Interview with Tyler O'Hara: 2WheelTimes.com Exclusive
By Michael Hannas
Petaluma, California's Tyler O'Hara is a man on a mission. After dominating the 2008 SupermotoUSA Championship in only his second season and finishing in the top ten in the AMA Supermoto Championship, he has his sights set on winning the AMA title and making a living as a professional motorcycle racer. As you'll see in this interview, Tyler doesn't really mince words and calls it how he sees it, and is serious when he says he is determined on making it in this sport no matter the odds.
2WT: In your first full year of racing supermoto you won the SupermotoUSA Nor-Cal #1 plate and finished 8th overall in the AMA Supermoto Series. Did you think at the beginning of the year you would do so well?
T.O.: Headed into the 2008 season teamed up with Mike Hammitt/BP Racing, the expectations I had on myself were higher then ever. With the endless opportunities that BP Racing had brought into my racing program and my newly found confidence with the team, I worked my tail off and wasn’t going to settle for anything less.
2WT: You only started supermoto a year and a half ago. I remember when you called me up and asked what you needed to do to your TTR to get it ready for motard, and then you showed up at Infineon and spanked the mini-class on a clapped-out stock TTR with cow shit still hanging off it, backing that thing in like crazy. The very next race you showed up with a 450 and some leathers and were tearing it up in the pro class immediately. Did you know as soon as you raced the TTR that you wanted to go pro? I mean, were you liked hooked right off the bat? What about it did you like so much?
T.O.: I think the saying goes something like this: “You can take a fish out of water but it is still going to be a fish.” Racing motorcycles professionally has been my quest my whole life. With a short-lived pro career in off-road racing after competing in the 2006 ISDE Qualifier in Idaho, I was forced to retire because of funding issues. After selling everything and taking a year off, coming back to race this new sport called supermoto on my TTR it was like putting a fish back in the water. With the blend of asphalt and dirt you race through on every lap, in order to win you must be the best all-around rider. After that I was hooked!
2WT: When you first started you were scary fast especially in the dirt sections, like you actually scared me, but you used to stall or crash pretty often. It seems like you toned it down a notch, you know the old saying, "Go slow to go fast," and it seems to have worked. Now you aren't really any slower but a lot smoother and more consistent. Did you really work on that over the winter and how?
T.O.: When I first started racing supermoto it was either first or last place, and always exciting for the spectators! At times I felt like “Ricky Bobby” from Talladega Nights. Losing wasn’t an option. Coming off a pretty inconsistent year finishing 7th in the SMUSA championships, I took a step back and started to analyze my racing and find my weak points to work on them.
2WT: You raced X-Games last year. Was that track gnarly or what?
T.O.: The track would have been gnarly on a bike set up for dirt, let alone a bike with slicks. Even though it was a little hairball, the exposure for supermoto was great. X-Games showcased the event perfect and it showed all the TV viewers the potential of the sport.
2WT: What has been your favorite track so far?
T.O.: It has to be USA International Raceway located in Showano,WI,
AKA “The Track Of Dreams.”
2WT: How about a favorite corner or section? One that you couldn't wait for every lap, you know...
T.O.: Both my favorite sections were by far at the Moto X-Games. First, jumping into the stadium and riding down a ramp over the stadium seating into the dirt section. And second was coming off the dirt exiting the stadium going through a tunnel WFO and hitting a concrete sky jump 5th gear pinned!
2WT: Do you still look forward to the dirt section every lap or do you like the pavement more now?
T.O.: Well, it used to be the dirt. Now it depends on the track.
2WT: Speaking of pavement, you've been doing a little road racing over the winter; I saw you got a top five in a WERA Expert race at Fontana a few weeks ago. Are you trying to make the transition from supermoto to road racing like Troy Herfoss and Chris Fillmore?
T.O.: Primarily my quest as a racer is to race motorcycles for a living, whether it would be supermoto, road racing or dirt track, it wouldn’t matter. The transition into road racing has always been my plan. For now it is a matter of finding ways to get in races and good cross-training.
2WT: What other types of riding do you do?
T.O.: MX, CC, DT, and trail riding.
2WT: When did you start riding?
T.O.: I started riding when I was four years old, and competed in my first race right when I turned five.
2WT: What was your first bike?
T.O.: Suzuki JR 50
2WT: Are you racing AMA Supermoto again with BP Racing?
T.O.: Not sure. Still trying to find support.
2WT: All the factory guys from last year seem to be out of a ride or moving on to other things. Who do you think your main competition will be this year?
T.O.: As always Mark Burkhart, and the Honda-supported TLD team.
2WT: Tell me something about yourself that would surprise people...
T.O.: I can't smell anything! True story.
