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Kevin Windham
“I was so disappointed when I hit the ground and broke my arm in December [2005] because things were going really well and the setup on my Honda CRF450R was really good and race-ready, so everything was looking positive,” says Windham. “And then to crash and have an injury that looked like it was going to take me out of the season was very frustrating.” But among the many lessons Windham has learned over the years, tenacity ranks right at the top of the list. “As soon as I got back to being healthy I was back on the track. Obviously, I was a little slower than I wanted to be and then I came back to a pretty volatile environment because the competition had really raised the bar while I was out. But I felt that it was important for me to be on the track; that’s what I wanted to do, and I think it paid off by the end of the motocross season.” Indeed, it would have been quite convenient to simply write off 2006 as bad luck. But there is no quit in Kevin Windham. Instead, seeing a greater-than-usual challenge looming before him on his road to recovery, he simply did what he does best: Buckle down and get back to work. He jumped back into Supercross racing with six events still on the calendar because even after more than a decade of racing, KW’s love for the sport is simply unparalleled. “It was a little bit of everything; from missing it, you know, simply missing the racing, to also trying to invest a little bit for the outdoor season. I didn’t want to come into motocross completely cold, but at the same time I’d been to a lot of races. Even with my broken arm, I was there and I was watching and I just missed it a lot. Sure, I was having a good time with a more relaxed schedule while I was hurt, but I was still around motocross and Supercross. And when I was better, I knew when that day came I was going to be back out there, and that was pretty much it.” Windham’s involuntary hiatus from racing also gave him some insights into the state of racing today, observations that he made upon his return to the track. “As far as my arm was concerned, I don’t think that it was holding me back much at all. Instead, it was my lack of seat time while I was injured. Putting time in at the track was the only thing that could get me back to 100 percent. When someone asks a question like, ‘How do you feel percent wise?’ I think a lot of people focus just on the injury, but there’s so much more that goes into it. In order to feel 100 percent on the track and to achieve to the best of your ability, getting into top racing condition takes much more than just having healed bones. The winners of our races nowadays are riding right on the edge, and you have to find that fine line to be able to be competitive. That was the biggest change that occurred while I was out.” To nobody’s surprise, Windham was able to regain that racer’s edge and post some mighty impressive results during the 2006 motocross season. However, also to no one’s surprise, Windham is always more than willing to spread the credit around. “It’s a combination of a lot of things, but you know, the bikes just keep getting better and better too. The latter half of the ’06 season was just incredible. We did a lot of testing throughout the season and obviously I was behind schedule. So it was a work in progress, but everybody worked really hard and it paid off by the end of the year. “The Honda team is just incredible, and I think this was the best that I’ve ever ridden in my entire professional career. It’s so satisfying to have the experience of those last 12 outdoor races, in combination with my late start in Supercross, getting in that groove. When you do it week in and week out, it becomes so much easier. You have these building blocks, the fundamentals that help give you that edge, and it’s so hard to do that coming off of an injury. But all the time we spent—all of us, all the team, all the sponsors and, of course Honda—it finally paid off. We finished the outdoor season second in points and came away with some podiums. So I’m very thankful that we’ve been able to make the turn, and I’m certain that 2007 is going to be a great year for me in Supercross and motocross.”
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Motocross
and Supercross in the United States stand at the worldwide pinnacle of
the sport. Flash and glamour notwithstanding, this unique form of
high-flying, high-speed racing can also be brutally tough on the human
anatomy. All of which makes the lengthy career and stellar results of
SoBe No Fear/Samsung/Honda star Kevin Windham truly exceptional. In
2007, KW posts his 13th year at the top of his profession, yet he
considers last year one of his finest seasons ever—he finished the
outdoor Motocross season in second place despite greeting opening day of
the Supercross season with a broken arm!
