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| 44Racing Founder/Rider/Manager Christian Hatch |
We’ve long supported Hatch and the incredibly talented young riders of the 44Racing MTB team and in the space of just a few years the team has gone from strength to strength. Recently, 44Racing became the official Rockstar Energy UK MTB team and has received some great support thanks to Christian’s hard work and persistence. So, we thought we would catch up with Hatch to find out what he and his team have in store for 2013…
For those that don’t know already, what’s the difference between 44Racing and 44Racing Talent Team?
The main difference between the two teams is that 44Racing consists of established riders on the race circuit and are all official Rockstar Energy Drink UK athletes. The 44Racing Talent Team is a mentored team of up and coming riders.
So, with your Talent Team, are you discovering a wealth of up-and-coming UK riders that are finding it hard to get support?
Yeah you’ve pretty much hit the nail on the head there. I set up the talent team in order to mentor riders that I believe have potential to do well, but haven’t got the support and/or guidance in order to achieve their full potential so I try to help them out the best I can with the 44Racing Talent Team.
It’s been a pretty crazy few years for you and the growth of the team has been phenomenal, what’s been the hardest part?
Ah it’s been mental, I started the team at the end of 2009 in order to put something back into a sport that has given me so much over the past 20+ years and it has snowballed beyond my wildest dreams. I really can’t quite believe it still! The team is going into its fourth year and is the official Rockstar Energy Drink UK MTB team, the official Diamondback European Factory MTB team, we have a direct factory deal with Kore-USA and we have a host of other high profile sponsors including the amazing guys at Freestylextreme.com who have been with us from the very start. I would say the hardest part has got to be all of the constant administration that goes on behind the scenes in order to keep the team running. Everyone see my riders on the start gate on our factory race bikes, dressed head to toe in sponsor kit and they think this all comes easy, but what they don’t see are the thousands of emails sent, the thousands of miles driven and the thousands of hours that has enabled the riders to even get on the start gate let alone race an entire season.
I’ve made a couple of changes to the team this year as I am pushing the team hard into Downhill racing, but I am still keeping a presence in Fourcross (4X) as that is where the team originated from.
44Racing Rockstar Diamondback –
Christian Hatcher (Me) – Owner/Manager/Rider
Chris Sinden – Elite Downhill Rider
Nick Geoghegan – Expert Downhill Rider
Sam Johnson – Expert Downhill Rider
Joe Mallinson – Senior Downhill / Elite 4X
44Racing Diamondback 4X (44Racing Talent Team) –
Eddie Pugh – Elite 4X Rider
Jack Hudson – Senior 4X Rider
Connor Hudson – Junior 4X Rider
How are you finding the 2013 Diamondback bikes? What benefits come with factory support?
The team are all really happy with the Diamondback bikes. We are really lucky to have a selection of bikes from the Diamondback range which are all great bikes. Our main race bikes are the Diamondback DH8 and the Diamondback Assault 4X. We have been heavily testing the Diamondback DH8 during the off season and the feedback from the riders has all been really positive.
The main benefit with factory support is that you deal directly with the manufacturer, designers, engineers and factory, by having this contact we have a direct input into designs, we also get to give direct feedback that in turn helps us get the best equipment going and the public get an awesome product as a result of this. One of the biggest perks of being factory supported is that the team get to ride and test numerous prototype bikes and components.
We saw you went out to Italy for some pre-season training, how is everyone looking?
Yeah the team is sponsored by Molinifreeride.com that is a bike holiday company/uplift service based in Molini, Northern Italy that is situated about 40 minutes drive from the Italian Riviera in the Maritime Alpes so we do our pre/post season testing/training out there in order to escape the not so great UK weather.
Unfortunately we had three riders side-lined due to injury; however the team riders that were fit were right on pace with only a few tweaks here and there to get them where I wanted for the start of the season.
We also saw that Jack Hudson picked up a podium finish at the first round of the Schwalbe British 4X in Afan, Wales. Must be a pretty good way to start the season?
Yeah that was just what was wanted, Jack rode really strong all weekend and will definitely be a title contender in 2013. The team has a lot of riders in their first year in a new race category this year so it always takes a few races for them to find their feet so as soon as they are settled they will be a force to be reckoned with!!
Looks like the team has got a really busy few weeks. Where can we expect to see the 44Racing team compete in the near future?
Ah, we are here there and everywhere in the coming months. You’ll be able to catch up with us at the Scottish Bike Show in Glasgow, Rounds 2, 3 and 4 of the British Downhill Series at Fort William, Innerleithen and Llangollen, the Sony Joyride Downhill series is Poland and much more!
What further ambitions do you have for 44Racing? Are there any dream goals you have in mind?
I am constantly pushing the team forward. Ideally, I would like to continue the rate of growth and exposure that the team has seen since the outset. I am already in talks sorting deals for 2014 with the intention of expanding the team’s rider base into mainland Europe and I also have some interesting meetings in the pipeline that could be pivotal for the team.
My dream goal is for the team to become a full UCI World Cup Downhill team, as farfetched as it seems it definitely isn’t out of reach.
We recently helped kit you guys out for 2013. How are you finding the Thor gear?I love the Thor kit as the quality of it is second to none. It is the team’s second season in Thor race kit through Freestylextreme.com and all of the team riders love it, it looks amazing and performs faultlessly. What more could you want?
We know that 44Racing is the official Rockstar Energy UK MTB team but be honest – which is your favourite flavour?
God now that’s a hard one……obviously all of the Rockstar flavours are amazing, but at the moment my favourites have got to be the new Rockstar BubbleBurst and Apple SuperSours.
