Team Honda’s Andrew Short really impressed me in the 2007 AMA
Toyota Motocross Championships Presented by FMF. Not only was it
his first year on the 450 in the Motocross class, Short had come back
from a long, injury-induced layoff. Taking a few races to get
going, the 25-year old was soon a regular podium guy; in particular
gathering a pretty dominant moto win in Texas - as the 2007 season wound
down, Short was in contention for his first AMA Championship!
Eventually, after all his hard work and determination to regain his
form, Andrew Short would finish third in points – not bad for the
Motocross Class rookie! With Christmas closing in, and the opening
round of the 2008 Supercross season close behind, I spent some rare
“down” time with Andrew.
Andrew, talk about what you’ve been doing since that
final moto at Glen Helen.
Well Jim, it’s been pretty much all testing for supercross since
Glen Helen. Then we headed to the U.S. Open, which was a good
yardstick to measure where I was at for the upcoming season.
Obviously, I had some run-ins with Chad Reed the last night, but overall
it was a good weekend. Right after that, I went to Japan for two
weeks, which was really cool. I did the last round of the Japanese
Motocross Nationals, held in Sugo; afterward we spent some time testing
for supercross. It was a pretty cool experience; at Honda they
have a lot of engineers that help us. It was cool to see them over
there, and see everything that they have - it was a great experience.
Following that, we went to Bercy, and raced some more. That pretty
much put us into the beginning of November, and ever since then we’ve
just been practicing a lot trying to get ready for Anaheim.
This past year you came into supercross really late
because of that severe knee injury; are you feeling “ready” this
year?
Yeah definitely; [Laughs] I feel a lot more prepared than I did last
year! I tore my ACL last year and it was basically six months away
from racing. It was hard for me to come back, especially as it was
right at the end of the supercross series - I didn’t expect much.
This year I feel a lot more prepared, and much more comfortable on the
bike. I feel like I’m adapting to the power and everything else
with the 450. I’m pretty excited about the upcoming season, and
getting ready to go racing.
I recently spoke with David Vuillemin, and he talked
about the prospect of 2008 Supercross being the best ever – do you
agree?
Yeah; I think for that podium position, it’s going to be pretty
much wide open; obviously James is going to be really fast and so will
Chad. After that, it seems like Langston will be next - then there
are too many guys to list after that! So, there’s a lot of
anticipation to see who’s actually going to be going good. I do
think after the first few races things will sort out, and it likely
won’t be as wide open; you either have it or you don’t. Last
year no one really expected Tim Ferry to be up there like he was; he
established himself as “that guy” who was on the podium, and then
everyone kind of filed in after that. It’s going to be
interesting to see who has it in them, and can be that “top guy” of
that group going for the podium.
You mentioned that James will always be fast and Chad
will be up there as well; but James was beat a few times last summer in
AMA Motocross. Is there a “chink” in his armor?
You know, I don’t see that with James; I think the only chink in his
armor is that he goes so fast, that sometimes he hits the ground and
gets hurt. Speed wise, no one’s at his level. It’s sad
for me as a rider to say that, because I do everything I can to win.
I dedicate almost everything to racing, and am improving, but it seems
like he’s always improving as well. But like you said Jim, last
year he got beat a few times; you never know what's going to happen with
racing - bikes can break, and you can get injured. It was
interesting to see what happened when James wasn’t in the race for the
Motocross Championship last year, and see how wide open that
championship was. I believe that gives inspiration to everyone
else on the line to race as hard every time they go out, because you
never know what’s going to happen. Other than him, I think
everyone else is pretty much beatable; but at this point, for me to be
on his level is pretty far off.
Do you feel that you’re where you need to be right now,
in terms of the success that you had in the AMA Motocross class, and
with the testing you’ve been doing?
Yeah, I feel like I’m really developing as a rider - especially
with my team. I’m adapting really well to the 450, which was a
hard transition for me at first. Now everything is coming together
for me and I’m really excited, but at the same time, you just never
know until you line up at the gate for that first race. Obviously
you can never be too prepared. I’m just trying to be the best
that I can right now, so when I get in that situation I can perform and
not have any letdowns. I feel confident, but at the same time,
I’m still trying to keep my head down and focused on getting better.
There have been some changes at Team Honda for 2008; you
have new teammates with Ivan Tedesco and Ben Townley - has the team
dynamics or atmosphere changed much?
For the most part, everything’s the same; I still work with all the
same people. I think the only difference is, like you said,
there’s more riders. Townley actually got hurt, so I haven’t
seen him at all; Ivan was out here for a little bit, but he’s been
primarily staying at Ricky’s (Carmichael’s) in Florida. So
really, nothing’s changed for me, but maybe it will hit me once I get
to Anaheim and everyone’s under the truck awning (laughs). I
actually think it’s a good thing with more riders; you’ve got more
opinions to develop the bike. I think it will be a good year for
our whole team.
Does Jeremy (McGrath) still work with you guys a little
bit?
Yeah, Jeremy’s been testing with us. He’s a great guy to
have around because he has so much experience in setting up the bike.
He’s somebody experienced to talk to and bounce ideas off of; so
it’s great to have him. He’s definitely busy, and he has a lot
of stuff going on, but he always makes time for all the riders at Honda
– he tries to help as much as he can.
Switching topics, you have a lot going on at home now
don’t you?
Yeah, Jacki’s pregnant and is due at the end of January; it’s all
coming up real quick and we’re really excited about it. I know
it’s going to be a great experience - and big changes. I don’t
really know what exactly what’s going to change, but I know a lot is!
Maybe this is a good point for me to ask what your game
plan is right now – with Anaheim 1 just around the corner.
We’re all so focused on Anaheim right now. I’m not going
anywhere for Christmas; were not going to Texas or Colorado (Jacki and
Andrew’s family’s homes). I have a plan on how to be my best
once I get to that race, so I’m pretty concentrated on that - I think
all the top guys are. If you’re not focused, you’re going to
get left behind; that’s the nature of this sport. But I enjoy
it; I wouldn’t be doing anything else besides riding my dirt bike - I
feel very fortunate to be able to do that. I’m having fun with
it, and just trying to get as prepared as I can for that first race -
it’s so important to come out swinging.
You said you have a plan for “that race”; can you
elaborate on that?
You obviously have to build everything up; try to peak and keep that
performance going through the whole season. So I’m just trying
to get to that point where I’m solid, and I’m confident - so when I
get to Anaheim I won’t be worried about anything. From the
physical and the technical standpoint of my riding, I’m just trying to
be as prepared as I can.
Great; with that said Andrew, thanks for your time.
Is there anything that you would like to add?
I’d like to thank all the people who are behind me at Honda – the
whole team. Also a big thank you to all my other sponsors, Fly
Racing, One Industries Helmets, Spy Goggles, Alpinestars – all those
guys really help me out. Other than that, I’m just really
excited for Anaheim to see what I have - and see all the hard work pay
off.