Rising Star Benny Solis Jr.1

The son of a former club racer, it was almost a given that little Benny Solis Jr. would eventually want to take after his father and test his mettle on the asphalt. By the time he had turned 10, Benny had, had enough of sitting in the stands watching his dad race and through persistence had finally managed to talk his dad into letting him ride on a Honda NSR 50. His first few rides and races on the NSR had provided a slew of last place finishes. Despite the poor early results, the seeds of racing had already deeply implanted their roots into Benny’s DNA. It wasn’t long before Benny turned his last place finishes into race wins. Soon after his father took note of his son’s innate talent, Benny Sr. moved his son up to the 85cc class, where Benny adapted quickly and even racked up a few race wins by the seasons end. All of this was in his first season of road racing. By the end of the season, Benny had already set his sights and dreams on becoming a future World Champion and it wouldn’t be long before the young kid from North Hollywood, California would be making a name for himself on both the National and International scene.

Benny’s rise to prominence happened scarily quick. In 2007, Benny won the USGPRU 125cc West Coast Championship and earned an invite to the US Red Bull Rookies Cup for 2008. In 2008, Benny put on a stunning display in his first season in the US Red Bull Rookies, racing his way to becoming the first and as of now, only US Red Bull Rookies Cup Champion. His aggressive yet calculated riding style even earned him the coveted Speed Performance Award for Best Finish as he and his arch rival Leandro Mercado, literally leaned on each other on their way to the finish line at the MotoGP round at Laguna Seca. Suddenly, a star was born and many people as well as future competitors took notice. His championship winning performance earned him a spot in the 2009 MotoGP Red Bull Rookies Cup, where he would race against some of the fastest kids in the world on some of the most prestigious tracks in the world alongside the MotoGP circus. The fast kid from North Hollywood, suddenly found himself signing autographs and becoming a role model for not only Mexican Americans, but all minorities who dreamed of a career racing motorcycles. We got the chance to speak with young star as he starts his first season racing in the WERA Nationals on the Graves backed Yamaha R6.

At what point did you realize that you wanted to make a career out of road racing?

I think as soon as I started doing good… Actually, as soon as I got onto a bike I loved it! Then I started hearing about world level racing, MotoGP and World Superbike,  and I got really excited and realized you could make a career out of that and I decided that was what I wanted to do with my life.

During the Rookies cup, there were rumors that some of the Americans were receiving older, faulty parts. I heard that you had a lot of ignition issues that cost you dearly throughout the season. Can you explain that?

Hayden Gillim had a couple ignition problems too, as well as some of the other Europeans. But, Jake Gagne was American and he was consistently running up at the front, so I don’t think that’s true.

Going into the 2009 MotoGP Rookies cup, you were the reigning US champion, you were on TV, people who knew about road racing, knew your name. How big of a role did that pressure play on you? Did you feel that that pressure hurt your performance in the MotoGP Rookies Cup?

Coming off of being the US champion and heading over to Europe, I didn’t feel so much pressure. Everything just kind of started to go downhill after I broke my finger during testing. Up until that point my lap times had been really good.  Even at the test when my finger was still broken, I was still doing pretty good lap times. Then suddenly we started having the ignition issues and even though my finger was better my lap times were not as fast as they had been so I was pretty frustrated. Then the ignition issues kept happening and that really began to ruin my confidence and I was just pretty down. Everytime I went out I had ignition issues and by the time they finally replaced all of my electronics, it was the fourth round at Assen.

During the American rookies cup I was always smiling I was always happy, and I was always having a good time. I had so much confidence. Then I went over to Europe and had to deal with the ignition issues and I it really got me down. I talked to Nicky Hayden and his dad Earl and they told me how much of mental game racing was. I spent a lot of time with Earl and he and Nicky really helped me out and taught me how important the mental aspect was and how you really have to enjoy what you do

Because of the economy, I heard that you were responsible for paying for your own mechanics. What else did you guys have to pay for? Would you say that the majority of the kids running at the front had a lot more money behind them and were able to afford the best mechanics and get the best performance out of their bikes?

We had to pay for traveling expenses, hotel rooms, food, it was really expensive. I was pretty happy that my dad was there he’s a great mechanic and it was good to have him there. I would say that about ninety percent of the the other kids either had their parents or their friends as their mechanics, so I really don’t think the mechanics had a significant role on who was up at the front.

Why do you think the Europeans tend be faster than the Americans?

At the end of the year we had a riders cup. Europeans vs. the Americans. I ended up having two big high sides that kinda put a damper on my race. Everyone was talking about Europeans and how they were so fast. They’re fast but I wouldn’t necessarily say that they are faster. Mainly it is that they are way more competitive. There are a lot more fast guys over there, whereas over here there are the fast guys and then the slow guys. When I was doing good I was up at the front. Over here there may be three or four guys battling for the lead whereas over there, there’ll be 15 guys battling for the lead. All of the kids in the MotoGP Rookies cup are really fast. From first place to last place there was only a 2 second gap.

For 2010, you were invited to race again in the rookies cup, but you opted to decline the invitation and race for Graves Yamaha in the AMA Supersport class. What were the main factors behind that decision?

After the first year I kind of lost a whole lot of interest in the Rookies Cup program, my head just wasn’t in it anymore. Plus it was just going to be too expensive to do another season traveling back and forth to Europe. Then one day my dad came home and told me I might be able to get some support from Chuck Graves. Graves has a fantastic program and they give so much support. Plus Yamaha is a multi-world championship winning  brand so it is a dream to be a part of the Yamaha family. Chuck (Graves) is really helping me out and it’s the best opportunity I have had in my whole life and I really wanted to ride a 600.

Did the new Moto2 class have anything to do with your decision to leave the gp bikes for 600’s?

Yeah, other people look at it differently but if I can do good on 600’s in AMA then I can go to Moto2 . Otherwise I would hope to do the Ben Spies route start with the 600’s and then move to 1000’s. Basically it will be about doing the best that I can and see what routes open up for me.

What do you think about your new graves yamaha? Was this the first 600 you’ve ever ridden?

When I was 12 Freddie Spencer offered me the chance to ride a 600 at his school and I loved it. But it wasn’t until recently that I got a chance to ride a 600 again with the Graves Yamaha. It was during a test and my dad was out there. As soon as I got on it  I loved it, it was a fantastic bike and it was setup great. Obviously it felt a lot heavier than the 125, but overall the bike felt great. Little by little I just kept getting faster each time.

How much have the skills you learned on the 125, translated to the 600?

I think most of it. Almost 90%. I was talking to Josh Herrin and he said you have to ride it similar to a 125. With the 125’s, cornerspeed was everything and that was one of the skills that I learned on the gp bikes and I was able to use that skill on the 600. The only major difference was the weight of the bike and I just needed to work on getting into the corners a bit deeper.

What is your plan of action for the next 5 years, how do you plan to get back to the world level?

My goal is to eventually go and compete on the world level. But right now I’m just concentrating on this year. I need to focus on doing the best I can in the WERA Nationals and then focus on getting a ride in the AMA supersport class for  2011. I would love to stay with Graves. They probably have the best all around package in AMA.

With the cost of racing so high, what is your best advice for the parents and kids who are just starting out on the mini tracks and their parents are scratching their heads trying to figure out how they are going to get their kids to a point where they can make a career out of racing?

My parents are sacrificing a lot. I mean, they have sacrificed so much, that it would be a waste to quit after coming so far. There’s no point in putting in all that time and money and quitting. Keep trying, never give up, and it will pay off.

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