Michael Mosiman has given his view on his switch from Star Yamaha to the Quadlock Honda team. With Mosiman having some great rides on the Yamaha but also some big crashes, he will be hoping to erase the crashes and keep the speed on the Honda.
And, crucially, Mosiman is hoping a smaller team will allow him to get more attention on his programme, after outdoors last year at Star proved to be a team seemingly running to many rider and the riders not getting the attention or help they maybe needed.
Mosiman said: “Stoked to be here, stoked to be a part of this program. Can’t wait to get started, but I did not always think that this was going to work out. This was my number one spot I wanted to be at, and there’s a pretty decent story to it, so let me go ahead and tell you. So, contract negotiation starts really early, but for me, I was pretty sure that things were going to work out with Star, and I was feeling like I was in a good spot there, so for me, I’ve never had an agent. I’ve always done my deals myself, and I just kind of like it that way. I enjoy some of the negotiation process.
“But a part of that is I end up negotiating much later down the line, and when there a lot of times tends to be less spots available, things like that. So, I felt like I was in a pretty good spot, but I got injured in Supercross midseason, and then I kind of rushed back to outdoors. I rushed back a bit too fast, and before outdoors, you know, Bobby said, ‘hey, you know, you’re good. You don’t need to rush back.’ And he’s just like, you don’t even need to race Pala. He said that, like, you’re good. Like, it kind of reassured me, you know, hey, like, we want you around. Like, you did good for us this year.
“But I rushed back, and then, you know, the results were struggling, and they were struggling for a little bit. I wasn’t gelling with the bike. I wasn’t gelling a lot with the team, and I think they weren’t gelling the most with me. And it wasn’t anyone’s fault in particular. It was just communication, and everyone needed to work together, and we were struggling there, so. And then, on top of that, at the beginning of outdoors, we added in, you know, so many riders. So, at the beginning of the year, you’re east coast, west coast, right? So, you have, you know, we were three guys on the west coast. So, when you’re riding, you have a bunch of people that are watching you, a bunch of people that are, you know, watching your bike. They’re trying to help you out with lines, different things like that.
“When it got to outdoors, that attention really ran thin, and it’s not anyone’s fault. It’s, you know, you got a guy that’s in a championship run, and then you got a guy that’s, you know, struggling, and really not getting some good finishes early season. There’s going to be more attention that goes to the guys that are at the top, that are in the championship, and that’s only natural.
“It’s not something to blame. It’s just the nature of having a large team, and, not quite enough staff or people to give everyone full attention. So, on my end, I was less certain I wanted to stay at Star, and I was thinking, man, if I could get in a situation, a little bit smaller team, where I could have a bit more attention, it’s possible that we could develop the bike a little bit more, and it could be a better situation for me.”
Get the full story below, including the fact he will be working with the legend, Kevin Windham!
