DIllon Alexander
You finished up the outdoor season back at Pala, how do you feel your season went?
It went good, I definitely had a lot of issues with the one lap fast kind of thing, at Pala I was having some good laps, I ran into a some little problems in my second qualifier but, I am going to keep working on it for next year. Getting the one lap fast and just going from there.
Did you do as well as you expected overall for the year?
No, I honestly came into Hangtown with my expectations a lot higher, I trained a lot before coming into Hangtown and the lap times weren’t there. I was 42nd, 43rd at Hangtown and not where I wanted to be.
Were you surprised at how fast the rest of the field of was?
I was, I was surprised at that and how everything played a factor, not getting out in front, riding behind people who didn’t jump anything, that was a big factor in not making it into the main and the pace was higher than I expected.
How many rounds did you do and was that the issue at every round?
I did 5 rounds, and it wasn’t every round, because some rounds I was closer, but still out of the mix. I never got below 50th; I was always in that 40th bracket. Some rounds I was right there. 35th -45th were within 10ths of seconds, and at Budds Creek I was way out.
What was it about Budds Creek? Was the track a lot harder than you expected?
It was not finding my rhythm in the opening laps. It took me about 10 minutes to learn the track and forgetting the lines. I had an issue learning it and getting the flow.
What is your plan for improving in 2012?
Train, I really need to get into the gym, get a gym partner and spend time at the track and get my lap times down, take 1 lap to learn the track and set my time on the 2nd lap.
So, did you have a fitness problem or a speed problem?
It was a speed issue, for sure, but you can never be in too good of shape. I really want to carry my fitness over to next year.
What is your goal for 2012, are you hitting all the AMA rounds, or staying local?
I am going to do a little bit of both. I don’t think financially I can do the whole outdoor season, but I am going to try and get to the closer events, Hangtown, Pala, Washougal, maybe a Texas, Colorado, or Millville.
If you wouldn’t mind sharing, how much did you spend last year?
I really don’t know the overall number, I know we spent about $2500 on bike transport; we were spending about $1500 a weekend on plane tickets, hotels, food, etc. $200 entries, a bike blew up. It was expensive for sure.
Do you think you have the talent to be competitive on the tour?
I do. I believe once I get in the mix I can be a top 30 guy consistently. I don’t get tired, by fitness, is there, I just don’t have the talent to throw down the 1 lap fast yet.
What do you think is going to fix that?
Training, getting onto tracks I am not familiar with and throwing down laps fast. Learning them as fast as you can
Is it a corner speed issue? Where are you slower?
I think it’s a flow thing. You need to flow around the track and not make mistakes. It’s easy at the local track to rip every rut because you know what to expect so it’s easier to flow, but you go to a new track, you can go fast, but not as fast as you need to.
If you could go back 4 or 5 years, what would you do different?
I would have started hitting bigger races sooner. I made the jump from the Dodge Amateur National as being my biggest race to the AMA Pro series. I think I would get down to Southern California to get access to more tracks.
Who is helping you these days?
GoBigMX butt patches, Carmichael Honda, Leo Vince Exhaust, Fly Racing, Coker Precisioj Graphics, Honda Pro Oils and Chemicals, NoToil, Works Connection, Oakley, C4MX, A01 and my family. Keep an eye out for DillonAlexander.com
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