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August 2010 Interview with Ponca City 250 C Stock Champion Jonah Cormier

 

 

 


Young 16-year old Jonah Cormier from St. Martinville, LA recently won an amateur national title in Oklahoma at Ponca City...we took a minute to learn more about him.

Cormier's recent racing highlights include '10 Ponca City Grand National MX - 1st 250 C Stock and 8th in 250 C Mod, '10 Loretta Lynn's Amateur National MX - 10th 250 C Mod, '10 Freestone Amateur Day - 2nd in 250 C and 450 C, '10 Golden Pine Regional - 2nd 250 C Mod, '10 Lake Whitney Spring National - 12th Supermini, '09 Mini O's - top 20 in Supermini, '09 Ponca City Grand National - 8th 150 Four Stroke, '09 Lake Whitney - 8th in Supermini, etc.

Click on pictures to enlarge.  Thanks to Kenny P's digital MX!

 

 

Let's get right to it, you're an amateur national champion!  Tell us about the weekend in OK and how does it feel?

It feels amazing. I know its just the Novice class but to me a championship is a championship and no one can take that away from me. I went to Ponca with a lot of pressure from all my sponsors.  Being under the big tent at Honda of Houston is awesome enough, but being in the C class, its like your supposed to be guaranteed to win.  I didn't even know I won it, I came off the track really mad and hit my handlebars, then I see my mechanic, Blake, screaming and jumping. Then I got off of my bike and someone said "225 wins the championship" and I just screamed as hard as I could.  It's the most amazing feeling ever, considering I've been working as hard as I can everyday before that day. It really is a dream come true, but I'm not stopping there.  Mini O's is coming fast and I've got to get back on my game.

 

 

 

[We asked Guy Cormier (Jonah's Dad) about Jonah's Ponca City win:

We are extremely excited about Jonah winning his first championship! Since a very young age, this has always been his dream. The thing we're most proud of is the hard work and determination that we have seen him put into winning this championship. Because of my job, I could not take off of work for two weeks. My wife and I decided that we would go to Loretta Lynn's and sent Jonah to Ponca with some great people, David and Pam Cedillo. So me, my wife and Lance Vincent sat in our motorhome at Loretta's and watched the race on the computer. All we could do was cry tears of joy once he crossed the finish line. Coincidentally, Lance told me that his parents were not there when he won his first championship!]

 

 

 

Back to Jonah, what do you do to prepare / where do you ride and how often?

Usually I either go to the gym, run for at least 30 minutes outside if I'm training for a summer national, and then go into the gym and do weights, or I ride a stationary bike for at least 20 minutes outside.  I ride at Breaux Bridge [Gravity Alley MX in LA] just about every Tuesday and Thursday and then race somewhere else on the weekend.  I do more training off the bike than on it.

 



Do you want to race motorcycles for a living?  Do you think riders that live in CA have an advantage?

I would love to go pro in motocross, that's what I strive to be, I'll do anything to make that happen. But I don't know if I have that special talent like Vincent, Anderson, or Bogle.  I just don't know if I'll make it that far.  The only thing I see CA riders having an advantage is that they have tracks 10 minutes away from each other, but the heat isn't like our heat, it's much harder to ride here than CA, so we too have an advantage.


Are you home schooled or go to a local school?  Would you prefer one over the other?

I go to a private school in New Iberia called Highland Baptist Christian School. I'm a junior there now.  I think I would rather go to a real school rather than homeschool, but I'd like to give home schooling a try one day.






Do you think your friends at school realize how fast you are on a dirt bike?  Have you made time for a girlfriend or is that low on the priority list right now?

I don't think my friends realize how fast I am.  I think that they think I'm spoiled because I go on these big trips, but I don't think they realize how good I am.  But they do know that I won Ponca because my principle announced it to everyone at orientation.  I don't have a girlfriend right now, but they cant seem to stay out of my mind when there's a pretty girl in sight.


Do you have a favorite pro rider right now?

My favorite pro rider right now would probably be Regal, because he's such an underdog and no one really expects him to do good.  Or Canard because I like his style.  But my all-time favorite pro is Windham for sure, he's so consistent.

 

 

 

Yeh I can’t believe Windham came back so strong after his first moto crash this past weekend.

Windham has always done great at Unadilla, I wasn't too surprised, but it was awesome to see he's still got it.

 

 

 

Tomac and others have tried 2-hour WORCS races and 3-hour GNCC’s for some cross training…do you think a little cross-country racing might be good practice?  Would you consider trying out a 1.5-hour LACC Series Round / have you ever ridden or raced in the woods?

I think riding a hare scramble would most definitely benefit in racing. 1.5 hours on a bike seems very hard, but I'd really want to try it, because I've ridden in the woods with Adam Cedillo before and its very fun.  Next time we can't find anywhere to go, Adam and I would definitely hit one up.

 

 

 

We’ve asked this in some of our other interviews…kind of fun to think about – what would be the first 3 things you’d buy if you won the Powerball?

First I'd buy a sweet house with a huge yard in the hills, then I'd buy a freightliner with a double-decker trailer, then a bunch of bikes/gear/parts etc. If I had a little money left over, build the roughest and toughest track around.

 

 

 

 

Before we wrap it up tell us something the usual mx crowd may not know about you...summer job(s), music, etc.?

I had a summer job for most of June, I worked at a machine shop. I worked a drill press, not too exciting.  I love to listen to my music before motos, but I don't always remember to.

 

 

 

Who would you like to thank?

I'd like to thank Shaun, Mark, Jim, and Dave at Honda of Houston, Naveen from Powered by Naveen for building my mod motors, Josh at EBR Performance for doing my suspension, Anklesavers footpegs, MXPrints.com, VonZipper goggles, the Cedillo family, my buddy Garrett Airhart, my mechanic Blake "Coon" Breaux, my mom and dad, my uncle Thad, and Jesus Christ for letting this all happen.


 


Cormier's MotoPlayground Interview

 

 

 

Thanks and good luck to Jonah!


 

 

Also checkout this September '10 Video of Cormier at Oak Hill by Kevin Anderson:

 


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