By Brett Dailey

Toyota Yamaha BlackfootDirect.com Fox Racing’s Blair Morgan has been steadily improving this year, with his strongest ride coming in his home province of Saskatchewan. Blair typically gets better and better as the year progresses and two of his favourite tracks are coming up (RiverGlade and Sand-Del-Lee) so expect Superman to mix things up at the front very soon.

RXC: Congrats on ride in Regina. It must have been nice to do so well in front of your Saskatchewan fans.
Blair Morgan: Yeah it went pretty well, I was happy with the way it worked out. I didn’t do as well as I had hoped but I thought I had the speed to run upfront with those guys.

Do you feel like you rounded a corner and you’re ready to get on a roll now?
Well, actually in Morden, I felt like I was riding a lot better. Moving into Regina I felt pretty good too. Too bad about that flat tire in the second moto, that was kind of a bummer.

Can you recap your snocross season?
Snocross didn’t go so well. It started off really slow. It picked up near the end, and I had some good results but I didn’t even win a race last year, which was pretty weird for me. We struggled with the machine the whole year, basically. 

You spent some time in Georgia during the pre-season. Did you feel better prepared this year than the past few?
Yes, that helped a lot. Just being down there with JSR and Colton, just riding with somebody fast all the time. I think that helped me a lot this year, just kind of focusing on getting up to speed quickly.

This year, you’re battling with some young riders like Facciotti, Klatt and Medaglia rather than JSR and the veterans.
Yeah, exactly, I was battling with the older guys when I first came in and now it’s all younger guys, there’s no one older in there anymore now that JSR’s gone [laughs]. There aren’t even guys like [John] Dowd or Keith Johnson or [Mike] Treadwell so basically it’s all young guys. But yeah, I’ve been there for a while and it just seems like it’s wave after wave of different riders that come along. This is the next new wave.

You showed in Regina that you have the speed and conditioning to win. Did you gain some confidence from your battles with Medaglia?
Definitely, I even felt like he was holding me up a little bit. I was trying to get around him everywhere—it was really hard to pass there—it was tough, but I felt good. I was pumped for the second moto, I was going to go after him [Colton] but it didn’t work out that way, he took off in both motos and was gone. Hopefully I can just get clear of those other guys and chase Colton around for a little while. I think he’s got more in the bag than what he has shown so far.

Tell us about the team dynamics this year with JSR is on the sidelines.
That’s probably the biggest thing this year; it’s an improvement. He’s [JSR] been the reason why everyone on the team is doing so well. All the work he’s done behind the scenes—he does all of our flights, our hotels, everything. And just being down in Georgia with the guys, showing them all the little tricks he knew in the past. It’s been great having JSR there.

This is Blackfoot’s second year with Yamaha. What has changed this year with respect to the bikes and team?
Everything is similar to last year. We didn’t have enough time on the bikes last year and now we’re a little more comfortable on them. The bikes are working a little bit better. I think that helps a lot. Joe [Skidd] and Andrew [McLean] and all the guys worked hard over the winter to get these bikes working well.

How old are you now?
32.

For us older guys, how do you maintain the desire to train as many hours as it takes to be at your level?
I don’t know. I’m having fun again. I just love riding and when I’m doing well it’s more fun for me. When I’m not doing well, I don’t enjoy it as much but everything has just been working out really well—the bike works good, I don’t have any complaints about anything. That’s the strong part about being at Blackfoot, everything is taken care of, you don’t have to worry about anything, just ride the bike, work hard at home, train and everything will be ready for you. I can remember back in the day when I had to do everything—wash bikes, clean filters in between motos. I don’t know if I’d still be that enthused to be racing if I had to do all of the mechanical work too but being at Blackfoot makes life way easier.

If Colton asked you for advice on how to handle the rest of the series, what would you say?
I’m not sure; he’s pretty good. We’re always talking about stuff but I think he’s kind of got his own thing. I don’t really want to give him too much advice because I don’t want to jinx him, you know? He says that JSR is always telling him to do stuff, like he has big feet and he’s always hanging his feet out in the corners and JSR is always telling him to keep his toes on the pegs and stuff so he doesn’t twist his ankle. And then Colton says, “I wish JSR didn’t say anything, because now I’m thinking about it [an ankle injury] when I’m riding.” So I just don’t want to tell him too much. He’s just on a roll; I think he can go faster. In Regina, he came off that first moto and he wasn’t even sweating. I think he’s got everything under control.

I know you’re really good at Moncton and Sand-Del-Lee. Which tracks are you looking forward to?
Yes, I’m looking forward to Moncton. I did pretty good there last year, I think I had the fastest lap going into the first moto and had first pick at the gate so I’m pretty stoked about that. Last year at Sand-Del-Lee, I think JSR had it by like a tenth of a second so I was pretty close there as well. I know Tyler is going to ride good at Sand-Del-Lee. Colton hasn’t been the greatest in the sand so hopefully he picks it up there. 

How’s your brother Grant doing? He had a nasty wrist injury at this time last year.
Yeah, he’s riding now. His wrist is not so good but he can ride still so that’s pretty good. If you can ride, you’re good [laughs].

Not too long ago, you hit quite a few AMA nationals during breaks in the Canadian series. What’s your feeling on that? Do you think the younger guys should be doing that or do you think it would hurt their confidence?
Yeah, that’s a tough call. When I went down, I didn’t expect to win or anything but I think for the young guys it would be a confidence deflator. You go down there thinking you’ll do all right and finish outside the top 20. Those guys go pretty quick down there. Kind of the same thing that happened to Dusty—do so well here and then go down there—it’s not the same, it’s pretty intense down there. 

OK, thanks a lot Blair and good luck in Nanaimo.
Thanks.