all the way to the end, with Reed’s thing, it could have been a podium. Right from the beginning, I knew it would be ridiculous if I didn’t get tenth or better, there was no reason at all, and top five was realistic for sure, podium was there, there were some good guys, but I thought fifth place was reasonable.

I know we were going nuts at home, seeing you run in fourth, how did it feel for you?
I wasn’t really worried about. I figured there was no reason I couldn’t have ridden there in those conditions, if it were any other weekend, who knows, but those conditions were just suited for me.

I know it’s a mud race, and that makes things a bit different, but are you able to take some confidence from the weekend, especially with your starts all weekend?
Yes and no. I know my starts are fine. I pretty much knew that as soon as I got back on the 450 but running up there was good. It was a good thing my mechanic Glen is a good guy and kept my bike running all weekend long, and a big thanks to the Cernic’s team.

Were they pretty happy with your ride?
Billy said he was jumping up and down when I was in fourth, but at the same time, he knew it was a mud race and anything could happen. The conditions were ridiculous.

So next stop is Minneapolis, what are you hoping for on a dry track?
I don’t know. I am back to where I was at in Houston. I should have been able to make it in the weekends before but honestly, I haven’t been sick like that since I was a little kid. I am still just getting the last of it out of me but that week before Indy was just horrible. I wasn’t able to do anything. I was good this weekend though. It was a fun weekend; it was tough but good.

Thanks Dusty. Good luck in Minneapolis.
Thanks, I just have to continue on, get the starts this week, and go for it.