Note: This interview was done at the High Point National in 2005.
HANGING WITH HAMMY
If you think of Cinderella stories in motocross recently, one story comes to mind, the story of Sean Hamblin. Sean went from an Amateur Champion in 1999 to Western Canadian National Champion in 2000. He moved to the AMA/EA Sports Supercross Series in 2001 competing in only three rounds of the West Coast 125cc Class. Things went downhill from there with even talk of giving it all up. Due to an unfortunate string of injuries at Team Suzuki in 2002 a fill in ride opened up. Hamblin was given often injured Travis Pastrana’s bike to ride and impressed the team enough to get signed full time.
Sean rode for the Factory Suzuki Team up through the 2004 season. When it became apparent that his contract would not be renewed he had to scramble to put something together. He did just that and now has his own team competing in the 250 class in both Supercross and the Outdoor Nationals. I met up with the twenty two year old Californian at the High Point Round of the Nationals and had a little chat with him. Here is what he had to say.
Sean how did you first get involved in motocross?
Basically, it probably came from riding in the desert. My dad used to race in the desert and I ended up trying motocross one day. I have been with it ever since, racing at Perris and stuff like that in Southern California since I was about eight or nine years old. It has been one of those things that have stuck with me.
Was it a dream come true when you landed the Factory Suzuki ride?
Oh, for sure, because I had been struggling for awhile and nothing was really going my way and everything didn’t seem too good. When that came around it was definitely a big eye opener and something that everybody has dreamed of when they were a kid. It was definitely I goal that I achieved and want to move forward and set a few more.
How did your current team come to fruition?
Mainly the only way that it came together was Scott Sepkovic, my agent worked his butt off to get everything together at the last minute. You know we hit a few bumps in the road but definitely want to keep going and make it bigger and have more riders underneath it and keep it going. Hopefully that all happens and next year we cane have a bigger team.
You probably would rather not talk about it, but can you give us a recap of you 2004 Supercross season?
(Laughs) I wish that I could start over but we can’t do that. I got dealt the cards that I had and made the best of it. I had a few good rides and quite a few not so good rides. I am not so much bummed out about it, but it makes me want to work that much harder next year and make sure that I get the results that I am capable of getting.
How do feel going into the Outdoors?
I feel good so far, last week (Hangtown) we had a few problems and everything but all in all I feel strong. I don’t feel bad in any way. I actually feel really good and really confident with the bike. We have actually done some good work with it and are looking forward to some good results.
How has the internet affected you and the sport in general?
I don’t know it has its good side and bad side just like anything else. Mainly I think that a lot of the guys on the internet need to kind of cool out on the guys that are racing. These are the guys that are making it enjoyable to go to the races and watch. Giving them criticism and everything else when some things aren’t going their way isn’t right you know? A lot of these guys just sit back and hide behind their computers and won’t show their faces after they make the comments that they do. It gets a little irritating to everybody no matter who it is. Ricky Carmichael was under fire for awhile and is one of the most sought after riders and a champion. I think that everyone suddenly changes their tune when somebody does well. I think that the true fans will stick behind their riders no matter what. It is sad to say but so many people are just so two sided.
Is there anything that you would like to say to your fans?
You know, just thanks a lot for sticking behind me with the tough season that I have had so far. Hopefully we can turn it around and give them something good to cheer about.
Go ahead and give a plug to your sponsors.
Monster Energy Drink, Pro Circuit, Kawasaki, Scott at Crown AMG, Fleetwood, Scion of El Cajon, Lost, DNA, Alloy, Six Six One, Shoei, Spy, ONE, Tag Metals, Dunlop, Pro X, Works Connection, UFO, Twin Air, Hinson, Maxima, VP, V-Force, Sunline ARC, Motion Pro, Braking, Excel, RK and everyone that helps me get the truck to the races. It’s been great.
