After finishing fourth overall in the outdoor series, Michael Byrne found himself without a ride for 2010. Luckily, he found a ride with JGRMX until Josh Grant returns.
After finishing fourth overall in the 2009 Lucas Oil AMA Pro
Motocross series, Australian Michael Byrne found himself without a ride for the 2010 season, when Rockstar Makita
Suzuki cut its budget for the coming year. An unfortunate victim of the down economy, Byrner entered the 2010 Monster Energy AMA
Supercross series as a privateer, riding a production-based
Kawasaki in the first two rounds which he bought from a local dealer in his home country. At round three of the series – Anaheim 2 – Byrne caught a break when JGRMX/Muscle Milk/Toyota/
Yamaha offered him a ride on the
YZ450F which was sitting idle due to an injury to Josh Grant.
Before the race, Byrne talked about his off-season, his ride with JGRMX, and his plans for the rest of 2010.
How did this ride with Joe Gibbs Racing come about?
Unfortunately, Josh Grant got hurt and they thought about it and they gave me a call as soon as they knew Josh was going to have surgery and he was going to be out for a while. They came over to me the Friday before Phoenix and we talked about it and here I am.
Was it difficult switching bikes in such a short period of time?
A little bit, but what helped me was it was raining in California, so we went back to my house in Atlanta and I rode the bike back there and it helped that I rode the bike on a track that I already knew. The guys were super-cool about things and that made it a lot easier.
How were those first two rounds on a privateer bike?
They were quite rough, actually. I had some bad practices, really, but I qualified easily when the night programs came around and I improved from there. At the first race, I got caught up with a guy and fell and had trouble starting the bike so I was a lap down. Then in Phoenix, I was at the back of a big, long train and just came up short over a jump and stuck the peg and flipped over and the bike got super-damaged. But I feel I’m riding a lot better than my results.
Byrne on the JGRMX Yamaha.
I had a good, solid finish to the outdoor season. I had a few podiums and came close to getting a win. After that I was kind of all over the place. I went to Sweden for a supercross, and then came back home, and then went to the Motocross des Nations. But I had a bad crash at des Nations and had to ride the US Open a little bit injured. The second night I rode better but it wasn’t like I should have been riding. I probably shouldn’t have even been there. After that I went back to Australia, to go home and just get away from everything. I wanted an off-season where I could just ride and not worry about anything.
Were you talking to any teams about 2010?
We spoke to a lot of teams but when it came down to the crunch nobody had any money to do anything. The economy is in a bad way and so is the industry.
I rode the Australian series but my deal was strictly with the promoter and it had nothing to do with any manufacturer. I ended up riding a
Honda because they were able to put something together for me in a really short time.
How did the Australian series go for you?
I had a rough time. It was a totally different bike, and the resources to make the bike better are just not there in our country. I rode a production-based 450 and I struggled a little bit. I think just not knowing the bike and not knowing how far to push it kind of cost me a little bit. The first race I was just trying to get through it, I only had one day on the bike before the first race. I knew it was going to be a struggle and I got taken out in the last race and kind of hurt my shoulder – the one I had surgery on a while back. The next weekend I had a couple more days practice on the bike and I was riding well, but not really knowing the bike real well, I would be pushing it and the next thing I would be on the ground. I had a lot of big crashes and I was really just trying to survive the whole time. I felt like I was riding well at times, but I would be two laps from the end of a race and I would go down. It was rough, for sure. Even though I wasn’t doing that well in the races, I was still getting riding time in during the week and I think that’s important.
How was it working with Honda in Australia?
We were both blind. We had the new bike and they have motocross first down there so they hadn’t done any supercross testing on it, and I didn’t know the bike at all. So it was a struggle on both sides. They put in a huge effort to try and make it better, but they only had supplies of production stuff down there. They did the best they could and I’m thankful to those guys for letting me do that.
What about your negations for a ride in the AMA series?
Well, I came back here and I thought I had a deal pretty much lined up and it fell though at the last minute. I didn’t want to go back home – I’m healthy and I want to ride, so I went down to the local bike shop and I bought a bike. I think Kawasaki has the best production bike and as far as the resources I would be able to get, the Kawasaki just made since. Once I bought the bike and was riding it I was super happy with the decision I made.
How long is your deal with JGRMX?
Until Josh comes back. We’ll see what happens then.
