Baptism by Fire....(and Rain and Crazy Blockpasses)
Two Weeks and Two Races for the
USA’s Ryan Kearns racing in France
June 20 2011Mountain View, California
It's 4am.....
it's waaay too early to be trying to talk and type at the same
time.....but when you have a 9 hour time difference, 1pm
there....(France) becomes 4am too darn easily here in
California. The 9 hour time difference is totally fair to ONE
of us as I'm calling to chat with the only Pro Supermoto racer
competing outside of the USA
in the form of 16 years old, "Flyin'" Ryan Kearns.
First, a little
background on Ryan and how this all came together. At 16 years
old you might assume that Ryan is another recent convert from MX
or another discipline where he raced since he was really young,
but no, Ryan has been focused and committed to racing Supermoto
almost since the time Supermoto became a Pro series here in the
USA
in 2003. Ryan has been fast since day one and is currently
leading the SupermotoUSA Pro Series in the Open Pro Class.
Along with
being super committed to racing Supermoto Ryan has also been
very focused on getting over to Europe
to race there. Numerous times Ryan would ask me how he could get
a ride over there and I told him there are a ton of good teams
over there and I knew he had the talent if given the chance.
The opportunity really came together via Ludovic Lucquin, whom
I'd known through the CHM Supermoto associations, and having
stayed with him this past October when I went to Mettet, Belgium
for the Superbikers event. Ludovic, who runs the multi-time
French National Supermoto Championship winning team, Luc1
Supermoto Racing, wanted to bring his S3/250 class champion,
Fred Guerin, over to the USA
to ride in the 4 round SupermotoUSA Pro series....(Fred won the
first two rounds in the 250 class and is not far behind Ryan in
the 450 class).
Ryan, as
is his nature, became buds with his competitor, Guerin......
Ludovic recognized a talent when he saw one.....one of his three
riders from last year, Guillame Flandin, had broken his leg
recently and there was room for Ryan..... and VOILA! After
Ryan's stellar rides at Infineon Raceway in May the deal came
together and Ryan's folks made flight arrangements to get their
boy on a flight to Paris
just days before the first round of the French Championship!
With the deal
done, Ryan was on a flight from San Francisco
to Paris
with a stop in New York
on Sunday June 5th. No problems and the next day Ryan arrives at
the Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris
where he is picked up by Ludovic's dad, Jean-Claude, and off
they go on the 90 minute drive to the Luc1 "compound".
SMO: So Ryan,
what did you do when you got to France??Were you beat from the flight??What about the scenery and countryside?A whole other world?
Ryan: Dude..... I was beat but the adrenaline of being in a new
world and actually beginning to live my dream of racing in
Europe, and the fact that it was actually happening, kept me
awake for a while...... till I dozed off in the car for a
little. Yeah..... the countryside, the cities, all of it is like
driving through a text-book. It's really another world from
America.
Really beautiful.
SMO: So what
did you do those first days??You're living with Ludovic? correct?
Ryan: Got to Ludovic's on Monday morning/afternoon....(June
6th), and everyone was super nice, super friendly. Just got
unloaded and unpacked and somehow stayed awake till like around
9pm when the exhaustion.....(and the good home cooked dinner)
caught up to me and I was OUT! Next day was pretty cool as I
went with Ludovic to get sized for the team leathers at IXON
which is one of the major sponsors of the Luc1 Team. The
leathers are really nice and fit great. It was really cool
getting treated like a factory rider. That was Tuesday, then
Weds we got the big rig prepped and organized. The Luc1 rig is
pimp. Everything is top shelf. Thursday we hit the road and
headed for Roche de Glun, where the first race was at.
SMO: So give
the readers out there an overview of race weekend #1. THREE main
events right?
Ryan: Yeah..... first off since this is the
first year that they are combining the S1/450 and S2/Unlimited,
there were like 120 riders trying to make the 32 rider grid.
It's no joke over here. EVERYONE is fast and on the gas. First I
had to qualify in the top 32 to make the "Prestige" class and
then my qualifying position would determine my grid for all
three main events. I was really happy with the bike as soon as I
got on it. All the Luc1 stuff is so well setup. The bike has a
slipper clutch and I haven't been using one on my bikes back
home but the FPM unit works really well. We adjusted a few
clickers on the suspension but I haven't done really anything
else adjustment-wise since then. In practice I felt good and I
got 14th in Qualifying. It was really hot there and riding in
the leathers makes it a little hotter though it wasn't too bad.
We ran one Main event on Saturday and I was
running pretty good but crashed in the dirt and was dead last. I
got up and caught up to the field and finished 25th I think. I
was kind of pissed but it was good to get the first main event
under my belt. Sunday in the first main I ran as high as 8th
before my rear tire started to shred and I ended up 11th. I know
I can run up there but Qualifying and starts are SO critical. I
was pumped for my second main of the day but on the start this
guy pretty much looked right at me and swung all the way across
the track and took out my front wheel on like the first turn, I
was dead last by a bunch by the time I got the bike re-started
and ended up 30th. Afterwards I went up to this guy and said
WTF???The guys answer was crazy........ he
said "I watched American SX on TV and the riders didn't seem to
mind when they got taken out by a block pass so I didn't think
it would be a problem"....... What??? I told him "I mind". It
definitely ain't SupermotoUSA over there. So I felt good about
getting the first weekend under my belt, riding with some of the
fastest riders in the world and not getting smoked.
SMO: Cool.....
the most difficult weekend is done and in the books. Back to
Ludovics??
Ryan: No. I've been staying at Fred's house. We rode some MX during this past week. Fred is hella fast on a dirt bike and so is his buddy Thomas who races Supermoto too. We've done some running and stuff like that and
just hangin' out.
SMO: So you're
pretty much the adopted son of two families now eh?
Ryan: Yep!! I was Ludovic's kid for a week and
now livin' with Fred and his family. Everyone is great. The food
is all good, having so much fun!
SMO: The press
and the girls keeping you in their eyes??lol
Ryan:
Yeahhhh a little.....(laughing)..... there has been a woman from
a French Motorcycle racing magazine that has been taking lots of
photos and I'm workin' the girls for sure. It's good to be an
American over here....(more laughing).
SMO: Round #2.
Loheac. Tell the readers what the weekend was like.
Ryan: First off it was twice as far a drive as the first race,
and then it was POURING rain when we got there this past Friday.
Totally the opposite of the weekend before. No practice on
Friday because the rain was so heavy. Qualifying, which means
everything here, was looking like it might be semi-dry as we got
ready so I went with a rain front and slick rear but just as
Qualifying started it started to pour again and I had to go to
the backup bike with rains front and rear. Qualifying pretty
much sucked as the track was so sooo slick and I never really
have raced in the rain except for the SupermotoUSA round at
San Mateo
last October, and that was pavement only which is much easier.
Dude......Qualifying.....that was like the totally worst case
scenario since I'd have to start all three mains from 26th. 1st
race I started off slow, just wanted to survive. I picked off
riders as the race went by and ended up 16th. Not bad but I knew
I'd have to do it all over again......TWICE. Race #2 I got an ok
start and then halfway through the race I got hammered going
from the pavement to the dirt. Dude ran me over the berm and I
crashed pretty hard. By the time I got going I rode hard and
passed half the field to get back up to 13th. 3rd main event got
a horrible start and was at the back and had to pass the field
again. Got 13th again which was actually really good. I feel
good about my riding and I know the times are there. I've
already been in the top 10 in times. Just need to get a good
Qualifying time at the next round and I'll be pushin' for a top
5 maybe!
SMO: Damnnn......
I can tell that you have been put through the Supermoto ringer
to say the least here in your first two weeks outside of USA!!!
AND
while competing against some of the best Supermoto racers in the
world.
Ryan: For sure..... it's been a crazy
adventure so far but I'm lovin' every second of it!
SMO: So....
beside the racing. How is the "culture shock" for you??
Ryan: I feel like I'm like the only one who doesn't speak
multiple languages here!! Everything is "different" but at the
same time I'm really really enjoying the French culture and all
the French people. Of course I have no idea what is being said
on the TV....(giggling which Ryan does alot).... MotorsTV is
cool, they broadcast the USA MX and there's lots of unique
motorsports action on that you'll never see in the
USA.
Going from
California
to
France
is incredible. Everywhere is just like another world...... I
guess 'cause it is.
SMO: So what's
up next??Next
French Supermoto race is July 9-10. You gonna just be training
and chillin' till then??
Ryan: NOPE!!Weekend after next is World
Supermoto and Ludovic has me entered in the UEM race in
Andorra.
Where is
Andorra??
SMO: MY turn to
laugh....... Andorra
is like one of the smallest countries in the world. It borders
France
and Spain
and the Andorra
race is in a very high altitude town. Very scenic but they've
had issues with the weather in the past so hopefully your
Supermoto weather will be good and not like the last race.
Ryan: GREAT!!!I'm totally looking forward to that
since it'll be part of the World round.
SMO: All right
bud....... keep up the great work. Everyone back home here is
pullin' for you to keep doing well. I know your folks are super
proud of ya and they have plenty of reason to be. I'm gonna go
back to bed. We'll do this again after Andorra??
Ryan: For sure. Tell everyone I'm havin' fun
and looking forward to getting into the top 10 for sure.....
maybe top 5 next race!!!
all of it is like
driving through a text-book. It's really another world from
Thomas who races Supermoto too. We've done some running and stuff like that and
just hangin' out.