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WINDHAM_E
PROFILE: KEVIN WINDHAM
In the war that was his 1999 racing season, Kevin Windham's brilliance eventually won out over the injuries and bad breaks that dogged him most of the year.
Things looked good at the beginning of the season, Windham's first year with Team Honda. He finished fourth behind a tide of Honda red that swept the season's first Supercross in Anaheim. Running as high as third in the Supercross points chase after that, Windham won his first stadium main event for Honda in Tampa. Then he did it again two weeks later in Dallas. Championship hopes brightened after back-to-back second-place finishes in Daytona and Houston, but a trip over the handlebars in practice ended Kevin's season at round 11 in Minneapolis with a broken collarbone.
Healthy again for the season's first motocross National at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, California, Windham nailed the holeshot and then crashed hard, jabbing himself in the thigh with his own handlebar. "After the crash, my leg was so badly bruised I thought I'd broken it," he says. "I ended up taking three points home from that race, and I only lost the National championship by 29 points. You get 25 for a moto win. Looking back on it, that was my season right there."
Down but far from out, Windham fought back with an overall win at the next round at Prairie City. From there, stubborn determination, two wins and two podium finishes had Windham second in the points and closing on the title. With three races left, every moto was a championship for Kevin. He was third at Steel City, swept both motos for the overall at Broome-Tioga and came home second in the season finale at Steel City. Despite six moto wins, nine top-five finishes, and eight holeshots for the season (more than any single rider), the fall at Glen Helen had in fact cost Kevin the title. His 406-point total and four overall wins-the most of any rider in the series-put him in second place overall. For a lot of racers, that would be good enough. Not for Kevin Windham.
"Being second last year means just one more spot I need to get: first," Kevin says. "It's not like I'm regretting anything that's happened. I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing. I'm 21 now, so every year it seems like I'm physically and mentally a little closer to winning championships. That's what I'm here for." As if to reinforce that point, Windham proved American motocross riders are still the best in the world, qualifying fastest and taking the overall victory at the 1999 U.S.G.P. held last September in Budd's Creek, Maryland.
When your job is beating the best motocross racers in the world, there is no off season. Get off the bike after the last motocross race in September and start training for the first Supercross in January. Judging by his pre-season training week, Windham is ready for anything.
"I'll lift in the gym on Tuesday and Thursday. Then I'll double up with riding and running whenever I can. The only way to train for riding a motorcycle is by riding a motorcycle, so I ride at least three days a week, then run or ride a mountain bike the other three days," he says. How hard do you have to work to hang with Kevin Windham? Let him tell you.
"I have 85 acres back home in Mississippi with different tracks we've built to train on. For Supercross? I'll ride a few warm-up laps, then ride every possible situation that could develop at an event, right down to a worst-case scenario. I'll ride an eight-lap heat race, then pretend I didn't finish high enough to make the main event and ride a six-lap semi, pretend I didn't make that either and do a four-lap last-chance qualifier. Then I ride a 20-lap Supercross main event. It usually adds up to something like 50 to 55 laps. For motocross I'll warm up, just like practice before a race, then ride two 40-45 minute motos," Windham says.
In terms of actual racing, the two different disciplines in which Windham competes are even more different than the training necessary to prepare for them. Supercross races are generally run in stadiums over diabolically tough man-made tracks. Motocross races run outdoors over Ma Nature's nastiest work. But that's just the beginning. "Put 20 or 30 bikes on a track that fits inside a football field and everything happens pretty quick," Windham says. "Everything about Supercross is explosive. You need an explosive start, you need that first blast to get out of the starting gate into the first turn, then all your timing has to be spot on. Jumping a foot too far or too short can be ... costly."
"Motocross is more a case of manhandling the bike. Speeds are higher, but bigger tracks mean there's more room," says Windham. "You can afford to be a little more relaxed and let the race come to you. Getting the holeshot is less important in motocross, but starting in the top five or eight is vital. There are a lot of slow-starters out there, but with the motos lasting 35 minutes instead of 20 or so in a Supercross race, those guys can put in their fast laps at the end and still run up front."
Indoors or out, Team Honda makes sure Windham has all the tools to run at the front wherever he goes. "The 2000 CR250R is basically new from the ground up," he says. "I have an outstanding relationship with my mechanic, Alley Semar. We grew up together. He can always read me. Sometimes I come off the track and I don't even have to tell him what I'm thinking. He knows what tire I want in a certain situation and things like that, just from watching me ride.
"Everyone on the Honda team is fun to be around, and since you spend more time with the team than your family, they get to be like your family. We have a totally positive team environment because that's what it takes to win races."
After the road he's traveled in 1999, strong has a one-word translation for 2000. In Kevin Windham's book, a strong year is a championship year.
STATISTICS: KEVIN WINDHAM
1999
• 7th AMA 250 Supercross
• 2nd AMA 250 National 1998
• 4th AMA 250 Supercross
• 8th AMA 250 National 1997
• AMA Western Regional 125 Supercross Champion
• 2nd AMA 125 National
• 18th AMA 250 Supercross 1996
• AMA Western Regional 125 Supercross Champion
• 2nd AMA 125 National
• 19th AMA 250 Supercross 1995
• 5th AMA Eastern Regional 125 Supercross
• 16th AMA 250 National
Born: February 28, 1978 Baton Rouge, LA
Residence: Centerville, MS
National #: 14
Began riding: 1981, age 3
First race: 1981, age 3
Training: Weight lifting, running, BMX and mountain biking
Hobbies: Flying
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 185 lb.
Marital status: Single
Current race bike: Honda CR250R
Mechanic: Alley Semar
WINDHAM_E
PROFILE: KEVIN WINDHAM
In the war that was his 1999 racing season, Kevin Windham's brilliance eventually won out over the injuries and bad breaks that dogged him most of the year.
Things looked good at the beginning of the season, Windham's first year with Team Honda. He finished fourth behind a tide of Honda red that swept the season's first Supercross in Anaheim. Running as high as third in the Supercross points chase after that, Windham won his first stadium main event for Honda in Tampa. Then he did it again two weeks later in Dallas. Championship hopes brightened after back-to-back second-place finishes in Daytona and Houston, but a trip over the handlebars in practice ended Kevin's season at round 11 in Minneapolis with a broken collarbone.
Healthy again for the season's first motocross National at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, California, Windham nailed the holeshot and then crashed hard, jabbing himself in the thigh with his own handlebar. "After the crash, my leg was so badly bruised I thought I'd broken it," he says. "I ended up taking three points home from that race, and I only lost the National championship by 29 points. You get 25 for a moto win. Looking back on it, that was my season right there."
Down but far from out, Windham fought back with an overall win at the next round at Prairie City. From there, stubborn determination, two wins and two podium finishes had Windham second in the points and closing on the title. With three races left, every moto was a championship for Kevin. He was third at Steel City, swept both motos for the overall at Broome-Tioga and came home second in the season finale at Steel City. Despite six moto wins, nine top-five finishes, and eight holeshots for the season (more than any single rider), the fall at Glen Helen had in fact cost Kevin the title. His 406-point total and four overall wins-the most of any rider in the series-put him in second place overall. For a lot of racers, that would be good enough. Not for Kevin Windham.
"Being second last year means just one more spot I need to get: first," Kevin says. "It's not like I'm regretting anything that's happened. I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing. I'm 21 now, so every year it seems like I'm physically and mentally a little closer to winning championships. That's what I'm here for." As if to reinforce that point, Windham proved American motocross riders are still the best in the world, qualifying fastest and taking the overall victory at the 1999 U.S.G.P. held last September in Budd's Creek, Maryland.
When your job is beating the best motocross racers in the world, there is no off season. Get off the bike after the last motocross race in September and start training for the first Supercross in January. Judging by his pre-season training week, Windham is ready for anything.
"I'll lift in the gym on Tuesday and Thursday. Then I'll double up with riding and running whenever I can. The only way to train for riding a motorcycle is by riding a motorcycle, so I ride at least three days a week, then run or ride a mountain bike the other three days," he says. How hard do you have to work to hang with Kevin Windham? Let him tell you.
"I have 85 acres back home in Mississippi with different tracks we've built to train on. For Supercross? I'll ride a few warm-up laps, then ride every possible situation that could develop at an event, right down to a worst-case scenario. I'll ride an eight-lap heat race, then pretend I didn't finish high enough to make the main event and ride a six-lap semi, pretend I didn't make that either and do a four-lap last-chance qualifier. Then I ride a 20-lap Supercross main event. It usually adds up to something like 50 to 55 laps. For motocross I'll warm up, just like practice before a race, then ride two 40-45 minute motos," Windham says.
In terms of actual racing, the two different disciplines in which Windham competes are even more different than the training necessary to prepare for them. Supercross races are generally run in stadiums over diabolically tough man-made tracks. Motocross races run outdoors over Ma Nature's nastiest work. But that's just the beginning. "Put 20 or 30 bikes on a track that fits inside a football field and everything happens pretty quick," Windham says. "Everything about Supercross is explosive. You need an explosive start, you need that first blast to get out of the starting gate into the first turn, then all your timing has to be spot on. Jumping a foot too far or too short can be ... costly."
"Motocross is more a case of manhandling the bike. Speeds are higher, but bigger tracks mean there's more room," says Windham. "You can afford to be a little more relaxed and let the race come to you. Getting the holeshot is less important in motocross, but starting in the top five or eight is vital. There are a lot of slow-starters out there, but with the motos lasting 35 minutes instead of 20 or so in a Supercross race, those guys can put in their fast laps at the end and still run up front."
Indoors or out, Team Honda makes sure Windham has all the tools to run at the front wherever he goes. "The 2000 CR250R is basically new from the ground up," he says. "I have an outstanding relationship with my mechanic, Alley Semar. We grew up together. He can always read me. Sometimes I come off the track and I don't even have to tell him what I'm thinking. He knows what tire I want in a certain situation and things like that, just from watching me ride.
"Everyone on the Honda team is fun to be around, and since you spend more time with the team than your family, they get to be like your family. We have a totally positive team environment because that's what it takes to win races."
After the road he's traveled in 1999, strong has a one-word translation for 2000. In Kevin Windham's book, a strong year is a championship year.
STATISTICS: KEVIN WINDHAM
1999
• 7th AMA 250 Supercross
• 2nd AMA 250 National 1998
• 4th AMA 250 Supercross
• 8th AMA 250 National 1997
• AMA Western Regional 125 Supercross Champion
• 2nd AMA 125 National
• 18th AMA 250 Supercross 1996
• AMA Western Regional 125 Supercross Champion
• 2nd AMA 125 National
• 19th AMA 250 Supercross 1995
• 5th AMA Eastern Regional 125 Supercross
• 16th AMA 250 National
Born: February 28, 1978 Baton Rouge, LA
Residence: Centerville, MS
National #: 14
Began riding: 1981, age 3
First race: 1981, age 3
Training: Weight lifting, running, BMX and mountain biking
Hobbies: Flying
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 185 lb.
Marital status: Single
Current race bike: Honda CR250R
Mechanic: Alley Semar