Catching Up With... Brock Hoyer

Sponsored by: 

Catching up with...Brock Hoyer

Interview by Billy Rainford

2011 was a bit of a disappointment for William’s Lake, BC rider Brock Hoyer as he wasn’t able to complete the entire national series. He came out to prove he still had the speed to win by taking three mains last weekend in Chilliwack, BC. We caught up with him as he tries to put the finishing touches on a possible Canadian Arenacross Championship.

Hey, Brock how are you doing and what are you up to?

 I just finished school, for Kawi, and now I’m with Rod at RMR Suspension doing some extreme, high-tune testing for tonight’s practice to better my suspension for two weeks from now. Me and Stenburg are going to go for a little dirt-cycle ride at Chilliwack Heritage Park. They have the track in for another two nights. I just want to get a little more seat time. It beats kicking around watching TV, so if we get a little time we’ll drive out here. It’s a little bit of a drive. I’m not used to this Vancouver traffic. I’m a little more of a ‘little city boy,’but it’s all new for me.

I’m down in Burnaby right now going to BCIT for a week for Kawi, so travelling back and forth through traffic is really fun. I’m a full-time mechanic at a Kawasaki dealer in William’s Lake—Spectre Powersports; one of my sponsors—so I’m just down here doing a little free fresh-up on a lot of the new products and new up-and-coming specialty tools with the new line of Kawasaki models. They have all the stuff. We’re going to tear a couple motors apart tomorrow. It’s just to see all the new updated parts and pieces and how everything works now. Kawasaki keeps making their bikes better and better, so the new technology keeps going with it. They just want to keep their technicians up to par so they know exactly what they’re doing so it’s better for the customers.

So is bike mechanic in your future?

Well, I’ve always done it and it’s something I know how to do and I can make some money at it. They understand in the racing industry to give you some time off for racing, so it works well in that situation too. It’s been in my blood for a long time. Anything with mechanics, I’ve always taken it apart and put it back together. Even if it was working fine, I’d rip it apart and put it back together.

Hoyer is happy as long as he is on a dirt bike. Billy Rainford photo

Let’s get to last weekend. Great weekend! You went 1-1-1-3!

Ya, I was just feeling good and had a really good set-up for the bike. It’s hard to get as much seat-time as you want when it’s -35 degrees back home, so I try to do as much sledding as I can and stay in the best physical shape by working out that I can. I’m just trying to stay in shape over the winter to get ready for outdoors to make everything easier. I have a good bunch of guys behind me that made it pretty easy.

You went 1-1 on Friday. Tell us about that.

It went good. I won both my qualifiers. I got taken out in the ‘Smash for Cash.’ Then I went out and cleaned both mains. I got good starts. I’ve just got tons of sponsors that make good products: Fox Suspension by RMR, MX1 Canada with Midas Tires and Scorpion Sprockets. It’s amazing what you can do with some good products underneath you. It really helps your confidence, too.

Ok, then Saturday…what’s this I hear about a last lap, last-corner pass on Maffenbeier for the win?

Those guys, they knew that, if I get a start, I was going to check out, so (Shawn) Maffenbeier went all-in and ran me into the fence in the first corner and I had to play a little ‘catch-up.’ A couple lappers got in my way and I couldn’t do the double and had to roll it, but then I put on a charge and caught right back up to him and just played the ‘cat and mouse’ game; let him run around and make a couple mistakes and then I just pounced when I needed it. I knew I had the two last corners. He went inside, I went outside, and then he went outside, I went inside and passed him for the win.

Did you do all the Dash for Cash races? 

I did the first one and then they changed the night show and made the second one right before our main and any time I’ve ever done that, I’ve broken something by either some kid that can’t ride, taking me out, or someone trying to ride over their head to make a name for themselves, so I backed out of the second night’s.

We had some free giveaways up in the beer garden, so I just went out, rolled around, had some fun, and waved to the crowd and gave out some free beer and some hot chocolate for the kids. We thought we’d throw out some publicity that way and the crowd loved it.

How was the new track design?

It was pretty cool. It was designed by Ryan Lockhart and he’s been around long enough that he built a pretty fast track. The people that laid it in maybe didn’t lay the dirt in quite the spots where he wanted from what he said when I talked to him, but it turned out to be a really good track. The Hellam's definitely tried to make it fun and safe for everybody. We worked with them and changed a couple little things to make it a little safer and more fun and it turned out really well. On Saturday, we got a good amount of spectators and there was a full gate of pros, so it was a fair weekend, for sure. There was some really good racing put on.

Hoyer has many great sponsors that help make his program possible. James Lissimore photo

How did the first rounds in Penticton go for you?

I had a little tougher weekend that weekend. It worked out fairly well. I think I was third in points. Beaton was there and we had some good racing. I got a couple podiums, but didn’t have the kind of weekend I did last weekend. I had more of a desire for it—to do well for my sponsors. Basically, arenacross sets you up for outdoors for sponsors and if you can do well then people will want to help. I still need help with the outdoor stuff, so any better I can get I can maybe reel in a couple extra helpers to do my goal of doing the nine rounds. It was a perfect situation—Bike Show with lots of big reps, so I tried to show them and do good to be up there with all those guys. I believe I’m leading the points, right now.

Well, that’s good to hear that your goal is to do the entire series next summer.

Ya, the intention was to get a single digit last year, but I had to back out due to funding. This year, I know I can. I know I want to and I have good sponsors behind me right now that want to take me, so we’ll just have to wait and see how everything pans out and if there’s anyone out there that wants to help a Canadian privateer, my door is always open. I’d basically run Pampers on my bike if I had to, to do the dream! I know I can get a single digit. I’ve got good focus, a good training regimen, and I’m going down to California for a month in March. I’m going to keep the rubber side down and get on the box at the nationals.

We were upset last year because we had planned to do a weekly segment with you on our DMX Canadian Motocross Weekly show, but then you didn’t head east. We’ll need to figure something out for this summer, for sure!

Ya, we’ll have to do something cool. I know a lot of people liked it and I actually went back and watched it this winter and had a good chuckle again. Everyone likes a little goofiness, so I think we should. It turned out really well.

Have you been following Beaton and Lepp as they try to make the supercross night shows?

It’s good. If you can try and make it, it’s great. It’s tough that Beaton’s not qualifying, but sometimes you can and sometimes you can’t; there are a lot of fast guys down there. It’s good to see a Canadian representing for us.

What race of yours stands out in your memory?

I guess it was my first factory ride with Morgan racing, the last year they raced the nationals. James Lissimore helped me get a ‘shoe in’ spot. They had a hurt rider and I had no ride, so they filled me in and I think that was the coolest experience going from a privateer RTR CRF250 in 2006 to a complete factory 450 YZ. It basically blew my doors off, that’s for sure!

Who would you say is the greatest Canadian motocrosser, ever?

I’d have to give that to my boy, Darcy Lange. When he rode for Pro Circuit and did that well against those supercross boys, I think that was pretty sick and he upped the bar for Canadians to try to show him up and no one has, yet.

Brock gets lots of support from his wife Jenny at the races. James Lissimore photo

What’s your favourite Canadian track?

This year was such a gong show because some were so muddy that it definitely changed my mind, but I still have a ton of fun at Kamloops. It’s not a real technical track, but it’s one you can just hang it out. I just really enjoy the sand. I enjoy the atmosphere there, the humidity, and it’s on the circuit again, so it plays in my favour to do well at and show what I can do.

Who do you think is the next big thing in Canadian moto?

I’d like to say that I could be there some day; I know I can. It’s hard to say. There are a lot of fast guys this year. A lot of people are riding bikes that are a little slower than other people. It’s nice racing with all those guys like Facciotti and Klatt and all the guys that I race with. You can trust each other and go out and have fun. It’s just going to be whoever puts the best hand in for the championship is going to win it. It’s basically salvaging and collecting as many points as you possibly can. Even if you have a bad weekend you just get back, finish the race, and just build, build, build. At the end of the year it pays off.

Do you think Facciotti is beatable?

I think he is. No offence to KTM, but from a national point of view Blackfoot has been the biggest factory team out there. They definitely had their ducks in a row and their research and it’s going to be different this year. Those KTM bikes are fast, but it’s going to be a new bike and the Japanese bikes really work well. I really love my Japanese bike and I know how well they work compared to the Austrian bikes, so it’s tough to say. I think everyone might have an advantage to beat him this year. It’s just whoever is going to work the hardest. I don’t really think it matters what colour you’re on.

Ok, well I think a lot of people will be happy to hear that you are committed to getting to all nine rounds this summer. Thanks for talking with us today and who would you like to thank?

Thanks for calling. I’d like to thank MX1 Canada, Smith Optics, Print Werx, Renegade Fuels, Fox Suspension by RMR, Midas Tires, Fox and Shift Gear, FMF, T. Archer Ltd., and Gold Business Machines.