Transmoto Exclusive: Chad Reed's Return To Roots

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REED’S

RETURN TO ROOTS WORDS: ERIC JOHNSON

PICTURES: MONSTER ENERGY

Fifteen years on from his runner-up finish on debut in the 2001 FIM Motocross World Championship, Chad Reed makes his highly anticipated return to MXGP racing in Europe. On the eve of Reed’s rapid-fire, two-round trip, Transmoto’s Eric Johnson spoke with the 34-year-old Aussie about his expectations.

“I’m just grateful that Jan De Groot brought me to Europe and gave me a chance. I’m just a 19-year-old kid living my dream.”

The date was Sunday, September 3, 2001. The site: the sandy Circuit of Lierop in Holland. Nineteen-year-old 250cc World Championship rookie, Chad Reed, had just won the Grand Prix of Dutch Brabant, the first major international victory of his career. Atop the victory podium with factory Kawasaki team owner Jan De Groot, Reed, all the way from far-flung Kurri Kurri in Australia, had won Australia’s first World Championship Grand Prix in more than a decade. And while thrilled with the result, his mind was already elsewhere.

“I felt I could win here in the GPs,” added Reed. “Coming to Europe has been an important part of my preparation for America.”

And so it was. By the end of September, Reed was off to America in a quest to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming an AMA Supercross Champion. And we all know what happened next. Fifteen years and multiple American supercross and motocross titles later, Chad Reed is now not only one of the most successful and decorated racers of the past decade, but one of the very best riders the sport of motocross has ever seen.

But that was then, and this is now. Straight off the 2016 Monster Energy Supercross Series, where he placed a very respectable fifth Overall for Yamaha Motor Corp., Reed is now poised to return to where it really all began for him: Europe and the MXGP World Championship Series. With the urging and support of Yamaha and Monster Energy, Reed will compete in the MXGP of Great Britain on Sunday, June 19, at Matterley Basin. A week later at the Mantova circuit, the 34-yearold Australian will line up for the MXGP of Lombardia in Italy. Then, come September, Reed will also compete in both the Monster Energy MXGP of Americas at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina, and the Monster Energy MXGP of USA at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, California.

On the eve of his European trip, Reed spoke with Transmoto’s Eric Johnson about the supercross season that was and his upcoming tilt at selected rounds of the MXGP World Championship.

Equal parts enthused and intrigued to see what the two European GP dates will bring him, the man who is arguably the most popular motocross/supercross racer on Earth was ready to, well, get the show on the road. Read on...

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During his two-year stint with Kawi, Reed claimed supercross race-wins, but injuries hampered both Outdoor seasons. For 2016, Reed said he “came home” when he rejoined Yamaha, but it was the first time in 16 seasons he didn’t take an AMA SX win. Perhaps that disappointment has played a part in motivating this trip to Europe; to demonstrate that, at age 34, his desire to be competitive against the world’s best motocrossers is as strong as ever.

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“It trips me out that it has been 15 years since I’ve raced a GP. So to officially go back and do some GPs will be a lot of fun.”

Chad, you’re off to Europe to compete in two MXGP races, one in England and another in Italy just a week later. If I have it right, you have not competed in a Grand Prix since you left Europe for the United States back in the autumn of 2001, correct?

Yeah, I haven’t raced a GP since I left there doing it full-time in 2001.

Obviously, a lot has changed since then. We had a blast that year, so I’m excited about this trip. It’s not a perfect scenario. I’m probably not as ready and comfortable as what I’d like to be, but I think it’ll be fun.

I’m not going for the championship or anything crazy like that. It’s low pressure. Obviously, I want to be competitive, or as competitive as I can be, but for me I just want to go and have some fun.

Considering all that you’ve accomplished here in the US in the past 15 years, I’d imagine it has to be pretty cool to be able to return to Europe and jump back on the MXGP circuit again. You were only there for a year back in ’01, but you definitely have a history there, don’t you?

Yeah, I was only there a short year, but during that time I learned so much. I was young and everybody treated me like I was one of their own. When you’re so young and all those people were so nice and looked after us ... yeah, it was fun. Ellie [Chad’s wife] and I have great memories from that year, so I’m looking forward to this trip. Like I said, the GPs obviously have changed a lot in the past 15 years. It’s crazy. It trips me out that it has been 15 years since I’ve raced a GP. Obviously, I’ve done quite a few Motocross des Nations, and for the most part, those events are run by the same people and with the same format. So it’s not like I haven’t been over there and been involved.

Yeah, to officially go back and do a GP will be fun. And actually, the year that I was there, I never got to do a GP in England, so that’ll be cool. Wait, Ellie just reminded me I did the Motocross des Nations in England at the end of 2008 – at Donington Park. I was there, but my performance was pathetic [laughs]. In any case, it’s been a long time.

You were only 19 years old when you did that 250cc Grand Prix season in 2001. To leave Australia at that age and base yourself in Europe to try and become a champion ... man, that’s a pretty big gamble, isn’t it?

It’s one of those things. Yeah, it was a gamble. But for me it was an opportunity of a lifetime, you know? I did it how I wanted to do it.

For the most part, I ruined the relationship with my parents as I did a lot of things that I wanted to do. I wanted to do it my way and go to race GPs. I took Ellie, my girlfriend at the time, and just did things differently. It changed me for life and kind of made us who we are today. For me, it wasn’t a so much a gamble as it was an experience of a lifetime. I just always wanted to go and race on a world stage.

Obviously, my first goal was supercross because that was my priority, but the US teams weren’t hiring Australians at that time. So I had to

go and make a name for myself in the GPs first. As it turned out, it was an amazing experience. I’m glad I took the opportunity that I did, but it would have been nice to stay another year. Jan De Groot begged me to stay and try to contend for a World Championship in 2002, but I just wanted to get to the USA and race supercross at the time. Looking back on my career, it would have been cool to have given myself another shot at a World Motocross Championship.

So just how did this two-race, one-off MXGP program fall into place? I mean, it’s a lot of work and it takes a lot of effort to pull something like this off, right?

Because of my supercross-only contract Yamaha, I had some time off after that series. And with Monster needing some American-based guys to do some GPs, they asked if I would be interested in doing it.

For me, the thought of going back and doing some GPs in my off-time sounded like it’d something cool and interesting. The original plan was to take my family, but plans have since changed a little. That said, it’s a two-year thing so I plan on going back next year and taking the whole family with me. We really want to make a trip of it; so Ellie and I can go and look back on things and travel around Europe.

And there can be no doubt that the motocross fans of Europe are going to be thrilled to see you race over there – especially those who can make it out to the GPs at Matterley Basin and Montova.

Judging from my social media, everybody seems to be very excited.

England has a very strong moto following and yet we never get to race there. It seems like the UK doesn’t have any off-season supercross races anymore, so I think those fans are a little starved when it comes to seeing supercross and supercross riders. It seems like they’re really excited about this. Italy is probably one of my favorite countries in the world, so I’m excited one of the rounds is held there. I’ll be based in Italy and bounce back and forth between riding at Maggiora and Yamaha Rinaldi – the factory Yamaha team of Europe, which is based in Parma. If I have time and our schedules work, I may also head over to Tavullia to catch up with Valentino Rossi and ride at his Ranch.

I’m not just saying this because I’m talking with you right now, but to my way of thinking, you’re the most popular motocross racer in the world right now. So I think it’s good for the sport that a racer at your level can go around to different nations and meet and race for the fans. Agreed?

Yeah, for me personally, it’s a lot to take on as I’m as competitive as ever. I mean, I want to do well there. Seeing as I came from Australia and then went to Europe before heading to America to race, I do seem to have a worldwide following, so it’s nice to be able to get out and do this trip. I grew up in Australia, so anytime you wanted to do anything, you had to get on a plane to go overseas. Getting on a plane

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and seeing new people and new fans and new places is always exciting for me.

Will Michelli Rinaldi’s Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team provide you with the bikes and all the logistical support needed while you’re in Europe?

We’re fortunate that Yamaha has a really solid production bike, so we’re just, literally, taking some suspension and a few other bits and pieces with us. We plan to just run a stock engine with a pipe and an ECU on it. Those things rip. Like I said, I want to do well, but we’re just going to have some fun. I want to enjoy the experience with the fans and try and get some results while we’re there.

Have you watched any of this season’s MXGP races on television or the Internet?

I have, actually. I’ve been keeping up on it. For the most part, I keep on it more than the AMA stuff. Right now, it looks like that series is really competitive. I haven’t raced Tim Gajser or Romain Febvre, but most of the rest of them I’ve raced numerous times at the des Nations. It seems like that whole crew racing over there has stepped it up, but I think Gajser and Febvre have really lifted the level up. It seems like the pace is high. It’s the same as it is here in the US – you really need a good start to be up front and try to go with the good guys. I haven’t really ridden motocross to my full potential – or how I think I can ride it – so I’m just hoping to go get good starts and make it fun; to ride motocross the way I know I can. That’s really the biggest thing for me.

I’ll be happy just to go and tear up some outdoors and ride the way I know I can. That’s what I’m most looking forward to.

And what of Antonio Cairoli? I remember watching you two guys chase each other around during the opening moto at the 2009 Motocross of Nations in Franciacorta, Italy.

Yeah, Cairoli is one of my good friends. I talk to him all the time. He’s a good guy and I’m looking forward to seeing him. It seems like he’s been struggling a little bit with an off-season injury coming into this year’s Championship, but it seems like he’s starting to get into his stride and win some races now. Yeah, that race in 2009 ... he was the World Champion on the big bike over there and I was the AMA champ

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over here. In Italy, we had a really good battle in that first moto. So if I’m battling with him in 2016, I’m up front and that would be good thing. I’d love to go and battle with Cairoli again.

I have to ask you: way down deep, what type of results in Europe would please you?

I don’t know. I want to do well. I really, really want to do well. Since 2011, I have just stunk and really, really sucked outdoors. I feel like I’m better than that. For me, if I go and have fun and I’m riding well, I think I can surprise people. If I ride like I did the last three years, then I’ll struggle and it won’t be any fun. But that’s not the plan. The plan is to try and go and have some fun. And for me, fun is riding to my potential and running up front. That’s the goal. I just need to make the most of it. I think good starts will help me and put me in a good position. I hope to be up front and see if I can grab a tow.

In September, will you compete in the Charlotte Motor Speedway and Glen Helen Grand Prix events in the United States?

These two European GPs are held in early summer, so I’ll get to have some downtime after this. The two American races sort of fall during crunch-time, when I’m getting ready for Monster Cup, so we’ll see how those events pan out. For me, it’s like those two American rounds are so far into the future that I’m not even really thinking about them yet. I want to get through these two European GPs first. Since closing TwoTwo Motorsports, I don’t feel like I’ve gotten the break to recharge, y’know? We shut down TwoTwo and then I was excited to get a job, and the job that I wanted didn’t come that easy. In fact, it wasn’t until Anaheim I in early January that I signed my Yamaha contract. I spent the off-season with sleepless nights, trying to figure out how I was going to do it. I was just holding my breath during the off-season. I’m pumped that I got through the supercross season healthy. It was a solid year. It wasn’t stellar, but it was solid. I’m going to do these two GPs and have some fun, and then I’m going to go to Australia for a month to just recharge the batteries and let all my worries go, to be honest with you. After that, I’ll worry about those two GPs at the end of the year when I get back to the US. In the meantime, I’m excited to go over to Europe and do well. And have fun! We’ll see what happens.

“The series is really competitive.

That whole MXGP crew has stepped it up, but I think Gajser and Febvre have really lifted the level up.”

“Back in 2001, the US teams weren’t hiring Australians. So I had to go and make a name for myself in the GPs first. As it turned out, it was an amazing experience.”

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