Five Minutes with … Kyle Keast
AUGUST 12, 2008

By Danny Brault

Well, Kyle Keast didn’t leave Sand Del Lee with the moto sweep like he had hoped, but he was close. The Machine Racing Honda rider made it onto the box for the second time this year, finishing 5-2 for third overall behind Facciotti (1-1) and Klatt (3-3). As is the standard with Keast, he had to endure two come-from-behind efforts to achieve those results. The first moto saw Keast down in the first corner with another rider’s foot caught in his spokes. By the time he got going, the pack was long gone. But, as we’ve seen the #8 do so many times, he put his head down, pushed forward and within a few laps, he caught up to 10th place. He eventually finished fifth behind Nick Wey. Moto two saw Keast with a top-10 start (which is like a holeshot for him) and he passed everyone except for Facciotti for second-place. The working-class hero is now only 10 points back of fourth in the series.


RXC: Kyle, it was great to see you back on the box again at Sand Del Lee.
Kyle Keast: Yeah, it felt really good. It definitely feels nice to be back on the podium again, finally. I was hoping to do it more often but it had to come at the end of the year.

How much different is it coming back east and racing on local tracks where the fans know you and are behind you?
Oh, it’s great! When you’re out west, you don’t know many people and you don’t the tracks or dirt as much. When I come back to Ontario, my friends and family are there, and it always helps when everyone is cheering for you on the track.

I know you were going into the weekend looking for a win, but you came up a tad short. You had some bad luck in that first moto, what happened?
I went into the first corner and got tangled up with another rider and he had his foot stuck in my wheel so I had to wait until he got his foot out. It took me a while to get going and I think I was a good 45 seconds down. By that point, you can’t catch the top four guys.

It only took four or five laps before you caught up to the top-10. How do you make up so much time so fast?
I put my head down and went for it. When you’re coming from that far back, there is nothing to lose, and you can hold it wide open and ride a little bit on the edge. When you have that anger in you, you’re pissed, yelling swear words and what not [laughs].

So you’ve been angry in almost every moto this year [laughs]?
[Laughs] Yeah, pretty much.

So now all we need to is agree on a nickname for Keast. We have three to chose from: "Kyle The Welder," "The Dozer," or "TimBit Train."

photo: Lissimore

In the second moto, you must not have been quite so angry as you had a decent start.
I think I was, like, eighth, after a couple of corners anyways. For me, that’s a decent start. [Tyler] Medaglia was in front of me and he picked off a couple of guys really quick. I think Nick Wey was in front of us and we both passed him. Both of us caught [Blair] Morgan and [Dusty] Klatt and then he was coming through the inside sweeper—and the lap before that I noticed he was swapping a bit through there and believe or not, I was taking the smoother line—and he went down. I saw Morgan up ahead and charged for him and passed him. By that time, Klatt had pulled a gap on us, but I caught him with three laps to go and made a nice pass on the outside of a corner.

It seems we see you and Blair Morgan together in every moto, every practice and every qualifier. What’s going on? Is he showing you the fast lines?
We got some team tactics going on with Honda and Yamaha [laughs] and he’s helping me with line choices and stuff like that. Nothing is really going on. Everybody knows how good of a rider Blair is and he chooses good lines and he’s a good guy to judge your speed off of. In practice, I like to get out with him because, at the end of the moto, he’s always one of the fastest guys. He picks some creative lines and then I see what he’s doing and try passing him.

You’ve proved to everyone that you can ride all types of conditions and soil this summer, but you still seem more confident when you hit the sand.
I just feel really comfortable in sand. If you go down in sand, it doesn’t hurt as much. In my mind, I don’t really care if I cartwheel in sand; it doesn’t hurt as much as the hard pack stuff. I’m not saying anyone’s out of shape, but sand plays a big part in our fitness level and I use that to my advantage. I’m hoping that everyone is going to get tired in the last five laps where I can keep pushing.

It must feel nice to race close to home and have a little sleep-in after a big race.
[Laughs] A little sleep-in? No, I got up at four o’clock just like everyday and went to work. My dad and I left for work at 4:30.

You’ve had your best summer yet, Kyle. I’ve got to think that your name is on some teams’ shortlists for 2009. Are you talking to anyone?
I definitely want something where I don’t have to worry about planning all of the decisions on my own. I have John Nelson doing everything he can possibly do with the bikes and my dad working on them, but with everything else like travel, hotels, and fuel, I have to figure out. I’d just like to have a plane ticket already booked or whatever. I want that feeling of not worrying about anything but riding the bike. I haven’t talked to anybody and nobody has approached me though.

Give some love to those helping you out this year, Kyle.
Definitely. Machine Racing and John Nelson have been a huge help as always, Honda Canada, LGS Suspension, Podium Grafix, Pirelli, Scott, No Fear, Pro Circuit, SJG Fourwinds, Hoek Van Holland Landscaping, my parents, my sister, West 49, and my girlfriend and everyone who supports me, thanks.