Catching Up With… Trey Canard

elmo

• January 09 2009
• 2,886 views
• 10 comments

Perusing around the factory Supercross test tracks on Wednesday, we found Geico Powersports/ Honda rider Trey Canard putting in his final moto of the day aboard his #39 machine.  After pulling off the track, and listening to some tips and stories from the King of Supercross himself, Jeremy McGrath, Trey spent a few minutes to tell us his thoughts on the opening round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series and his outlook for the season ahead.  

Interview by Bayo Olukotun

So, how did A1 go?

A1 did not go how I wanted it to, but it obviously could have gone a lot worse and I came out of there with, I think, seven points.  You know, last year I won the championship by three points, so I’m not going to say that’s enough, but its better than not having any.  Things didn’t go my way at all, I had two freak things happen that were just kind of bad luck.  I did everything I could possibly do but things just weren’t happening for me that night.  But, overall it was good for me to come out of it and turn it around in and look at this weekend in a positive way.

Why the switch to the West Coast from the East Coast?  You had the championship over there, so why the decision not to defend it?

There’s a rule in the FIM that says if you win a championship, one only have one time to defend it, and I believe I can ride Lites (250s) again if I don’t defend it so that’s one of the reasons.  But another reason is that I was feeling good so I figured why wait when I am ready right now?  I felt that I was prepared and I still think that I’m prepared, I just kind of had a rough weekend.  I feel really good on the bike, and that my bike is one of the best out there, if not the best, so it was just a freak race.  Everyone is going to have one, it’s a long series, and all I can do right now is put my head down and focus on race to race.

Are you approaching this year any different than last year?  Especially with start of the season, you started off on such a high note and you really went with that momentum, but is your approach any different since you are up against different riders, although you have raced against them in the Nationals?

Not really. I’m just going to go out there and do the best that I can, give it 200%, and be as ready as I can be every weekend.  Last year was definitely like a fairytale story; you just don’t see that happen too much.  Everything was just clicking for the first three rounds.  The way the year is going right now, I’m going to have to prove myself.  I’ll have to dig through the tough times; I’ve had the good times, so maybe its time for some bad times.  I just want to turn this thing around and get some good points at Phoenix. 

I saw you speaking with McGrath just a few minutes ago.  Can you tell us a little bit about his role in testing here? It also sounded like he was giving you some pointers after watching out on the track. 

I have not seen Jeremy too much this year.  He has been in Australia, doing his own thing.  It’s still really cool to come out here, and when he is here just to see him.  Man, I’ve looked up to the guy since I was super little so just to know him and see him around is super-cool for myself.