Five Minutes with … Derek Sorenson
MARCH 19, 2008

Cernic's Kawasaki's team manager, Derek Sorenson, helped me through my first experience as a "factory" rider last August at Sand Del Lee. Here he teaches me how to use tear-offs, something us privateers just can't afford on our shoestring budget!

photo: Dan Stenning

By Danny Brault


The Cernic’s Kawasaki Team was expecting to make a big splash in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, but after Dusty Klatt broke his collarbone three weeks before the series opener, and Jeff Gibson has yet to repeat his results from last year, there is still plenty of water left in the pool. There are still six races remaining, however, and the team has had some flashes of brilliance, like Gibson’s fourth-place heat finish at A1, where he led Chad Reed for a bit, and Klatt’s run in Daytona, where he led his heat race before getting stuck in a rut, won the LCQ over Gibson, and then ran fourth in the main event before falling down and finishing 13th. We caught up with Cernic’s team manager, Derek Sorenson, to get his take on the season so far.

RXC: Hey, Derek, we thought we’d call you up for an update on the Cernic’s team.
Derek Sorenson: [Laughs] I think you’ve probably seen the results, and can answer that one yourself.

Well, I am surprised that both riders, Jeff Gibson and Dusty Klatt, haven’t climbed up higher in the results. I believe they’re capable of more.
Absolutely. There are guys getting top-10s that could barely qualify last year, and our guys are having a hard time making main events.

What’s your take? Is there something going that we don’t know about?
I think that Dusty [Klatt] is just scared of getting hurt again. He got hurt at the last round of the Canadian nationals, and then he got hurt down here and missed the first part of supercross. I think he’s just tired of getting hurt. It’s understandable, for sure, but his stock isn’t improving.

He has the 450 now, and a quality team behind team, so all the pieces are there.
That’s right, and it’s frustrating for the team, and me, because I’m a fan of Dusty Klatt. I sure hope he can snap out of it come Canada, but I don’t know if it’s a light switch. I don’t know if you can switch from scared to confident. It’s beginning to become a concern of ours.

In Daytona, it looked like Dusty found the fire, pulling holeshots, and running up front in his heat races and the main event.
You know what? In Daytona, he looked like the Dusty I was remembering and the Dusty Klatt I was expecting this year. Sure, it was a mud race, but some of the stuff that had been bothering him, were the rutty tracks and so on. So we go there, it’s raining, you can’t see, the track’s rutted and it’s gnarly, and he just rode like nobody’s business. I was joking with him that I’m going to sprinkle water on the inside of his goggles, so he thinks it’s raining [laughs]. Unfortunately, he’s back to his cautious self, but there’s nothing we can do about it. In practice, we video tape everything, go back to the truck and talk about things, and then he applies some things to his second practice. But in the night show, it looks like he’s never ridden the track before. It’s a mental thing; it’s confidence. We do have six more races to go.

Jeff Gibson will run #3 when the Cernic's team visits Ste-Julie for the first Canadian National.

photo: Simon Cudby

As a team manager, it has to be tough to deal with, because you don’t want to be too hard on the riders, but you want to motivate them too.
Well, each guy is different. Some guys, you can tell them they are a bunch of idiots, but some guys are so hard on themselves, if you’re not supportive, they go deeper into going backwards.

Gibson’s been fairly consistent this year, as far as making mains. What’s your take on his results?
His best finish was a 13th. Same thing: we go out in practice, he looks decent, we talk, and then he puts in a decent time in the second practice. He figures things out, makes adjustments and does well in his qualifier, but in the main event, at 12 laps, he’s done. We’re this far into it and he’s not in shape. He claims that he’s training harder than he’s ever trained, he looks lean and fit; maybe he’s training too hard. I know he’s not riding enough, because he’s been back in Ohio for over a month. He’s got some personal issues that are more important right now. I don’t have to agree with it, but I understand it. It’s frustrating because he’s definitely riding better than he was last year.

I think Gibson isn’t going to set the fastest lap time, but he usually rides strong the whole race, so it’s surprising to see him fading in the closing laps.
Right. And there are guys like Jason Thomas, getting a tenth place, or Rivas. Those guys barely qualified last year, they were hit and miss, and Gibson had six top-10s last year. They are not riding much better than they were last year.

Hopefully when you return to your homeland next weekend in Toronto, things will turn around.
No, I doubt it because I’m not coming. I can’t leave the country right now; I’m working on my green card. It was either miss this one or miss some of the first Canadian nationals and Billy [Whitley] would rather me miss this one.

Leading Edge Kawasaki, as you know, are running an MX2 team this year. How much affiliation will your team have with Leading Edge?
I don’t think much. Billy has spoken to the guy over there a few times. Apparently, they will be affiliated with Monster as well, but that’s the only connection as far as I understand.

How’s your brother, Darrin, doing? Is he behaving?
Oh, more or less. He just enjoys being on the road. There’s the two teams: the MDK Lites team, and then the factory team with Nick [Wey] and [Martin] Davalos. He works with just Nick and Davalos. Last year, he didn’t do supercross, so him and I have been able to travel together quite a bit. It's been fun.

Who has surprised you the most this year in supercross?
The rookies: Josh Hill and Ryan Dungey. After the first couple races, I expected something to happen with Hill, in the right circumstances. Dungey has been a real pleasant surprise as well. Both guys struggled a bit at times on the Lites bikes, but they’ve really thrown some spice into the 450 class.

Why do you think those two are able to come into the 450 class and find success right away?
I was thinking about that the other day, and whole the [Ryan] Villopoto thing, and when he was going to race 450s. Even Ricky said, ‘No, stay down, I moved up too soon and regret it.’ Then these guys go out and do what they're doing; is it a coincidence that they just ride the 450 really well? Same thing with Tommy Hahn: he’s sketchy at times on a 250, but on a 450, these guys are really solid. Maybe it’s the respect for that power that smooth them out. They ride really aggressive on the 450 and it just suits them. I really hope Suzuki leaves Dungey in the 450 class.

Thanks, Derek. I guess we’ll see in Ste-Julie!
Yeah, for sure!