Justin Brayton interview - CDR

The 26-year old Iowa native is a growing talent in American supercross and motocross, and despite an injury-interrupted outdoor season in the US, has been a real contender since his switch to the Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) Yamaha squad at the start of 2010. Brayton has enjoyed the support of Craig Dack Racing during his time in Australia, and ahead of his farewell appearance at Launceston's third round of the SUPER X championship he talked to JUST BIKES about CDR, supercross - and surfing!

JB: For Aussie readers who aren't familiar with you, can you briefly go over your background in motocross and supercross and how you came to be involved in the sport?

JUSTIN: Well, I grew up in a little town in Iowa in the middle of the United States that's not known for motorcycle racing, or anything, really - just cornfields! I started riding, but never really took it seriously until I graduated from high school and moved to California. I met some great people and started racing ArenaCross, which is a small series in the States. Then I got a great opportunity with a team in supercross and got some good results. My first supercross ride was for the MotoWorld Yamaha team, then I moved over to the factory KTM team, and now I'm with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), with the support of Yamaha, Muscle Milk and Toyota. They've been treating me great. I'm coming up to my second year with them on a two-year contract and I look forward to winning some supercrosses with them next year. I've been lucky enough to meet some great people and great teams that have believed in me and kept me going. I got some good results and I think I've worked really hard to get here and now I'm living the dream. I never thought I'd even be in a supercross main event, let alone be on the podium and going for wins!

JUST BIKES: Can you tell us how the deal for you to come out here and race Super X this year came about?

JUSTIN BRAYTON: Actually, last year I talked to Chad Reed when we were outdoor testing at Glen Helen (in California). He asked if I'd be interested in coming out to Australia and doing a couple of races, and I said 'Yeah, For sure, I'd love to do it'. But I ended up switching teams and things didn't work out, so I didn't come out last year, but me and my agent, Steve Aldaco back in the States, kept talking about it. Initially, I was going to do the whole series this year. We talked to Mal Peters (series promoter for Super X), but it just didn't come about. I had some other commitments in the States, so I couldn't do the whole series. But I still wanted to come out, so we worked out a deal to do the first three rounds, and I'm loving it! I actually wish I was doing the whole series. I'm going home in a couple of days, and I'm kinda bummed about that. I'm definitely enjoying my time here and racing in Super X.

JB: You've been working with the CDR Rockstar Yamaha team during your time here. Give us your impressions of the CDR crew and everything they've done for you so far.

JUSTIN: One of my motor guys at JGR actually worked with Craig Dack in the States some years ago. I hadn't met Craig or any of his guys, but I met Jay Marmont when he was in the States. They're a first-class team and the experience has been awesome. Me and Craig hit it off right away. We first met when he picked us up from the airport and we've become good friends. He runs his team as good as anyone in the States, and he's a very well-respected guy and the team's very respected around the paddock at Super X - and they should be. They've won championship after championship. For the past three years, Jay has won the outdoor championship, so I couldn't ask for anything better. Craig and all his crew, they've definitely stood up and helped out and made me feel really confident here in Australia.

JB: Even though you're riding under the JGR/Muscle Milk/Toyota/Yamaha banner, I guess you could say Jay's your team mate here. From what you've seen of him so far, how do you rate him as a rider?

JUSTIN: I think Jay's always been a great rider. He came to the US and did fairly well for KTM and then came back here and he's been doing great. I watched him a little bit last year in Super X. Obviously, he's a very talented rider and works really, really hard. Not only is he a really good rider, he's a great guy off the track and it's been fun to hang out with him around the team truck.

JB: Have you ever been to Australia before?

JUSTIN: No, this is my first time.

JB: So how have you found the whole Australian Super X experience so far, in terms of things like the tracks, and the standard of competition and riders that you've come across?

JUSTIN: It seems good. It seems really good! I think more and more people (in the USA) are wanting to do Super X and realising how big a deal it is here in Australia. So a lot of Americans want to come over, and obviously you have the Australians who are really great riders, like Chad Reed, who's been a Supercross champion, and Jay Marmont, who's very successful. There's a lot of Australian talent along with the Americans that come over. The tracks are very similar. They have a good track builder come out here and build the tracks. It's been awesome.

JB: Being your first time out here, what's been the most surprising thing you've found here in Australia. Not just in Super X, but away from the racetrack, too?

JUSTIN: It's really, really similar to the States, but I would say everyone's more relaxed, everyone's a bit more mellow. No-one's in a really big hurry. In the States, it's like everyone's in a rush. They do what they have to do and move onto the next thing and it's just 'go, go, go, go'. My nature is more relaxed, so I fit in well over here. I think it's awesome! (laughs) Another thing is the airport security. I really struggle with it in the States. You have to take off your shoes, your hat, your jacket, basically strip down and they're searching you for something every time you go through the airport. But here, you just walk through and it's pretty mellow, so I'm enjoying it. I really like the country. We've been staying in an apartment by the beach in Torquay, and it's awesome down there. I would love to come back and maybe, some day, have a place there. It's pretty neat.

JB: So what have you been up to when you haven't been riding? Have you had much downtime to kick back?

JUSTIN: Yeah, that's one of the things with coming over here. It's really hard to come to a different country, have a practice bike and do your normal schedule. So, before I signed my deal to come over, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to totally focus on getting better on my motorcycle and getting my fitness better and things like that. So, it's kind of more of a vacation, and then take the racing seriously, so, we have a lot of downtime during the week. I don't have a practise bike out here. I've still got training and I'm keeping up on that, but we've been enjoying ourselves, too. We've been out surfing a couple of times, and we'll stay down at Craig's and have a barbeque at his place a couple of times a week. It's just been fun, hanging out with Craig and his guys, I went to a horse race. I've just really been enjoying myself. I look forward to the racing on the weekend, obviously, but I've also been able to kind of take a step back and enjoy life a little bit.

JB: Being an Iowa boy originally, how did you go with the surfing?

JUSTIN: (laughs) Oh, I'm not very good! I just kind of go out and paddle around! But it's been good. I have my mechanic, Patrick Barker, out here and one of my friends is over here with me, too. So, we just go out and have a bit of fun together.

JB: Getting back on to Super X and the mixture of formats they're running at each round, you've been reported as enjoying the change in formats for each round. Is that right?

JUSTIN: Yeah. I think it's really good for me. It has kind of been my downfall - I tend to come up better at the end of the races, so I need to work on the beginning. I think anyone can go fast for the first six or seven laps, which makes the racing tighter for the fans, which is awesome. And you've got to put a lot of emphasis on your starts, getting a good start and really good lap speed. And then also your fitness comes into play. We're in the third round and this weekend there are four (races). So I think it's a little bit of both - you really have to have raw speed and, obviously, you have to have fitness. I think it's great. You never know what's going to happen as a fan. The riders will tell you they want to get a good start, but it's tough to get great start after great start and put laps together perfectly. It's really tough to do, so I'm enjoying (the challenge).

JB: After getting a few second and third podium appearances so far, are you confident you can get a win for your final appearance at Launceston?

JUSTIN: Yeah, for sure. At the first round, I came here to win and battle with Chad Reed. I holeshotted the first one, but got taken down by another rider, which was a bummer, but I came from last to fifth. In the second one, I rode with Chad for half the race or so. At the second round, I was actually really disappointed. I felt like I had the speed to win, but had a couple of crashes, which were all my errors. I think Kevin (Windham) and I were really, really close in speed, but I just made a couple of dumb mistakes. It was my fault and I was pretty disappointed over it. But I'm ready to go this weekend and go out there and ride like I know how to ride and I'm sure I can win the thing.

JB: Rain has been a factor in the first two rounds it's predicted to be wet for Launceston this weekend. Does that faze you at all? Do you enjoy riding in the wet?

JUSTIN: I don't think anyone really enjoys riding in the wet, but you've just got to have a good attitude about it and approach it the right way and I think you'll have good results. It's when you're really flipped out on it, being really bummed that it's raining and things like that, that stuff happens. That's part of racing, we're all here to race, rain or shine. I think it'll be fun.

JB: At Canberra, Josh Hansen and Kevin Windham were probably your toughest competition. Do you think they'll be the ones to beat - along with yourself - at Launceston, too?

JUSTIN: Yeah, I think so. Josh has been really quick and Kevin rode well last weekend. For sure, I think those two are the main competition, but you can't count out Marmont and guys like that. They'll be up there. And with only six laps for each race, I think you can throw anyone into the mix. I think anyone on the gate is capable of being up there.

JB: Looking at the track layout at Launceston, it's got that long start straight - almost 100 metres. So it certainly seems like speed will be a factor. As you've clocked up some pretty quick qualifying laps at previous rounds, do you think this will play into your hands a bit?

JUSTIN: Yeah, I think so. We got to ride the track for a little bit today. It looks great. That start straight is pretty long. Whether it's six laps or twenty laps, I think I'm definitely going to be up there. I look forward to being up there battling with the guys.

JB: You spent a couple of years on the KTM before switching back to Yamaha this year. Have you found the transition easy?

JUSTIN: Obviously, they're different bikes, and each of them has their own little niches, but it was fairly easy. Joe Gibbs Racing really welcomed me with open arms and helped me get comfortable with everything. But we had an all-new bike with the Yamaha. It was tough at first. We didn't know what direction we were going in, because no-one had any experience with the bike. The team definitely played their part and worked hard on it. It's been great. The transition was no problem for me.

JB: The guys at CDR were in the same boat. They developed it over Summer and Jay's had great results on it in our outdoor motocross series, as you know. It seems like it's one of the bikes to beat this year, yes?

JUSTIN: Yeah, for sure. I think it's an awesome bike. With the fuel injection, that's been a huge part of the new wave of bikes that have been going that way. It'd be weird to go back to a carburetted bike now, because the new bike is so crisp and clean. I'm definitely enjoying riding it!

JB: At this time of year, the Bercy Supercross event in France is on the radar for a lot of riders. You've podiumed at that event a couple of times and won the 'King of Bercy' crown in 2009. Are you heading back there this year?

JUSTIN: No, I'm not. I committed to the first three rounds here, then I'm also doing Geneva, Switzerland, so I'm a little bit bummed about not going back. I've been there four years in a row, came second a couple of times, and won last year. That's a really cool race and it was a pretty special night to win that. There's a lot of history behind that race, and to have my name on the winning trophy with all the great guys that have won it is pretty neat. I'm sure I'll be back there one day, but for now I'm going home to focus on getting ready for the Supercross series and testing, then go race in Geneva at the start of December, then in January it's the start of the US Supercross series.

JB: With what you've experienced of Aussie Super X so far this year, would you be keen to come back again next year?

JUSTIN: Yeah, I would love to come back again next year. I'd love to come back and do the whole series. It's so similar to our racing and our atmosphere of supercross. It's such a good series to come to. Otherwise, we'd just be riding practise tracks (in the USA). For me, I just really enjoy racing, I enjoy having the nerves and getting used to that, and dealing with the possibilities of Saturday night, whereas there's no pressure during practise days. I'm definitely willing to come back, and hopefully we can get together, sort it out and I can be here for eight weeks next year.

JB: Thanks very much for your time. All the best for Launceston. Hope you get a win and hopefully we'll see you out here again next year.

JUSTIN: Yeah, that's the plan! Thank you very much.

POSTSCRIPT

Justin made good on his prediction by winning the third round of Super X at Launceston. Over the
four-race 'Survival' format that eliminated the bottom five riders from the first three races leading into the fourth and final seven-lapper, Justin pulled off the round win after winning three out of four races. Immediately after the Launceston SUPER X round, Justin returned to the US to prepare for both the upcoming AMA SX Series, as well as his appearance at the '25th International Supercross' indoor race in Geneva, Switzerland at the start of December.

Source: JUST BIKES, December 2010, Issue #258