We had the privilege to catch up with maybe the best all-round dirt bike rider in the history of the sport, the legend, Ricky Carmichael, as he revealed his own 450 Triumph model, the TF 450-RC Edition, at the MXoN in England.
Ricky was kind enough to give us over ten minutes of his time to talk about the Triumph project, how much he helped develop the bikes as well as aspects of his career and a fascinating insight into his mentality as a racer – and his strategy to beat Jeremy McGrath in Supercross. We also asked him about the impending Deegan v Lawrence battle and got his thoughts on Jeffrey Herlings.
Watch or read below:
Okay, Ricky Carmichael, your own personal bike is here for Triumph. Is there a lot of satisfaction in that for you, that is has your name? It is such a premium brand as well?
Yeah, a lot of satisfaction. As I said in the press rollout, I’m really humbled by this. I mean, you think about the brand of Triumph and just how iconic that brand is. And for me to be able to have an RC edition 450 and it be a Triumph is special.
Again, very humbling and sometimes I’m left speechless. I’ll never forget when I was riding it at the last video that we were creating some content for the rollout video. And I just had to, again, look back and smell the roses, if you will. And just all those thoughts in the process of how we got to where we are today were rolling through my mind. It was a lot of fun and definitely a special moment.
I love the bike. I think it’s great. But at the end of the day, I hope that the marketplace and everyone who has this motorcycle really enjoys it as much as I do.
The 450 came by second, what was harder to develop and why was the 250 first?
Yeah, so I think having the 250 first, that was the main focus for Triumph. That’s why we did that and then 450 second. But as a lot of people know, a lot of the manufacturers are running the frames both for the 250, the same for the 250 and the 450. So a lot of the hard work, as far as chassis and stuff goes and the base of the motorcycle was done on the 450 edition. So yeah, like the harder work I think was getting to where we were for the 250.
How much did you ride the bikes?
I was really involved at the beginning stages when we were getting the base of the bike, like the chassis, like for the frame and hard parts and crucial moments when we need to sign off.
But I was in communication all the time with all of our test riders, with Ivan, at the early stages when it was just kind of us three, they are able to ride a little bit more than I am and have more time to do that. But at crucial moments and crucial tests where we had to like sign off on things before it goes to production and make sure that everything is to where we needed it to be. Yeah, I would ride the bike quite a bit.
How hard was it to get the balance – MXGP is totally different from what is required for US Supercross/Motocross.
As far as getting the balance right for what might be good for MXGP and what needs to be good for SX, just in the racing category, that wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I think the hardest thing, at least for me personally, was making sure that we had the right material. And I talked about the aluminium chassis on the roll out and make sure we had the right material and the right geometry.
And I think like as far as racing goes, you know, like certain components you can modify. But if the base of that before we put the components on was spot on, I think that these guys could tailor the bike with other components to suit their style of racing.
I look at it as a whole program and you take the MXGP’s….I mean, do the guy have like some PB’s, you know? I mean, in fifth in the championship. Like straight out of the gate we were strong. So I wasn’t expecting that. I mean, I was hoping for that, but I’m one of those guys I hope for the best but expect the worst.
And we, yeah, we superseded my expectations for sure, both on the MXGP’s side and the US side. And again, that’s a testament to the team, but also a testament to the bike. Because at the end of the day, the bike has to perform as well.
It has to work good and it has to have speed, it has to have balance, it has to handle well. So it’s a testament to the bike. Yeah, so I think we can all agree that the 250, it’s a horsepower class, right? You got to have good engine.
But the engineers at Triumph, they know what they’re doing, they know the benchmarks, they know what the other motorcycles are producing. So we knew where we needed to be. We always wanted to be better, but we were close.
So on your career, you were known to ride the edge. Your previous mechanic, Chad Watts said everybody thinks you’re edge, certain battles, but it’s not actually. Is that how you felt racing when you were in challenge, you had another level?
If there was ever times where I needed to ride to another level, I felt like that I could do that and I could get there, for sure. It wasn’t always comfortable, but it wasn’t a place that I like to go, for sure, but…
So did you practice that?
Yeah, we would do a lot of sprint laps to try to find that speed to where you could get comfortable riding that speed, for sure.
So you beat Jeremy and Stefan, both technically perfect. Now that it looks like Haiden, is more like you and Jeff is technically perfect. How you raced Jeremy and Stefan, is that how you think Haiden will have to beat Jett by just pushing Jett to a point where he’s not willing to go?
I think that’s going to be an interesting… I think that’s what Hayden does really well. And, you know, Jett is an exceptional rider. They’re both great in their own way. And I don’t know which one is going to work. I think the great thing for the sport is we’re going to get to watch it and see it.
I could argue for each rider of why I think their style will work for them and will eventually outdo the other. So it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out, but nevertheless, I think we’re all lucky to be able to someday see that battle.
And did you know the plan for Jeremy?
Definitely, I knew that if I was able to ride that edge, I knew that MC was… I had an idea that MC was going to stay within his comfort zone and weigh on the side of thinking that I would lay it down. And, yeah, luckily it worked out and I was able to keep it on two wheels.
You had a lot of races, a lot of wins. What was the best title that you enjoyed the most? And what was the best in the best race?
I mean, the best title is the first one that you always win of anything, right? At least in my opinion. 250 Supercross, 125 Outdoor, and 97. That was fun.
One of the most special races that I think of all the time and I didn’t even win it, was probably my last Supercross with me and James. It was just an epic battle. And the level that we were riding at was so high, but it almost felt effortless.
How did you keep your level that good that year, just racing part-time?
Yeah, I just didn’t have the pressure of the championship and just to go out and be free. I didn’t take risks.
I didn’t have the pressure of the championship.
Did you feel the pressure of racing?
No, I didn’t feel the pressure. I didn’t feel the pressure. It was more, yeah, just go out and win. You know, like, each single race, you go out, each single season, you go out, you win, you try to defend your championship. And that’s on the forefront of your mind, at least it was on the forefront of my mind.
Did you analyze the other riders, or did you just focus on what you could do?
Yeah, I mean… You analyze riders and see where they’re better than you at and try to improve in those areas. But at the end of the day, I knew that if I prepared the best that I could, I would have just as good a shot of winning as anyone else. So I really raced my race and how the chips would fall was how they would fall.
So you retired quite early, but you’ve won everything. I heard on a different podcast you say you didn’t enjoy riding, racing. Do you wish you’d enjoyed it more and raced longer?
Yeah, I mean.. looking back, I mean… Sometimes I say, yeah, I wish I would’ve raced more, and sometimes I’m like… You know, like, I’m happy with what I did. Of course, I have zero regrets. I mean, if I would’ve raced more, yeah, it would’ve been great.
But maybe it wouldn’t have went well. Maybe I would’ve gotten hurt with myself. I mean, I can’t turn back the time. But at the end of the day, I was fortunate. And quite frankly, if I would’ve raced another two years, it wouldn’t have changed my life at all. For the amount of money, I would’ve made great money.
Really, really good money. But that style and type of money wouldn’t have changed my lifestyle. So, I’m happy with what I did.
Pierce Brown said Jorge Prado told him not think and just ride, is that how you did it?
That’s right, think less and just ride. So basically, you think long and you think wrong. Everything has to be instinct, instant instinct and can come natural. That’s how it was. I think you look at all great champions, and everything just comes natural. They don’t think a whole lot. I think it’s something that you’re born with.
All champions seem to have had very hard parents on them, Stefan had his dad, your mum from what I read was hard on you, do you think riders need that?
I think coaches and parents have to be cognizant of what their riders and kids are and what they feed off of. I fed off of holding myself accountable. My mom knew what worked for me. What worked for me doesn’t work for everybody.
And I think as a parent or as a coach, you have to know what works for that rider. And if it doesn’t work, you need to make the adjustment and find the adjustment and do what works for them. Because not everything that I do doesn’t work for everyone else.
You were known for your work ethic and so is Jeffrey Herlings, what are you thoughts on him?
Yeah, I think Jeffrey’s an incredible athlete. I think he’s an incredible athlete. He’s had a lot of injuries, sadly enough. But I still respect what he’s been able to do. And all the race wins, MXGP wins that he has. It’s incredible. It’s incredible. He’s an incredible athlete. And to see him still going and being so competitive at the age that he is, it’s remarkable. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Herlings.
