Planting The Seed

America was always going to be the place for Brett Metcalfe to shine – the fierce competition, money, bright lights of the greatest supercross series in the world, a tough motocross series with tracks many racers only dream of riding, and the home to many of the greatest supercross/motocross riders on earth. Deep down inside he knew he had what it took to compete at their level before leaving the Australian circuit at the age of 17.

Plagued by injury he packed his bags without winning a senior championship first unlike those before him. He was fast, he could win races and he knew at that early age he had nothing to gain from staying around. Brett needed to hone his skills and learn from riding against faster riders. And with that in mind he jumped at the opportunity to first ride the world championship for KTM in the 125cc class one-and-a-half years after leaving the junior ranks. But what drove this young man to just pack up and leave, and where did the strong belief in himself come from at that age you ask… “I can remember watching videos of Jeff Leisk riding the World Championship rounds on a 500, and looking back now I think it inspired me in wanting to get over there myself to race and try to make something of it”, says Brett of his early dreams. Jeff Leisk then ended up being Brett’s boss when he raced for the KTM team as a junior, age 15. Jeff certainly influenced his racing career and helped him out a lot, but it was the then KTM Junior Team Manager Lyndon “Heffo” Heffernan that really planted the seed in his mind that he could make a go of it overseas, with Brett recalling, “Heffo really influenced me a lot. He planted the seed inside me and got me off my arse in wanting to really train and work hard. He made me realise that if I wanted to I could make something of myself and go to Europe or America to race and be successful”.

Heffo remembers the time he spent training Brett in those early years very well, as they became good friends and still are till this day. His job was to train up the younger kids coming through to prepare them for seniors. Brett had showed more interest in motocross at the time and Heffo – with his good knowledge of the Euro scene – suggested he’d be better off heading there first to build his speed and get in good with KTM, as no doubt an opportunity would arise for him to then ride in America where he could also try his hand at supercross.

He was clearly impressed with Brett’s riding and attitude to learning in those early days. “I remember thinking to myself that this kid rides real hard. He just rode with a sense of urgency. He pushed really hard and he was always all over the bike. But his strongest asset was his belief in what you told him. If he trusted you he would jump say a certain triple and then the following triple first try if you told him he could do it. I found his ability to listen and trust you was really good, where as a lot of guys I’d worked with prior such as Lee Hogan or Troy Carroll for example wouldn’t trust what you said. They would doubt you so things didn’t work, as if you have doubt in people you doubt yourself. Brett was also prepared to listen and try different things like varying lines, start gate selection and race strategy. He wasn’t fixed in his ways. He had an open mind, a good work ethic and soaked up information like a big sponge.”

Culture Shock

Growing up in the small rural country town of Mannum in South Australia Brett spent his real early years chasing his older brother Shane and sister Cheree around their 27-acre paddock and the local race tracks. Cheree, the older of the three rode an 80 while the two brothers flogged their Pee Wee 50’s to their death. Brett always looked up to his bigger brother and for the following years they raced the local and interstate events together on 80’s and 125’s with the strong support of their father Steve and mother Julie. Brett would go on to win six Australian Championships and several state titles as a junior, and then took out the 400cc class in the Thumpernats series in the senior ranks. But as mentioned earlier injury kept him from putting together a complete season in the senior 125cc class and he headed off to Europe to ride with the factory KTM team in the 125cc World Championship class, where a whole new way of life awaited him.

Brett had impressed KTM boss Kurt Nicoll at the Bercy Supercross in Paris when he made an appearance there in 2001. This was the door opener for him to join the team in Europe, which was a long way from the quite country town of Mannum. “Going to Europe in 2002 was definitely a big challenge for me – the change of culture, the scene, the way of life, and especially the language barrier being very hard to conquer. It was very frustrating at times not being able to speak to people to ask something as simple as directions.” Brett was excited to be there though, and he really worked and trained hard before the season got underway. He couldn’t wait for the first round to start in Netherlands, which was a sand track and one to his liking. He knew he could make a good impression in his first Grand Prix there and he did with a fourth place finish overall, which was to be the highlight of his European stint.

The tracks and conditions changed radically with each round and Brett soon realised the style of racing really didn’t suit him. He was enjoying meeting people and taking in the scenery as he traveled through the different countries, while most of his mates were probably still back home studying for exams. He thought it was cool, but things changed when a Roller Blading accident that dislocated his shoulder in Australia 12-months earlier came back to haunt him after only three rounds of the championship. “They never fixed the shoulder properly in Australia when it first dislocated and then when I came to Europe I totally tore it to pieces while landing off a double jump. I was out for another six months so it was a pretty frustrating deal that started from a set of Roller Blades.”

Big Setback

This put Brett out for six months and ended his season, but it worked in his favour as KTM were trying to forge their way into the American racing scene and with his supercross skills already known to Kurt it was an obvious choice for the team to send Brett over there in 2003 to fly the flag as one of their factory riders.

The news was like a dream come true for Brett. His risk of leaving the safe environment in Australia had paid off and he was now about to embark on a journey of highs and lows on his quest to become a champion on American soil. But at the time he didn’t know what he was in for or just how much he’d be tested along the way. His first supercross season was very successful with him finishing fifth overall in the East Coast series. He also scored his first podium at the Houston round behind team mates Brock Sellards and Ivan Tedesco, which Brett still recalls as one of the highlights of his career. He then kept his momentum flowing into the outdoors running consistently towards the pointy end of the field. Then with only a few rounds to go, while running sixth overall, he had a big crash at the Washougal round and tore his ACL (Anterior Crucial Ligament).

The chain of events that unfolded from this one accident would be enough to end most riders’ career, but as you read on you see that the kid from Mannum is tougher than most, with him recalling, “Everything turned to shit real fast. While in hospital under surgery I contracted Golden Staph infection and it near ended my career for good. I had three operations on my leg in three weeks, and the infection I was very unlucky to catch entered the blood stream and basically takes over your immune system and wipes it out so then you easily get sick. It actually started to take over my whole body and then when I was told by the doc the infection was starting to eat into my bone marrow of the injured knee, and that they’d have to cut my leg off straight away if they couldn’t figure it out soon, I was a little freaked to say the least. Things up until that point were going so well and that’s the last thing I wanted to hear”.

The news that Brett was only hours – a day or two at most – away from losing his leg rocked him hard. He had his father Steve there by his side the whole way, and they set about calling another doctor they knew of right away to reassess the situation. On arrival the new Doc straightaway put a syringe into his knee to drain the blood out, and then within an hour Brett was back on the operating table because the Doc knew it was only a matter time before he could lose his leg. “The doc thankfully saved my leg. He went straight in and pretty much cured the infection. He had to also pull out my ACL as it had been eaten away, and to this day I still don’t have one”. Talking to Brett now about it he sounds pretty chilled about the ordeal saying, “You just have to deal with the situation as best you can”, but Steve gave a clearer insight on the moment, recalling, “It was a horrible time all-round. I’ve never seen to this day anyone who looked as bad as Brett did lying in hospital – he looked like death. I remember trying my hardest to keep him positive and focused on pulling through. And the American medical system is terrible. We knew what needed to be done, but it was just so slow. Once the Golden Staph eats into the bone you lose your leg instantly and it had already started when he went into his last operation.”

It took Brett a while to recover from that incident as he was basically a “Train Wreck” as he calls it. He went on a program of intense Physio and knee strengthening exercises, and to this day is always doing one thing or another to keep it strong, and even though it will never be as strong as normal, it still gets him by.

Two Strokes Down

Despite injuring himself towards the end of the 2003 season Brett’s debut year of racing in America was a good one. He showed straight up he had the pace to be competitive, but at the same time there was a massive shift occurring with the introduction of four-stroke machines that clearly out-performed the two-stroke machines with their tractable power and easy-to-ride manner.

The writing was on the wall in 2003 when the 250 fourstrokes were holeshotting consistently over the 125 two-strokes. Yamaha had the jump on its rivals with their YZ250F so the 2003 season wasn’t yet saturated with the lightweight thumpers so it was still possible for the two-strokes to be competitive, but come the 2004 season the field was flooded with blue, red, green and yellow 250 fours and Brett was virtually flying solo on a Yamaha YZ125 – his best offer, which he quickly found was an uphill battle of epic proportions. “Riding the two-stroke against those fourstokes almost did me damage mentally. It was just so draining trying your heart out and putting in a big effort week in week out to then constantly get beaten by better machinery. It was just devastating. Then to do that again in 2005 made it a tough couple of years”, he recalled with a sigh of relief, now he is finally on equal machinery after what was clearly two of his hardest years of racing dirt-bikes.

It was very frustrating times for Brett as there wasn’t even an option for him to ride the 250F in 2005 as his results didn’t reflect the effort he put in during 2004. He felt he rode really well on the 125, and he did, but it was pretty much a case if you weren’t riding a four-stroke it was near impossible to reach the pointy end of the field. There wasn’t a lot of offers on the table for the 2005 season and Yamaha had made Brett a good offer to ride a pretty trick 125 for another season. “I took that deal thinking the bike they’d built me would maybe be more competitive against the fours, and it was, it was a hell of a bike, but I just really came to realise you just can’t compete with the fours now riding a two-stroke machine.

Sticking it out for those two seasons on the two-stroke machines earned Brett a lot of respect from the other riders and fans alike, with him recalling, “Every weekend now I have people coming up to me saying, ‘Man you’re our hero for sticking it out on that two-stroke. I wish you were still riding it. Yeah you’re the man!’ So it definitely gave me a big fan base here and it was a good thing for that side of it. I also did have a lot of people behind me saying I was riding really well, but it was just a shame I was always starting from like 20th place.”

Towards the last half of that 2005 season Brett finally got given a 250F to ride and his results improved straight away. He was a good two seasons behind the eightball in learning how to ride the four though. The setting up of the bike was all new to him, how it handled, the power delivery, so once again he was faced with an uphill battle to be competitive with the top riders come the 2006 season.

Best Yet To Come?

If you want something bad enough you’ll do what it takes to get it. If you stay focused, determined, and you keep fighting for it until things flow your way you often find that there’s also a little help along the way. Brett Metcalf definitely wants to be a champion bad enough, he’s very very determined, focused on the job at hand, and going into the 2006 season he lifted his game with help from a good friend named Ryan Hughes. Ryan, an American motocross champion, is also considered as one of the worlds best motocross riders in recent times so his experience and what he’d been through has helped Brett a lot in all areas of his riding. “I definitely feel a lot stronger, fitter and more mentally focused in 2006 from the training schedule we’ve put together”, says Brett of their union. “I mean I’ve always been fit. That’s never been a problem, but it’s more every little piece of the puzzle that Ryan has helped me put together to improve my riding overall that’s helped, and we still have a long way to go yet. Hopefully we can keep working together and keep building until I’m winning races and a championship.”

The 2006 season to date (currently at round 10 Outdoors) has been a good one for Brett Metcalf. He finished equal sixth on points with Nate Ramsay in the West Coast AMA Supercross Series with a second place podium in SanFranCisco being the highlight. In the Outdoors he is currently running fifth place overall ­– 37 points in front of sixth placed Aussie Andrew McFarlane – and has shown flashes of lightning speed taking second overall at the opening round at Hangtown and also at Southwick where he led the second moto all the way until three laps to go. That race was one of his career best and the closest Brett has come to winning an Outdoor moto, which is a massive achievement as the depth of talent in the Lites class runs deep. “It’s definitely tough”, he says. “Every second of every lap of each moto you have to be 110 per cent focused and giving it everything you’ve got or you just won’t make it to the top. There’s ten deep in that field that can be on the podium every race, and the starts are so critical – if you’re not in the top five it’s real hard to hang with the leaders. And for me personally it feels good to be finally considered one of the guys a part of that group.“

With only two rounds to go in the Outdoor series Brett just has to run consistently in the top ten to hold down his fifth place overall as Stroke goes to print, which will complete his most successful supercross/motocross season ever. And the future for Brett Metcalf has never looked brighter as he builds – together with his trainer Ryan Hughes – the perfect combination for his next attempt to win his first championship in America. This is by far Brett’s main goal, and with the backing he’s received off Pro Circuit Kawasaki – considered by many as the best 250F team in America – for the 2007 season it could just be his year. When asked if he has reached his peak Brett replied, “No, you definitely haven’t seen the best of me yet, there’s plenty more to come. Next year’s going to be good. I have an awesome program lined up, I’m on a really good team and I can’t wait to get into it. Hopefully I’ll be wearing the number one plate!” We hope so too Brett, and there’ll also be a lot of Aussie’s who’ll be watching the 2007 season closely and hoping that you’ll be our next champion on American soil, good luck mate.

Brett Metcalf On…

Aussie scene – It’s kind of difficult for me to truly say something on the current crop of Aussie riders as I don’t get to see them ride as nothing’s televised over here. But I do read about the Aussie scene and I am excited about some of the younger guys aged 15 to16 coming through that I haven’t even heard of before. When I returned at the end of 2005 for the Oceana event at Barrabool I got to see these kids and they’re definitely riding really well. They definitely seemed focused and look to be putting a lot of work into their racing, which shows in their riding and that’s a really good thing. I think the next few years in Australia will be very strong competition wise, and I’m just glad to see there’s a lot of new talent coming through, which is great for the sport. Note: For the record Brett lapped up to eight seconds a lap faster than his Australian competitors at the Barrabool event, which he just puts down to his experience of riding against faster riders in Europe and America has strengthened his race craft and overall speed.

Training – An average week: “We’ll we’re in the motocross season now so normally Monday is recovery day and I’d either fly back to California or rest up in my motorhome and relax as much as possible after racing on the Sunday. During the East Coast rounds I generally stay in my motorhome as it’s too far to be flying back to Cali every week. I’ll do some stretching and a 30-minute stint on my Spinner (exercise bike), but mainly just chill out. If I’ve got a race the following weekend I’ll either ride Tuesday – depending on how my body feels from the previous weekend. If I’m still feeling sore I’ll ride my bicycle for an hour and stick to some training and ride Thursday instead. Wednesday I’ll find a good track and always ride a few motos. If I ride on Tuesday then Thursday is another training day, and then Friday light training and preparation for the weekends race. The off-season is when you build your base or foundation for the season ahead. That’s where most of the hard work is done for sure. I’ve found in the past if you have a bad race and try to train harder during the week for the next one it can just burn you out. So I’ve just really learnt to let my body recover and listen to more what it’s telling me instead of pushing it too hard. If I’m feeling strong sure I’ll train more, but if not I just do what I feel is right.”

Friends – Brett mainly rides with Yamaha team mates when practicing for the supercross season, and then for the motocross season most riders usually practice at the same tracks spread out through Southern California so he gets to ride with a lot of different riders all the time. “A lot of the time I’m by myself though, which is fine too”, he says. “I stick to myself a lot actually. Probably the best friendship I’ve made is with Ryan Hughes. Even since 2003 he’s been really helpful and now he is my trainer so we obviously hang out a lot together. There are a few other riders I’m friendly with, and I have some good friends away from the scene, but mostly I keep to myself and do my own thing, which satisfies me enough.” Brett also spends a lot of time with his girlfriend Sheena. She travels to the races with him and they cook their own food instead of eating out as he says they got over eating out all the time. “Sheena is a great chick and supports me 100 per cent. You definitely need someone like that in this game. It’s really helpful and it’s great to have someone like that around”, he said.

Shane Metcalf on his little bro – “I’ll never forget Brett’s first 125 race in Juniors. He holeshot the first race and I was in second. And me being the nice big brother I just sat behind him and let him get his first win on the big bike. After the race I copped a lot of crap until the next moto where I wasn’t going to let it happen again. He holeshot again and I jumped over his head on a triple jump and took off. I had to put him back in his place a little. I was happy in letting him take the win to give him a boost, but at the same time I also had to shatter him by destroying him in the next two motos to bring him back to earth”, he recalled with a big laugh.