Jay Marmont's Return

After two testing seasons with Kawasaki, multiple Australian MX and SX champ, Jay Marmont, has rejoined the Yamaha team with whom he’s enjoyed much of his success. We spoke to CDR Yamaha’s Craig Dack about the story behind the re-signing of Mr Marmont.

Back in the June 2012 issue of Transmoto magazine, we published a feature called The Defectors. It was an intentionally provocative title, designed to draw attention to the fact that both the MX/SX and AORC national champions – Yamaha’s Jay Marmont and Chris Hollis – left the teams with whom they’d won their titles in search of greener pastures for season 2012. So it’s somewhat ironic that both Marmont and Hollis are not only back with Yamaha in 2014, but back with Team CDR Yamaha, who has branched out into the Aussie off-road scene in the years since.

We spoke to CDR Yamaha’s Team Principal, Craig Dack, about getting Jay Marmont back on board, and his expectations for the year ahead.

By the way, we’ve got an exclusive video with Marmont, titled “What It Takes” dropping February 21. Stay tuned for it.

Is it fair to say that you’ve always identified with Jay Marmont’s grit and determination? He rides like a modern-day Craig Dack, right?

CD: Yeah (laughs), there’s some truth in that. And I’m flattered that you said that because I’ve always liked that style of sportsman, whichever sport it is. I always considered myself as a guy who might not have had the same natural talent as some, but who had the work ethic to more than make up for it. I see Jay in much the same light, and I’ve always liked hiring guys with the right work ethic.

How would you explain Jay as an athlete?

With guys who have that real desire and the will to win, they tend to be driven by one of two things: the adulation of success or the fear of failure. My experience is that most really determined guys, like Jay, are driven by the fear of failure. The inherent risk with these guys is that, when you do fail – in their eyes, anyway – they can be very hard on themselves and hit rock-bottom. So, from a team manager’s point of view, it can take a lot of work to keep that sort of guy positive. But with Jay, once you get his attention and get him connected, he’d do anything, y’know. He’s awesome.

^Image: iKapture Images

From 2008 to 2011, Jay notched up five premier-class MX/SX titles with CDR Yamaha. It was one of the most successful partnerships in the sport’s history. What was the magic formula between Jay and CDR?

There was a lot to it – which includes the right team infrastructure, personnel, sponsors and products. I actually wanted to hire Jay a few years before 2008 because, from afar, it didn’t seem as if Jay was managing his string of injuries or his whole race program as well as he might. I always thought that the key with Jay would be to put structure and processes in place around him. In a lot of ways, it turned out that Jay was not an easy rider to manage. He required a lot of work. But that was fine, because he gave it back to you on the weekend. It was a hell of a ride with Jay over those four years. With the passing of his daughter, Lila, we all went through that together and, in a strange way, that helped create a very strong bond between Jay and the team. Also, Jay’s old man, Peter, has a really good racing brain. He’s been around for a long time and helped Anthony Gunter a lot back in the late 1970s. Since Peter really connects with Jay, I liked to drag him into the races as much as I could because I felt that he was a really good influence on Jay. I’m not sure Jay’s capitalised on that in the past two years.

Jay left Team CDR after 2011 to seek out a new challenge, but you’ve said that you guys parted company on good terms, and that CDR would always have a seat for Jay.

Keeping an open mind and not closing the door on any rider – never saying never – is something that Yamaha has always believed in, both in Australia and internationally. Look at Valentino Rossi returning to Yamaha after his time with Ducati. Obviously, I was upset when Jay left us after such a successful relationship together. I understood that he felt like he needed something fresh and felt that he was racing in my shadow in a way. By that, I mean I believe Jay thought it was Craig Dack and Jay Marmont who won the titles. So, moving to another team was in some way about proving to himself that he could win without me. Jay knew that we put everything into our working relationship to win those titles, and he remained professional throughout our negotiations at the end of 2011. When we did part company, I made the point to him that, if we fell out, all that success we enjoyed together would have meant nothing. It was the most successful relationship I’ve ever had with a rider and I wanted us both to be able to look back on the time with fond memories. Thankfully, we remained friends and we stayed in contact with each other.

^Image: iKapture Images

At that time, was there something in the back of your mind that thought he might return to CDR?

I don’t want to put the Kawasaki team down. But, as I said earlier, Jay needs to be surrounded by a lot of structure and experienced people to get the best out of him. I suspected that the Kawasaki team – who were relatively new back then – wouldn’t work for Jay. That was just my opinion, which isn’t always right. But it turned out to be right in this case.

Tell us how the opportunity to re-sign Jay came about? And did it have anything to do with the all-new 2014-model YZ450F?

Jay has fond memories on the previous-model YZ450F because he won so much on that bike, so I’m not sure the new bike had much to do with his decision. I think the reality is that the relationship had broken down with his team. It happens to everyone, myself included. I’ve often said that CDR will always have a seat for Jay Marmont and I had my eye on him for the 2014 season. Also, the way the cards fell late last year, no one else had an available seat and CDR was Jay’s only realistic option. But there’s more to it than that. I think Jay now realises that we’ve always been able to get the best out of him, plus rejoining CDR means he’s reunited with familiar people and products – such as Fox, Alpinestars and Dunlop – that he knows and trusts.”

“I think Jay now realises that we’ve always been able to get the best out of him, plus rejoining CDR means he’s reunited with familiar people and products – such as Fox, Alpinestars and Dunlop – that he knows and trusts.” – Craig Dack

You often speak about having a combination of youthful exuberance and experience in your rider line-up. Do you get that with Billy Mackenzie and Jay Marmont?

You’re right; I have said that a lot. And because I’ve now hired two experienced riders, I guess I’ll have to eat my words. But there’s two reasons I’ve hired these two guys. First, I don’t see any young riders out there who really tickle my fancy right now. Secondly – and this is something you’re starting to see in all sort of sports around the world now – I believe that athletes remain at their prime longer. Take my era for example. I retired at 27. So did Jeff Leisk, Ricky Johnson and a heap of other top guys in America. What you’re seeing these days is that advancements in sports science and medicine has allowed riders to extend their careers. Back in our day, we’d get up on Monday morning and go for a 10km run. Nowadays, Monday is all about recovery for riders. So we were doing all the wrong things back then, and I’m sure it shortened our careers to some extent. These days, you’re no longer guessing about your diet and training. And all that adds up to athletes staying in their prime longer and retiring older. I mean, Josh Coppins won the title with us in 2012 at age 35. Look at Chad Reed in the USA. These days, the only reasons a rider retires is that they’ve lost the fire in their belly or their body wears out. Neither of those reasons applies to Jay Marmont. Here’s a guy who’s body is in great shape and who has a heap of experience – it’s the perfect combination.