Interview:
Pat Brown AMA ATV Open Invitational Champion
On August 25th, Steel City MX hosted the first
ever AMA Pro ATV Open Invitational. The groundbreaking
event took place during the 20th Annual Monster
Energy/Kawasaki Pro Motocross National. Twenty
Pro ATV racers were invited to compete and
showcase their abilities in front of bike
industry VIP’s.
One
of those racers that were hand picked for
this event was Team Yamaha’s Pat Brown
who recently secured 3rd place overall in
the AMA ATV National Championship series.
Brown, who had been looking forward to this
prestigious event with anticipation, seemed
to be in a league of his own with a 10 second
lead on the rest of the pack and taking his
first ever, 1st place victory.
We
spoke to Pat after the race about his win,
about this event, and about it’s importance
in the future of racing:
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| #199
Pat Brown - Ten Quick Facts |
| Birth
Date: |
2/6/1985 |
| Weight: |
160lbs |
| Hometown: |
Pittstown,
NJ |
| ATV: |
Yamaha
YFZ450 |
| Occupation: |
Factory
Pro Racer |
| 1st
ATC/ATV: |
Honda
ATC110 |
| Started
Racing: |
16
Years Old |
| Hobbies: |
Wake
Boarding |
| Favorite
Drink: |
Ice
Tea |
| Favorite
Food: |
Sushi |
|
ATVriders.com:
Congratulations on your win Pat!
Thank you!
Pat, what did you think
about coming out here this weekend to Steel
City and racing with the bikes?
I thought it was awesome. It was an honor to
be out here with all the bikes and everybody
from that industry and show everyone that quad
riders are serious and really competitive about
the sport that we’re in. I think it was
good for some of these guys to see that; we
need some more fans. Everyone was really stoked
about seeing us do those big jumps and everything.
I thought it was really cool and big honor to
be out here.
Before this event, had
you been to a bike national before?
I’ve been to a few of them. I keep up
with dirt bikes quite a bit. So far this year,
I’ve only been to Southwick; this will
be my second one of the year. Those guys are
all real serious to and it’s good competition.
I like watching them.
This year you finished
third in the first AMA ATV National. What was
that like for you?
It was good! Of course I was looking to win,
but just never got it together. I feel like
I really got it dialed for this weekend. It’s
a little too late to make it work for the series,
but it was awesome this weekend and it was easy
out there.
This
weekend you came out and pulled the holeshot,
you just checked out…
I got a good jump on the gate, the bike just
took off up that hill and I was able to find
a line right through the center and it worked
out awesome. The first lap I was able to jump
everything because I was out front and have
to deal with all the bottle ups and that gave
me a little bit of a lead on the first lap and
I was able to keep pulling.
|
Pat Brown
edged out Travis Spader for the $500
ATVriders.com Holeshot Award
|
The
jumps were a lot more technical this year than
last year correct?
Yeah, but I think it was good because it actually
separated us. Most of the time the jumps are
so mellow that everyone jumps everything. This
year there was a triple double section that
there was only a handful of us doing. There
was a big double in the back that there were
only a handful of us doing as well, and with
only a 20 minute practice, it really separated
us.
When
you got out front and were leading, what was
going through your mind?
The first thing was that I wanted to get a comfortable
lead. The first couple of laps I turned really
good lap times. The second lap was about two
seconds faster than everybody. That really gave
me a boost and got me out there. The second
lap I really pulled hard. The first half of
the race I just tried to keep going and get
farther and farther away. Then I was able to
kind of settle in and check a few guys and see
where they were at and just ride that pace.
It was real soft in some areas so it would have
been really easy to blow the burm, so I just
wanted to play it cool and make sure I finished.
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 |
Were
you surprised that you were able to get all
the jumps dialed in with only that 20-minute
practice?
I think that was actually an advantage for me.
I’m usually pretty good at jumping stuff
and especially when I’m kind of forced
to. There were a couple of jumps that I didn’t
get during practice so I had to go out on the
parade lap and do them the first time. I concentrated
on a couple of the bigger jumps out there and
got them down.
How
was that round about jump with that long run
going up that hill, was that pretty difficult?
We really had to be pegged going up that hill
to clear that first double and then you had
to turn the bike in the air a little bit. It
was a fun section, I liked it.
What
section of the track did you feel was the most
difficult?
After the finish line there was that triple-double
section. That was definitely the most intimidating
and most technical.
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