Michael Byrne once battled with Chad Reed for the Australian SX championship. Now he battles his familiar rival on American shores, along with a couple of other guys by the name of Carmichael and Stewart.
Burner has come a long way since his epic battles during the 1999-2000 Australian season with Chad Reed and Andrew McFarlane. He's now cashing a big paycheck across the pond as he tries to find success on American soil. Although the 1999 Australian SX champ is making a comfortable living, he's constantly found himself in the shadow of other riders. The world sees him as the second-fastest Australian and the second-fastest member of Team Kawasaki. It's actually not a bad position to be in, considering that Reedy was the 2004 AMA Supercross Champ and no one could beat him, and James Stewart is largely held as the only guy that really has a shot of dethroning Carmichael this year, both indoors and out.
But Byrne is still ultra-competitive and trying to improve on his results and his public image. When asked by Kawasaki to race the all-new 450 four-stroke, he jumped at the chance and thought it would be a good change.
"I thought it would be something new and fun," he said just before the 2006 season got ready to start. "I love to ride four-strokes! Back in Australia I used to ride a four-stroke, and the new Kawasaki has been awesome. It took them longer than expected to get it finished, but it's been worth the wait. It has great power, and I think it suits my style more. With two-strokes you have to be aggressive, but my style is smooth and precise. It is a little heavier, but they are working on that."
Burner's four-stroke debut came this past October at the U.S. Open where he got great starts and battled with Ricky Carmichael for a while. By most accounts, it was one of the best races in the U.S. for the transplanted Aussie.
Attention to Byrne's success, like his second-place finish at the U.S Open, sometimes gets overshadowed by his teammate Bubba's.
"I wasn't too sure how it would be on such a tight track," said Byrne. "But there was no pressure, and it was a fun weekend. It ended up being real good, and I rode well. I got good starts, and that was really important there."
Pressure, however, does seem to surround Burner even though he tries his best to ignore it as much as possible. He's always compared to Reed, and with Stewart out so much this past season due to injuries, the entire Kawasaki race team traveled to most of the events just to support him and his number 26 works machine. However, when asked about who he would choose for his teammate, if he could pick one, he said it would come down to Bubba or RC.
"Bubba is a young kid and excided about racing," said Burner. "He's very motivated, but he likes playing around, especially with karting. To be honest, James is a really good teammate. I learn a lot off him, and it would be the same of Ricky. It can definitely help you out with your riding. As for all the hype surrounding Bubba, you can look at it a couple ways. You could be bummed because you are not getting full attention, but the way I look at it, if they are there to see James, they see my bike as well. Him being popular allows other people to see me as well. And when I do well, it all comes back around. That's why I train so hard."
Byrne, who considers himself equally talented indoors and out, seems to be fairly impressed at all of Stewart's and Reed's accomplishments.
Byrne didn't have a problem when Kawasaki unleashed the KX450F. In fact, the Australian feels that the four-stroke style better fits his own.
"I think Chad has done really well," he added. "Chad deserves the publicity, and he's won two championships over here. It's not like he hasn't deserved it. Sometimes I feel I should get more publicity, but I have to get better results, I guess."
Byrner knows the PR game all too well. As a child, he grew up idolizing Jeremy McGrath and Jeff Emig. He used to watch them as a kid, and he knew that superstardom was only possible for those who could consistently make the podium at U.S. stadium races.
"I watched McGrath and Emig when they were young kids, and that was a big motivator for me. I would try to copy what they did on a bike, and that helped me a lot. They were creative, and would do things that no one in Australia thought was possible. I'm actually really proud to be where I'm at right now, but I don't think that I've reached my full potential. I plan on racing another five or six years, and that is a lot of time to improve."
And when Burner does call it a career, the speedster wants to retire back home.
Like most riders racing nowadays, as a kid Byrne idolized Jeremy McGrath and Jeff Emig.
"I miss home because that's where all of my friends and family are. My whole lifestyle is back there, and having a good ol' Aussie conversation is something that I really miss. Things are really different over here, and this is a totally different lifestyle. A lot of the things are the same, but the whole motorcycle industry is in California, and it really affects everything you do. You never know who you will run into, or what will happen in the week to come."
But with several good years ahead, Burner doesn't talk much about retirement. Instead, he wants to put his shoulder injury behind him, and try to earn more respect and his own place in the spotlight.
"I've changed a bunch of things in my racing program," says the former Australian Four-Stroke Champ. "Honestly, you learn a lot each year. The mistakes that you made, or things that you didn't do. You just try to pick things out that you might have struggled with, and you just work on those things. You want to be fitter and stronger. That has been the goal for this whole season since I had my shoulder problems in '05. I have been working my butt off all throughout the nationals, and I've just been trying to build my fitness up. I think that my extra training started to show at the U.S. Open a few months ago. It's a long process and it doesn't happen overnight. I want to establish myself as one of the guys who can be a threat. I want to be on the podium, but that's hard with Chad, James, Kevin (Windham) and Ricky. Those four guys are really tough. I would be disappointed if I didn't finish in the top five this year. The goal is to give it everything every time I get on the track."
So, who does Burner think will be the next AMA 250cc Supercross Champ?
"If it couldn't be me, I would have to pick James. I know he' had his ups and down, and I think he showed a lot of maturity at the first round of the World Supercross Series. James rode really good, and he really loves the four stroke. Ricky is always going to be tough, and that is why he's the all-time winningest guy. Ricky is probably the favorite, but if James kept his head, he's the guy who could be Ricky."
