Frid’Eh Update #42 | Derek Hamm | Brought to You by Fox Racing

Frid’Eh Update #42 | Derek Hamm | Brought to You by Fox Racing

By Billy Rainford

Welcome to Week #42 of the DMX Frid’Eh Update this week brought to you by Fox Racing Canada. I’m still hunkered down at my sister’s house out in Kamloops, BC for a few more days. If you happened to listen to our podcast interview with Jared Stock, you would hear some of the difficulties I’ve been dealing with while here. Let’s just say that it would be next to impossible to keep DMX going if I were looking after my mom full time.

The little dog, Trip the Chihuahua, was barking non-stop and I figured it was just the mailman at the front door, but when the barking didn’t stop I had to run to the front window while Jared kept telling us stories.

There was a city worker on the front lawn trying to do some sort of work that I never managed to find out what it was. I just waved “Go away!” with both arms through the living room window and ran back to the kitchen table to pretend I’d heard what Jared had just said…

Then, my mom wandered into the kitchen and started pointing at random things and saying even more random words. I’m not sure if you can hear it on the podcast, but I didn’t even try to edit it because, like always, I enjoy interviews when they go a little off the rails. Haha

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that things will get back to normal next week. I get back to DMX World HQ in London Sunday night and will be able to get back to work on Monday. I appreciate everyone’s patience over the past 10 days as I struggled to keep new information up on the site.

Today is Karaoke day down at that they affectionately call “The Club” which is an Air Force/Navy/Army Veterans Legion down the road, so that’s what’s on the weekly calendar for Fridays, so I have to hurry up to get mom a good seat!

Derek Hamm from Springfield, Ontario, is #42 for 2022. We’ve known him for many years now and and he’s one of the nicer guys you’ll find at the races. He’s got a signature style that can be detected from the far side of any track you’ll go to. He had a strange crash that resulted in an even stranger injury at Sand Del Lee this summer, but we’ll let him describe that to you below.

Here’s a look at his 2022 Canadian Triple Crown Series numbers:

Direct Motocross: Hello, Derek. We haven’t done an interview in a while so let’s talk about a few things. You’ve been around a long time. How old are you, where are you from, and what year did you turn Pro?

Derek Hamm: Hey Billy,  I’m 35 years old, I am from Springfield, Ontario. I turned pro way back in 2005 at the Walton pro national.

Your career is sort of broken into two parts, right? Let’s talk about the time before you sort of came back to the sport. What was your best memory/race from those days?

I would say broken into several parts. Lol I would say my best memories were 2002-2005 definitely a huge amount of highlights in those years. Battling Billy Mullen in 2003 for provincial titles in 80 (13-16) and Supermini were probably the best memories I have. We went at it all season long and it was a ton of fun. 

And then you stepped away for a while. What did you get up to during that time? What do you do for work?

I wouldn’t say I ever “stepped away” completely, I was always usually still riding but racing-wise I definitely had a couple seasons where I maybe did 1-2.  I had dug myself into an insanely deep debt hole, so between like 2014-2016 I worked the oil rigs a little bit and anything else to get myself out of the hole, and the last 5 years I’ve been a heavy equipment mechanic at Toromont Cat in London. 

And then you showed up at the Nationals again. What brought you back?

Just the pure adrenaline rush that moto brings – being on the bike, hitting a big sand berm or throwing a big whip on a jump. My competitive nature will always bring me back, as long as the body allows it and until it doesn’t I’ll keep on doing it. 

You raced the Gopher Dunes and then Sand Del Lee Nationals this summer. Let’s talk about the first one, first. How did you do in the sand? I know that’s your specialty, right?

Actually I did Walton 1 (18-31-21 for 22nd) as well. Walton for me is usually a struggle. I just never really seem to flow there and for whatever reason I was really struggling with arm pump this season. But Gophers, on the other hand, went pretty well. I was relatively conservative there, I was afraid to get pumped up early and got a 17th the first moto. But the second moto, I stepped up the pace a bit, didn’t pump up, and was strong to the finish and got a 13th.

Sand for me is definitely much more comfortable. I don’t mind the bike moving around quite a bit and I honestly just embrace the roughness and the heat and I enjoy when it gets insanely gnarly.

And then you went to Ottawa and things didn’t go the way you wanted. Can you take us through that one?

Yeah, Ottawa definitely did not go as planned. I was running 16th the first moto and with two corners to go myself and another rider got together and we are assuming the foot peg of my bike slashed my arm open.

At the time, I didn’t know. I got up and finished the moto and when I rolled over the finish line my left arm was incredibly wet and I was insanely lightheaded. I managed to lean my bike up against a porta-potty where I then passed out.

When I woke up, the paramedics were all there wrapping my arm up. I lost about a pint of blood and they thought I had nicked the artery and possibly torn my bicep muscle, so I just had to lay there for a while until they got the bleeding under control and found the artery was not nicked.

Luckily, I didn’t need to take an ambulance, so my girlfriend, Breanna Rose, loaded me into the pick-up truck and we went to the hospital where we found out, luckily, the bicep was not torn, but I did need 19 stitches to close up the massive hole I had in my arm.

I also want to give a massive thank you to the Zecca clan. We got back to the track around 9pm after the hospital visit and they had loaded up all the bikes into the trailer and everything was packed so we could just hook on and get on the road back home. 

How long did that take to let you get back to normal? What were you able to do during that time?

The first week I was on light duty at work. After the second week, I was able to get the stitches out and pretty much do a normal work routine. I couldn’t really ride for about six weeks though. I tried after a month but with how deep my cut was, any bumps on the track radiated up my arm and were insanely painful.

Luckily, now I’m back to, I would say, 95%. I doubt it will ever get back to 100% with the scar tissue and the major damage, but it’s not very noticeable riding. I stayed busy working and helped wrench for the girlfriend at the last Walton national. 

What have you been up to lately?

Lately, I’ve been staying busy working. My girlfriend and I bought a toy hauler for next season, so just been tinkering away on that fixing up some small items and getting back on the training schedule and figuring out the plans for next season. Also, still riding on the weekends as long as possible. 

What else do you do besides moto?

Honestly, not much. Lol. I like to golf in the summertime a little bit and snowboard in the winter. 

Will you take another run at some races in 2023? What’s your plan?

Yep, that’s definitely the plan. I was actually signed up for some AMA pro races this past summer, but with the injury I wasn’t able to do them but the plan next year will be to do some local races, some East Coast nationals, and at least three or four US pro nationals because they’ve been on my bucket list for a very long time. I’d also love to do the Baja Brawl. 

OK, well, good luck in the future. Thanks for talking with us and who would you like to thank?

Thanks Billy, I appreciate the interview. I’d like to thank Hudson Motorcycles, Hard Being Good, Visionbuilt, Callus Moto, OGS Moto, Habers MX designs, Guenther compound, 6D helmets, Xtreme Toys, SSS suspension, Breanna Rose for going on this wild ride together with me, and especially my mom and dad for still supporting me at the races.

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Cole Thompson 2nd at Australian Supercross

Cole Thompson grabbed 2nd in the first round of the 2022 Fox Australian Supercross series in Melbourne. I haven’t seen full results yet but found these posts on Yamaha Motor Australia‘s IG Stories.

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Racing Back in Chilliwack this Weekend

2022 Future West Moto Arenacross Championship Rounds 3 & 4

October 21-23 2022

All events are held at Chilliwack Heritage Park in Chilliwack, BC

GATE OPENS

Thursday 2:00 pm – 11:00pm

Friday 7:00 am – 11:00 pm

Saturday 7:00 am – 8:00 pm

Sunday 7:00 am – 3:00 pm

ABSOLUTLEY NO ENTRY OTHER THAN THESE TIMES – ALL CAMPERS NEED TO BE CHECKED IN AT THE GATE

**Anyone Parking before Thursday @2 pm will be towed by Heritage Park unless given permission by FWM**

Wristbands Prices: GST Included

Adult $20

Youth (12-18) $15

Child (4-11) $10

Family Pass (2 adults & 2 children) $50

CAMPING – Paid at gate$20 – No Hookup $35 – Hookup Per Night

**Prime 50amp spots by reservation only**

$60 per night

Email: fwmlisa@hotmail.com

Indoor Pits are back!

$100 for the weekend. To be paid onsite

RIDER INFORMATION REGISTRATION FEES: (price includes wristband)

Friday Practice and Saturday Races

Sunday Races

$70 first class

$45 second class

$35 third class

$20 Tykes – NO TRANSPONDER. NO SCORING. PARTICIPATION AWARDS ONLY.

PRO ENTRY FEES: (price includes wristband) Saturday PRO Race Sunday PRO Race

$80 Open Pro-Am two main events – Pro-Purse for the overall

1st $600

2nd $450

3rd $300

4th $200

5th $100

RACE/PRACTICE DETAILS

FRIDAY:

Open practice: $50 10:00 am – 2:00 pm 3:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Limit one practice per bike. If you have 2 bikes you need to select 2 practice groups when signing up.

RIDING SCHOOL:

SATURDAY

$70 for expert instruction by Ryan Lockhart and Special Guest Instructor TBA

25 SPOTS PER SCHOOL

Saturday Schools

8-9am – Advanced 85cc and Big Bike 9:10-10:10am – Advanced 50/65cc and Beginner/Junior 85 10:20-11:20am – Beginner/Junior 50/65

SATURDAY:

11:45am Mandatory riders meeting Practice to follow Riders Meeting

Qualifiers to follow practice Pro Riders meeting at 4pm , Pro Practice at 4:30PM

Night Show Main events to begin 6:30pm

Sunday:

8:30am Mandatory riders meeting Practice to follow Riders Meeting

Qualifiers to follow practice Pro Riders meeting and Pro Practice to follow Amateur Qualifying

Main Event to follow

PLEASE NOTE: RIDERS MUST HAVE AN MRC MEMBERSHIP Membership can be bought online www.mrcracing.com

TRANSPONDERS: Transponders are mandatory for all racers (except Tyke 50cc). Rentals are available $20 per day Your transponder number must be included on your registration sign up.

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OK, the last time I sang Karaoke was back in Vancouver and I sang Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads with a live band under the name Dash Riprock. Let’s see what happens this afternoon…

Have a great weekend, everyone.