Press Release

'Camp LaRocco' helps boost morale, lift performance of GEICO Honda team

MILLVILLE, Minn. (July 13) – There's a
little patch of land in Western Michigan that past world champion Mike
LaRocco likes to call home. GEICO Honda's Lites riders have been calling
that same area hell for the last 10 days.



Justin Barcia, Eli Tomac, and Wil Hahn
stayed in Michigan during the off-week following the RedBud National for
some intensive training, riding, and team building under the watchful
eye of LaRocco – GEICO Honda team manager, motocross legend, and wouldbe
drill instructor.



"We're all joking that when we grow up we
want to be tough like Rock," Barcia said. "Man, he's been killing us.
It's not Camp LaRocco, it's boot camp. I thought about puking every day
because he was pushing us that hard. We rode against each other in
40-minute motos, then he had us riding sand dunes, then we'd hit the
gym. It was brutal."



LaRocco said while he doesn't expect
miracles to happen at this weekend's Spring Creek National, the next
stop in the Lucas Oil AMA Motocross Championship tour, he does hope his
young riders changed their perspective.



"I was brought up to believe that when you
train, the race should be the easiest part of the week," LaRocco said.
"I don't doubt these guys train, but since I'm not there with them all
the time, I don't know how they train.



"I got the impression that the races
themselves have been the hardest part of the first six outdoor races so I
thought they should know what real training should be."



LaRocco added that, griping aside, the camp feel did a lot to forge a tighter team bond.



"It's tough trying to build team unity and
keep it competitive at the same time," LaRocco said. "I wanted everyone
to come out of here stronger – if not physically, at least mentally. I
think at the end of it everyone was significantly improved on both ends.



"You can't duplicate keeping them together,
pushing each other. No matter what we did, the guys pushed each other
through it and that's going to pay big dividends."



Despite all the sweat and toil, Barcia said he enjoyed himself.



"It kind of turned into a cool deal,"
Barcia said. "It was fun racing with my teammates and becoming better
friends with them. We had time to hang out and talk. It was all good. We
definitely won't be complaining about the races anymore."



Hahn, who returned to action after missing
all of the Supercross season and the first five Motocross events, knows
the extreme competition of riding against Tomac and Barcia helped him a
great deal.



"Those two guys have shown they're two of
the best riders in the world," Hahn said. "To have them as teammates is
huge for me. I felt pretty happy to have two good motos at RedBud after
being off the bike for so long, but I realized I needed speed. Justin
and Eli have incredible speed so having them push me at LaRocco's place
was very positive."



Kevin Windham, who has been riding a 450cc
for the American Honda team this season, will make his return to
Millville this weekend in full GEICO regalia.



"Everything comes full circle this
weekend," Windham said. "It was one year ago at this event when I came
back to the outdoors in place of Davi Millsaps, who was injured. Now
I've made the full circuit of outdoor races in the last year, and I
think that's pretty cool because I had another chance to see all the
tracks, hang out with the fans everywhere, and race.



"Millville's always been a favorite stop
for me, mostly because the people there are so supportive of me. They
really make a guy feel good, and quite honestly I need that boost right
now because the summer heat is starting to kick my butt. I heard it's
gonna be hot up there so I'll need my fans to pull me through. I'm
looking forward to it."



Practice at Spring Creek gets under way at 8:30 p.m. CDT on Saturday, with opening ceremonies starting at 12:40 p.m.



FUEL TV will show the First Motos in both
the 450 and 250 classes starting at 2 p.m. EDT on Saturday. The second
450 moto will be shown on SPEED at 11 p.m. EDT Saturday with the 250
finale to be shown at 6 p.m. Sunday.


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