5 Minutes With … Jeff Ward
Steve Wise II?
By Chris Jonnum
Honda rider Steve Wise was famous for winning AMA nationals in 125cc and 250cc motocross, supercross and road racing, and also finishing on the podium in a dirt track national and winning two Superbikers events. It's a feat that's never been duplicated and probably never will, but Jeff Ward may be the closest thing to it. In addition to his past motocross and supercross success, the veteran has enjoyed success in Indy car racing and is the current AMA Supermoto Champion. Now, he's considering entering the Daytona 200 road race this March. We talked to Ward last week at Daytona, where he rode a road race bike (an Erion Racing Honda CBR600RR) for the first time ever, during the AMA tire tests. Ward rode only on the third and final day, and his lap times were in the 1'51" range, just a couple seconds off what the top guys had turned in their first stint of day one.

How did this whole idea come about?
I don't know! [laughs] I was at Troy Lee's one day, talking to my mechanic in the back, and I said, "I want to go ride Daytona." [laughs] I don't know why. I guess I was just reading stuff about it, and the track and bikes have changed, so it just seemed more feasible to be able to do a one-off deal because of that. I was going to take the Freddie Spencer School anyway, just to get some more pavement learning, to help me with Supermoto. It's kind of a dream come true, really. I used to come to the race every year, after the supercross, and watch [Scott] Russell. I talked to Troy, and he made some calls. Everybody seemed positive about it. I've never been on a road race bike or a road race course before, ever [laughs]. I'm not trying to prove anything. It's just a challenge to myself, to see if I can improve, which I know I will.

What's next?
I still have to go to Freddie's school at the end of the month, and I've got a practice bike to ride at some track days in California, to get some laps in. There's a Honda test at California Speedway, and I should be able to go out with them and run around on that practice bike all day long.

You've said that in Supermoto, you feel more at home on the pavement than in the dirt.
The dirt's so foreign to me, because there's no knobbies. You can't us the brake, and you can't lean it over. It's like riding a 500 on some snotty surface; I'm actually good at doing it, but I don't feel comfortable at it. The pavement, there's so much grip, it's like being on a tacky motocross track. You've got really good feel.

Does your car-racing background help?
Sure. There's steps you go through. You go out there and get going, and you learn all your markers. You move them little by little, and then you get to a "woah zone" and stay there. Coming out of the corner, you get on it a little earlier and a little earlier until there's another zone, and then you stay there for a while. It's a process, like on the ovals, learning how far to go in, and where to roll out.

Did you feel pretty good?
I could have been doing everything wrong, as far as I know, but I felt pretty decent doing it. Even coming off the banking, going into turn one, I wasn't that far off the pace. That was like my best corner. It was the infield, with all of the acceleration and the flipping back and forth really quick that I wasn't real comfortable with quite yet. We'll just see how it progresses; the biggest thing is I want to make sure I get the right bike and the right support, so I can have everything kind of first-class. That will make it a lot easier and a lot more fun than doing it on our own and not having the horsepower.

What has the feedback been like?
Everybody wants me to do it. The AMA does. We haven't talked to Honda yet since we got back, but I'm sure Troy's going to talk to them. I know everybody was pretty impressed with the speed I got up to. I think everybody [had been] kind of jaded about how I was going to do, but they said I turned about every head in pit lane, that I rode that well right away. That took some pressure off me, because I was pretty nervous!

Do you think you can pick up the speed even more?
I don't know the lean-angles or anything. I've just done Supermoto, and that's a totally different deal. And especially this tire—everybody hates it, because it's so hard [to last on Daytona's banks]. That even makes it more difficult. They said, "If you went to any other track with the tire we have, you'd be loving it. You almost have to try to break the thing loose." At Daytona, with turn one and the other turns there, it just does it by itself. It's like you're on ice, and if you don't carry your speed early in the corner, it can bite you, coming off, when you give too much. To do it at that track, and how difficult it is, and with the speed on the bank, I had no problem with it, so we'll see. It was fun. I enjoyed it, and we'll see where it goes. It was an eye-opener, that's for sure.

How was the speed?
I was pretty [ready] for that, because I've done the speed in Indy cars, so it wasn't really overwhelming. You're looking the same distance down, and things are pretty smooth. There was a little wiggle and headshake because of the wind, but not real bothersome. It was just coming into the corner and braking—just knowing that if you do go too far, it’s a little worrisome. It's not my bike, and I didn't want to throw away a bike trying to do something stupid.