Catching Up With…Jon Mitcheff

Chris

• February 04 2009
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• 11 comments

Jon Mitcheff is now one of the winningest mechanics to ever spin a wrench in the Supercross pits. As Ryan VIllopoto’s longtime mechanic, Mitcheff has more championships than most will ever see. Now that his young rider has graduated from Mitch Payton’s school of champions, Mitcheff has made the move up, as well, to the Monster Energy Factory Kawasaki team. With a new bike, new challenges, and a new semi to pit out of, Mitcheff and Villopoto are setting news goals together in 2009.

Everybody’s had attention on Ryan’s transition. How’s your transition been from the 250 to the 450?

It’s been good. It was slow at first because it was a whole new bike. It’s not too much different from a 250F. Overall it’s been a smooth transition. Factory Kawasaki does do things differently than Pro Circuit. Over here it is pretty laid back. Over at PC, it’s pretty high-intensity; Mitch sets a pretty high standard over there. There is a high standard here too, just more laid back. Everybody has a job here and they do it, ya know. Where over there, you had a lot of jobs; over here you have one job and you stick to it. Other than that, it’s going pretty smoothly since race season started.

You’ve been championship mechanic for a lot of years now, and this year Ryan and you are growing again. Has it been a shock to go from top dogs back to rising competitors?

That’s what makes the fun of this sport. We set a lot of goals and achieved them over at Pro Circuit, so here we’re starting at the bottom again and it makes you work harder and want it more. Ryan will eventually get it, it’s just not going to come over night. So he’s still learning, I’m still learning, and that’s what makes this sport fun. That’s what makes me want to go to the races every weekend.

That’s a good point. You’re not guaranteed that win anymore, that podium spot; that has made it more exciting because you don’t know what to expect every race.

No I get just as nervous. You know, I want see him up there, and I know he works hard through the week, and we work hard at the shop through the week. When he didn’t get on the box for a few races, he was bummed, I was bummed, everybody was bummed! I know he can get up there, and he knows he can get up there. It’s just learning, and once he gets it figured out, he’s gonna get up there.

Has working on the 450 sent you any curveballs? Or has transition been pretty seamless?

It’s pretty similar, just the motors a lot bigger, a lot more parts in the motor compared to a 250F. You could do one of those in your sleep, but 450 has more parts and it takes a little longer to learn it, because I really didn’t do a lot of 450 motors at Pro Circuit. But other than that, it’s been pretty smooth.

Have your responsibilities with the bike been a little different since coming under the Monster Kawasaki tent?

No, not really. Well, I don’t have to build race engines anymore. At Pro Circuit everyone is required to build his own race engine. Now, Ryan has his own engine guy [Rick Ashley]. But when he gets a little bit behind, I’ll help him tear a motor apart and clean it and lay it out. But Rick is my engine guy, and I’m basically in charge of the chassis and practice bikes–that’s it. Rick does the motors & that’s it. I don’t have to worry about building an engine the very first day I get back to the shop. Where at Pro Circuit we built engines first, and then built our race bikes after that.

Predictions for the rest of the season… Hopes? Goals?

The hope is to be on the box. I can’t give any predictions; I’m kind of superstitious, so I don’t predict anything. I hope to see him on the box every week and keep improving. He’s improved every race so far and I hope he just keeps improving after that.