Brayton Earns Best Career Finish at Phoenix Supercross
1/12/2009
[Temecula, CA]This past weekend at the Phoenix
Supercross Muscle Milk/ MDK/ KTM’s Justin Brayton rode to his best career
finish in the Supercross Lites class.In Chase Field, Brayton took second place, behind only Ryan Dungey.
Aboard his KTM 250SX-F, he got off the gate
with a decent start and rode wisely throughout the event.“My team has been really
supportive of me and I am glad to get this season going,” commented
Brayton on his performance.“I am really looking forward to next weekend at Anaheim 2,”
he added.
After two rounds in to the Supercross West
Coast Lites Championship, Brayton sits nine points out of first place.Check out www.justinbrayton.com for more exciting news on the 114
machine.
Muscle Milk/MDK/KTM Factory Team riders
Justin Brayton and Ryan Sipes along with Jagermeister/MDK/KTM riders Travis Preston and Josh Summey will be signing autographs Friday January 9, 2009 at
Motohouse KTM in Phoenix, AZ from 5:00-6:00pm.
The KTM riders will be signing autographs
the day prior to the second round of the AMA Supercross Series which will be
held at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ on Saturday night.
Motohouse KTM is located at 16251 N. Cave Creek Rd.
in Phoenix, AZ 85032.
It’s
not really surprising that James Stewart
dominated the Bercy Supercross over the weekend, but what is surprising is that
MDK KTM’s Justin Brayton was clearly the second-fastest rider of the weekend in
a talent-laden field of riders such as Kevin Windham,
Josh Grant, David Vuillemin and Ben Coisy, among others. Brayton, who finished
second in all six main events over three nights, was not an amateur champion;
he put his name on the radar by racing the National Arenacross Series, which
unofficially kicked off in Des Moines this past weekend as well—ironically, in
his home state of Iowa. Still a bit groggy from his trans-Atlantic flight from
France to Philly, then on to California, Brayton took time to chat with us for
this 5 Minutes with… interview.
Racer
X:
Justin, which is better this time of year: racing Arenacross in Des Moines,
Iowa, or racing supercross in Paris? Justin
Brayton: [Laughs] I would say racing supercross in Paris. That’s kind
of always been a dream of mine to go there, and I always read about it in the
magazines. But I also love Arenacross, and that’s what got me started, that
first weekend in like 2003 in Des Moines.
The
Paris track is pretty similar to an Arenacross though, right?
Yeah, it’s like a 45-second or 50-second lap time, so that’s close to a
supercross, but it is fairly tight—but definitely not as tight as Arenacross.
This isn’t your first time racing Bercy, correct?
No, I’ve actually been there the past two years.
Well, DC and everyone else says you were definitely the second-fastest
guy behind James Stewart over there. Considering the depth of talent on the
starting line, that’s really impressive.
It was really good, just how consistent I was all weekend long. Stewart is
definitely the best in the world, and no one can beat him right now, so it’s
good for me just to get some starts with him and learn from him. I felt like I
rode pretty well. It’s a good pre-season warm-up for Anaheim I.
What
were your expectations going in?
I definitely wanted to podium a couple nights, but I really didn’t expect to be
the established second-place guy every night. I got great starts every race and
that definitely helped a lot, but going in there were a lot of big names, and
you can't count out the French guys like Vuillemin, [Eric] Sorby, [Steve]
Boniface and Coisy. And with Windham and Josh Grant, they’re really great
riders, too. I just wanted to go there and get some seat time and learn from
Kevin and James. It was good to mix it up with them.
What goes through your mind when you’re pushing your bike to the line
and you look over and see the number 14 and the number 7 lining up?
I know I’m up there and I know I need to battle with these guys. It’s always
been a dream of mine to be the best in the world, and if I’m going to do that I
need to race with them first and see what they’re doing. It was fun. The last
night, Kevin got the holeshot off me and we raced together pretty clean and had
some fun. James, obviously, was pretty far ahead, but a couple of the races I
holeshot and led James for a lap or so. It was definitely awesome to go there
and do what I did.
I’m
not sure if you were able to read the Monday Conversation we posted with James Stewart yesterday,
but he said some really nice things about you.
Yeah, I actually read that. On the flight home, DC was telling me a little bit
about it and he told me to go on there and check it out. That was actually one
of the first things I did when I got home late last night. Any time James
Stewart has something good to say about you, it’s an honor. I told him on the
podium the last night that it was just an honor to race with him and I really
respect what he does on a dirt bike.
So have you been doing anything differently lately, as far as practice
or training, or are you just getting more comfortable on the KTM 450 SX/F? I’m definitely really comfortable with the 450 – I always rode the big bike
a little bit better. But I would say mentally I turned things around the past
couple years. I’ve came from being an underdog my whole life and I’m always
overshadowed because I wasn’t a ten-time amateur champion and I came from
Arenacross. It’s time for me to be one of the guys. Sebastien Tortelli has been
working with me a lot on the track, and I hired a new trainer in Charles Dao,
and he’s helped me a lot mentally and physically. And with the help of MDK and
KTM, I’ve got a great bike underneath me and great support, and it’s time for
me to start winning and I’m up for the challenge. I’m switching back to the
Lites class now, so I’m really looking forward to the West coast.
So that’s a definite; you’re racing Lites on the West coast? Yeah, that’s definitely confirmed. I’m hopping back on a Lites bike
tomorrow morning. I actually rode some of my teammates’ bikes out at the test
track the past couple weeks, and it’s actually fun to jump back on a Lites bike
– I feel really, really fast on it. I think the 450 has helped me on a Lites
bike, so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow and the next two months to
prepare.
How was your 450 in France? They supply you with a bike, and you take
over suspension, right?
It actually works out really well with KTM being in Austria. They have a
mechanic drive me over a bike, and my mechanic Rich from here brings my
suspension and all of the necessities we need to make the bike similar to what
we have here in the States. KTM has been a big help and they really supported
me a lot to go over and do that race. Does it take a while to get the bike dialed in? Not really. It felt pretty similar. Actually, the bike I raced at the U.S.
Open and the X Games, it’s all stock. I just put suspension, bars, clamps and a
pipe on it, and I’ve been racing it like that. That’s pretty much all we did in
Bercy, too.
Looking back to Anaheim I last year, you opened up the series with a
strong third-place finish in the Lites class. Unfortunately, you were unable to
get back up on the box. What happened?
I made a lot of mistakes last year with the way I prepared for the season. I
had shoulder surgery last summer, and like five weeks before the U.S. Open I
just trained my tail off all the way until Anaheim I; I was just so excited to
get that race going. I felt like I was really prepared, but I think I
overworked myself. The week after Phoenix, I got really sick and just never
recouped from that. I couldn’t ride or train during the week, so that hurt me
mentally and physically. I felt like I learned my lesson, so that was kind of a
blessing in disguise. I’m doing things quite a bit different, so I feel I’ll
definitely be ready for all the races this year.
When the series heads east, will we see you on a 450 at those rounds? I would love to ride a 450 on the east, but it just depends where I’m at in
points. The plan is for me to win the Lites West Coast championship, so I’m
going to focus on that first, and if everything goes well, I’ll just move up to
the 450s for outdoors.
You headed back to Iowa for Thanksgiving? Yeah, I’m going to head back and see some family. My mom and grandmother
are flying to California this week to check out my house here in California,
and then we’ll go back for Thanksgiving. I won’t be able to go back for
Christmas because it’s so close to the season, but I’m looking forward to
relaxing in the next couple weeks.
I heard
you had some trouble trying to get your Bercy trophies on the airplane in
Paris...
[Laughs] Yeah, that was pretty tough. They wouldn’t let me take them
on the plane and I had to check them, so I figured they’d be in pieces when we
landed in the States, but it all turned out all right. Everything worked out
and they’re here safe and sound.
Well,
it’s good to see you up there, Justin. You have anyone you’d like to thank?
Just the whole team for helping me out and supporting me. It’s a lot of work
for everyone. Also, my mechanic, Rich, for doing all of the extra work. I want
to thank my agent, Steve Aldaco, for lining everything up, and also Eric
Peronnard for letting me come to Bercy. It’s quite an honor. I’d also like to
thank MDK, KTM, Muscle Milk, Shift, Kicker, Foremost Insurance, Ogio,
Leatt, etnies, Bell helmets, Gaerne boots, Wheel Pros and VRM.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, Michael Willard won three of the
four main events in Des Moines...
Yeah, I was just checking that out. That’s good for Willard. He’s a good buddy
of mine. Maybe in a few years he’ll be racing in Bercy!
