A lot of big changes have been happening for privateer rider Devin Simonson, first off last week he got a new hair cut courtesy of Steve Matthes, in order to race the Privateer Challenge. Then in Salt Lake City he scored his best finish in 450SX. To top things off he will be packing his bags to go finish off the MXGP series. We caught up with Simonson after SLC to hear all about these exciting happenings.
Racer X: Maybe the ride of the night. Ninth place. Just kind of take me through the main event, man.
Devin Simonson: Yeah. I got a pretty good start. I’d say I was probably 12th or so, and honestly, I got a little help from a few guys. I think Kenny went out right off the start, and then I found myself in, I think I was tenth. Right on [Kevin] Moranz. Rode behind him for probably five, six, seven laps maybe. He ended up making a mistake and got a little cross-rutted and landed on some hay bales. So that moved me up to ninth, and just rode it in from there. Career best on the 450. Almost career best overall. So, I’m stoked on it, man. It was sick.
Of course, a couple guys are out, so you get some spots, but what kind of confidence boost is it to just finish in the top ten in a 450 main event? It’s got to feel good, right?
Yeah, man. It feels awesome. I don’t want to sound cocky when I say this, but I feel like I knew I had it in me, especially like you said, there were a few guys out. So that makes a big difference. It’s a big one, for sure.
What did you think of the track conditions throughout the day? It got slick, and tacky, and slick. It was kind of back and forth a little bit.
For practice, it was a little dry, but I honestly thought it was pretty good. Then the heat race came around and it was slick for heat two. It was slick, but I still thought it was good. The main line was pretty solid. I was kind of nervous before the main event. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I went out for the sight lap, and I was like, ‘Dude, the track is sick.’ It was good.
How much do you have to thank the haircut for this ride tonight?
Probably a lot, honestly. Kept me cool, man. That whole thing with Steve, it was awesome. I’m thankful to be able to get put in that race.
[Note: Simonson got into Steve Matthes' PulpMX/Yamaha LCQ Challenge race for privateers last week, but under the condition that he let Steve cut his massive head of hair, and then keep the horrible style running through Salt Lake City. Yes, this happened.]
New SM Action KTM signing, going to Europe. First of all, how does this come about? Where did that come from?
Honestly, a few of my good buddies, they’re from Europe and they got in contact with them, and the team got in contact with me I think last Monday. It’s been like a snowball pretty much ever since then. Signed the deal and I’m headed over there Wednesday next week.
Before you even got this call or anything, did you ever entertain it, like it would be fun to do GP’s someday? Or just off the wall completely?
Yes and no. I feel like it’s always like, ‘Oh, yeah, I’d love to go race at MXGP, go see the world and stuff’ I never really thought it would happen. I was honestly trying to work something out for outdoors here. Then they called me Monday and I was like, ‘Let’s do it, man. I’ll be over there as soon as I can. I got to race this Saturday and I’m free pretty much after that.’ So, it should be sweet.
Going over there, it’s a whole new world, whole different ballgame, of course. What do you even think about expectations-wise? You just going to go learn? Or what are you going to do?
My first race is Kegums, so I think I have twelve rounds. Honestly, I want to take the first two, three, maybe even four, and just learn. But honestly by the end, I want to be clicking off some good results. Not only for myself, but for the team as well. I feel like they’re taking a pretty big risk bringing me over. It’s definitely not cheap and not easy. Just do as best as I can, really.
Have you scoped out the calendar enough to be like, ‘Oh, I really wanted to see this track. I’m excited to go to, whatever,’?
Yeah. I’ve scoped it out a little bit. I think the one that I’m pretty nervous about is Vietnam. We got a race in Vietnam. I’m not even sure about that. It’s on the calendar, so that’s the one that caught my eye. Like, Vietnam, really?
Europe is known for having a few deep sand tracks. I think they are going to be mostly them, but Kegums you’ll have. I think you’ll do Lommel, too. So, what’s your expectation for tracks like those, too?
Yeah. Lommel, man. Those 35 minutes are going to be long. Like I said, I think that’s going to be my… I’ve already counted it out. I think it’s the sixth or seventh round for me. So, by then I think there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be clicking off good results, even on a sand track. It’s going to be gnarly, but we’ll see how it goes.
Then I believe it’s an Italian team, so are you going to be based out of Italy or are you going to Belgium?
I’ll be based out of Italy when I first get over there. They said wintertime I’ll be based in Belgium, so I’m not sure when their wintertime is exactly. So, whenever wintertime comes around, we’ll be in Belgium.
What are the expectations of, ‘I get to travel the world and see all these cool places,’? That’s got to be pretty fun, too.
That’s like the one thing that really caught my eye. That’s going to be awesome. I’ve never been outside of the US other than Canada, which I don’t really consider that because we’re still connected. But it should be sweet. Showing off the new haircut!
