When you’re a veteran like Mike Brown, and you’re racing against kids half your age, your biggest weapon can be your experience. Brownie’s experience tells him he needs consistency if he’s going to win a title this year, and he has had just that. At round two, he put an exclamation point on his return to the AMA series with a second-moto win over 17-year-old Mike Alessi after hounding the youngster for literally the entire race. He used his experience to work his way around with two laps to go and take his first moto win of the season. He grabbed the top spot in the 125cc point standings at that event and at the halfway mark of the season was still leading the way.

Parts Mag: How old are you now, Mike?

Mike Brown: I’m 33.

PM: Okay, so you’re 33 years old. That means you’ve been racing pro since about the time that Mike Alessi was born.

MB: Yeah, probably. I’m almost double his age now.

PM: That’s pretty amazing, when you think about it. How is it that you can be this competitive at this age?

MB: I know what I’m doing out there. It’s not like I feel old. I’ve got good equipment now and I can go out there and put in laps just as good as anybody.

PM: How did you put this whole team together in such a short time?

MB: It was hard, you know? I have a manager named Dan Dilke and a motorcycle shop that I’ve rode for forever–Jim’s Motorcycle Sales–and they always told me if I need anything, they’d step up. And then Pro Circuit, I’ve rode with them guys forever and they know how I like my stuff. I was talking with Bones Bacon and Mitch Payton, and they stepped up. That was about it. Everything else was just calling and asking for pieces and stuff. It was tough, though, you know? I’m just now getting a little bit organized and getting my stuff together and getting more time on the bike. It would’ve been harder for anybody else to do any better than what I’ve done, though.

PM: How many people did you actually call yourself when you were setting this deal up?

MB: I didn’t call anybody myself. (laughs) All I did was go down to the motorcycle shop and pick seven bikes up. I rolled them out of the dealership and started from there. I think, when we called Jim’s, they said, “We don’t have much to give, but for Mike, we’ll do what we can.” They’re kind of like my family, really. I’ve known them since I was a kid and they’d do anything for me. They bought this truck for me, and if it wasn’t for them guys, I wouldn’t be here. I’d be sitting at home.

PM: You go to Europe with certain expectations, and it seems like there was jawing going on about how your mechanical difficulties were your fault because of the way you ride and such. Now that you’ve come back here and won on the equipment you wanted from the beginning in Europe, do you feel somewhat redeemed?

MB: Oh, it feels good. I knew the whole time about what they were saying, and I knew it wasn’t my fault. I know how to ride a motorcycle. I’ve been riding for a long time, and I rode a four-stroke before I went to Europe, and I’m still riding a four-stroke now and I’m winning on it. I guess you can just look at the results, you know? It’s the guys that build the bikes that have made the difference, not the guy riding it.

PM: Is all of that stuff with RWJ handled now? Or is it all heading into court?

MB: It’s heading to court, for sure. I’ve got my lawyers on it. You can’t get away with stuff like that. I’ll have something from them, that’s for sure.

PM: As a last word on the issue, considering the bad blood between you and the guys overseas, how do you expect to be thought of from here on out?

MB: I don’t know. I guess I’m just a guy who tries hard and doesn’t give up, like LaRocco. He can start in the back and go to the front. He never gives up. I’d like to be thought of in the same way as him. He’s a great rider, and he’s an older guy that still does good just like me. I think it’s best to be known as a hard charger because when you’re done racing, you don’t want to be known as someone who would be better if he trained or tried harder.

PM: Sometimes if someone says, “I’ll try harder next week,” that means they weren’t trying as hard as they could this week, don’t you think?
MB: I don’t know. I’ve come off the track feeling like I didn’t try before, but I’m trying to do all I can do. At least I’m trying when I’m on the track, not just out there riding around, but today was pretty easy. Last week at Sacramento, I felt kind of sick the last moto, but this week I’ve kind of got it out, and I actually don’t even feel like I raced this weekend. I don’t feel tired or nothing. So maybe I should try harder!

PM: Well, you’re also one of the only guys running Michelin tires. Why did you go that route when most of your competition is running Dunlop or Bridgestone?

MB: The tires are good. I used them in Europe for a few years when I was over there before, and I used them when I was over in Europe this year, so when I was coming here, one of my great friends in racing, Randy Richardson from Michelin, he helped me, and I think it was good for me. Coming here, I knew what the tires were doing, and it was a better package for me, really.

PM: At 33 years old, what do you expect from yourself for the rest of your career?

MB: I’ll see if I can win it this year. If I could win a championship, that’d be great–I’d race another year. Actually, I’m still going to race another year no matter what, and then I’d like to have my own team like Mitch. I want to have a team like that, you know? Get my own riders and stuff. But for sure, next year will be my last year.

PM: So even in a best-case scenario, you win the title next year, you’re going to hang it up the following year?
MB: I think so, yeah. Go out winning. That would be great, but there’s so many young kids out there that’s going fast. I think being consistent can be better than being fast these days with the kids coming up, so that’s what I’m looking for. I’m not out to win every race or every moto. If I can just be up there every race, that’s how you can win a championship.

PM: As long as you have been around, how have you been able to adjust to all of the new techniques that have come into MX since then?

MB: There’s other areas where I think you can go fast without getting all flashy. Corners are where you win races, I think. Jumping is a little bit, but if you can get through the corners faster than anybody, that’s where you win the races. If you work on your corners, that’s where Ricky wins and Stewart wins. For me, I work on the corners because it’s hard for me to do the scrub and stuff like that (laughs).

PM: There used to be a lot of talk about corner speed in Europe and stuff. Did you actually pick it up there when you were there before?

MB: It did help me. It’s so high-speed over there, you have to get through the corners fast. It’s like flat-tracking, really. And when I went the last time to Europe, it helped me when I came back here, and I just kind of keep it up. When you’re riding with Ricky Carmichael, and you know how he does it in training, we work on corners. We can ride the same corner for an hour, practicing it over and over to get it done. It helps. Before I started riding with Ricky, I never really practiced corners, I’d just go out and do my motos and be done, but there’s different things you can do. Riding with Ricky, watching him and aiming to try and beat his times, it’s really hard, and it’s good. He’s fast everywhere.

PM: In a recent interview, when asked who the last person was who surprised him, he said you. Why was that?

MB: I don’t know if it’s because I’m older and I still go good. But I think Ricky likes me because he knows that in training and riding, I hang in there. I can train with him, I can do the motos and I’m good for him to push himself, when he tries to catch me or however. But I’m out there riding the whole time, and he likes that. A lot of people are excited to ride with Ricky and train with Ricky, but it hurts them more than it helps them because you can get yourself in a mess training with Ricky. He trains hard, and I’m up for that and I can do it, so I think that’s why we get along.

PM: Is that something where down the road, you’ll play a part in getting your riders in shape on your team?

MB: Well, I ain’t going to go out and scream at the guys, but for sure I would help them out and lead them in the right direction. When I was a kid, I wish someone treated me like that. I think I could’ve won more championships than I have. When I was a kid, I didn’t know what I was doing. Me and my dad did it, and I didn’t know how to train. We just went to the races and raced on the weekends. We never even practiced, really.

PM: It seems common for riders in your position to look back and think, “If I would’ve known then what I know now…”

MB: I think that same thing all the time. I had a Pro Circuit ride in ‘92 with Mitch’s team, and it was straight from nothing. I had never rode a Supercross track before that. I was straight to California onto Supercross tracks, practicing and testing, but I still didn’t have the training down. I didn’t know how to train. I didn’t know you had to go out and do 20 laps. I just didn’t know. I wish someone would’ve come up and told me. I was trying to figure it out for myself because we just didn’t know. I would just go run, and that’s it.

PM: Is it even a remote possibility that, if you got an offer from Europe for 2006, you’d consider going?

MB: You know, if I want to start my team, I need to get it going now, while I’m racing. Plus, I don’t want to go over there and not have nothing and start back again. I’m up and running here, and I’m going to do the best I can with it.