By: Allison Kennedy

Campbell River ’s Dusty Klatt won three of four motos at Round two of the Canadian Nationals in Nanaimo . While Klatt dominated both MX2 motos, it was his MX1 moto win over four-time champ Jean-Sébastien Roy that had everyone reeling. JSR was full of compliments about Klatt on the podium, and was quick to recognize his talents. Klatt is quick to recognize Roy’s talents too. While he enjoyed the win Sunday, he knows JSR will be tough to beat this season.

Racer X Canada: So…how did it feel to beat JSR in the first MX1 moto?

Dusty Klatt: Ah … it felt good. He was right there. I kind of got off to a fifth place start. I tried to work by them as fast as I could. I saw JSR and we kind of stayed the same pace for a while. I started to push a bit harder and then I was closing in, closing in, closing in. Soon enough I was right behind him. I was kind of debating whether to pass him early in the moto but I decided to go for it and just to do it for the hometown I guess. I felt good, I got in front of him, and I wasn’t riding over my head like I thought I would be … so it turned out really good.

Do you know how much of a lead you had at the finish?

I think it was about 13 seconds.

It’s been a long time since someone caught, passed and pulled away from JSR.

I was pretty surprised myself. But it is somewhat my hometown track. He’s going to be tough everywhere else so we’ll see how that goes.

And the MX2 class obviously went well for you?

Yeah, it went the way I planned. It was my main focus. I got off to decent starts and was able to work through everyone and it turned out great. Teddy Maier was kind of there in the second moto, I didn’t want to let him get too close. I just tried to pull a little bit of a lead so I could have a little bit of breathing room. That worked out good as well.

You had a lot of fans here today, how did it feel to have that much support

It was pretty awesome. Everywhere JSR and I went, when I was right behind him, people were just freaking. That’s the loudest I think I’ve ever heard anyone scream. That was pretty cool for sure. Especially when I got in front of him, they were just going right off the hook. It turned out good and it was definitely nice to have people cheering for me.

JSR had some really nice things to say about you on the podium. How does it feel to hear that from the champ?

He is the four-time champ and you can’t take anything away from him. He’s a super fast rider. I just felt good today and was able to put in three decent motos. The fourth one was really tough for me actually. After they red flagged it, I was almost thinking of pulling off. But I said screw it and I went for it and I had a few close calls out there—it was kind of a little scary. That was 12 minutes I didn’t have to do in that last moto and it really sucked. It didn’t really work out the way I wanted it to, but that’s the way it goes.

Are you where you wanted to be in the MX2 points standings?

I’m better after this weekend; I kind of realized that there are points for qualifiers now so I’ve got to try a little harder for those. I just want to extend my lead and try to get a comfortable one.

What’s your take on the CMRC’s decision to award points for qualifying?

I don’t know. Personally I think it’s kind of dumb. One qualifier will have five of the top guys in it, the next qualifier will have Joe Blow winning the thing. He’s winning it when he’s sitting tenth in points. Honestly I think that rule is stupid but that’s the way it goes if they want to keep things closer and more interesting on Saturday. It can work against you too. What if you have trouble in your qualifier? You only have four laps to make something of it. Personally I don’t like the whole system.

Were you surprised Maier was hanging with you for a while?

No, he was going good at Calgary last year so I kind of figured he’d be up there. It’s been hard to say. I’d been riding in California all winter and I hadn’t raced anyone in Canada until Mission . That was my first race really.

Are you planning to ride the MX1 class from now on?

As far as the next two rounds, I doubt I’ll do four motos a day. I might do the last MX1 each weekend. It’s kind of hard to say. I just want to focus and get my MX2 done. If I can do that, I’ll be pretty happy.

Are you looking forward to focusing on the MX1 class next season?

Definitely, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens next year and all I can say is I’m going to be ready for it.

After spending the winter in California training, did you know that you would be this dominant in the MX2 class?

That was kind of the whole plan heading down there. I wanted to go faster and do better. I feel really good. I had my two crashes down there and that was a little bit of a downer but I picked it up a bit and started getting back into things. When I got home, I was a little burnt out so I kind of took some time for myself. About three weeks before Mission , I picked my groove up. A week before Mission was probably the most intense for me. I was training, eating right and trying to do my best for all my sponsors.

Do you feel a little less pressure now that you’ve got a bit of a lead in the MX2 class?

I just wanted to be ready for that first round. Going in there, I knew where I stood. That was the main thing. To be quite honest, I tried to stay off the forums. I just tried to hold my own and stay out of everyone’s way. I didn’t really feel like talking to anyone in Mission . I just tried to stay out of all the gossip.

Well congrats Dusty and good luck in Calgary.