HIGH FIVES WITH FUTURE WEST HEAD HONCHO JAMIE HELLAM
October 31, 2007
With the first round of the British Supercross championship only three days away, what better way to celebrate the fact is to speak to Future West head honcho Jamie Hellam and get the low-down on what’s happening at this years round.
No Cardiff this year but after speaking to Jamie that could change in the next few years – take it away JH.
MOTO: You’ve been running SX events in the UK now for donkey’s years, what’s been your favourite memory?
JH: My favourite memory has got to be the first year at Sheffield when the lights went out, knowing we had MC out on the track after so much speculation about his appearance waiting for the spot light to show up on him was a hair raising experience - I Still love it when the lights go out and we introduce our riders!
MOTO: If you could have any rider in the world riding at your events who would it be and why?
JH: It's got to be RC - if you have ever witnessed RC race before you will know why - the guy is named the G.O.A.T for a reason. Believe me when I say we have tried and tried and tried to get RC over but it just never worked out. Maybe now that he has retired from serious competition we have a shot - when he gets better of course.
MOTO: Over the last few years some of the tracks have taken a bit of stick, what have you got planned for Sheffield?
JH: And rightly so it's been a learning experience over the past 11 years without the continuity of a regular track builder and also the different dirt we have experienced at different venues over the years. I think by bringing over the best in the business in Rich Winkler and Dirt Wurx this year and last we have shown that we are committed to put on the best events for all riders Auto to Pro's - Wink is the man when it comes to Supercross.
MOTO: Jeff Alessi is appearing, how come Mike didn’t want to make the trip?
JH: We were told that Mike's commitment to Makita Suzuki included testing on Sheffield weekend unfortunately. Hopefully we can see Mike back over in the UK in the near future. This year's Sheffield line-up is very well rounded and we are excited to see Jeff back at Sheffield going for it against all these great riders.
MOTO: Looking back in hindsight do you think the Cardiff Millennium was just too big a venue for the UK SX scene?
JH: No - you know I don't think it is - there were a few reasons for its downfall. Number 1 we made a couple of bad choices as far as hiring people to help us manage the event and Number 2 the way it worked out the first round of World Supercross fell on the Cardiff weekend. I think had we been able to lure some higher profile riders the attendance would have been better. It is definitely something we will revisit in the future. We have learned a lot from the mistakes we made with Cardiff and have paid tremendously for the experienced we have gained from the events. We would love to be back at Cardiff. The period of stability with Supercross in the UK that we are experiencing right now is key to the re-growth of the sport.
MOTO: Many thanks for that Jamie – see you at Sheffield.
Tickets are still available; please visit http://www.fwsx.com for more information on this year’s championship.
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