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The Wrench behind the Rider
Although one can argue whether or not behind every great man there’s a great woman, there’s no arguing that in racing behind every great racer there’s a great mechanic. That much is fact.
In the Team Makita Suzuki squad the man behind Ricky Carmichael is Mike Gosselaar, a 13-year veteran who Carmichael relies on daily.  He’s much more than just the man who keeps RC’s Suzuki
running to perfection: he’s a friend and an inspiration to Carmichael, the rider who is well on his way to earning this year’s AMA/THQ Supercross title.
Like Carmichael, Gosselaar is a winner. And he wants it no other way. He knows the deal and he’s quick to point out that his favorite part of the job is winning. Like he says, “You’re only as good as your last race so it provides a constant challenge.”
Winning races is one thing, winning championships is another. Lots of guys come and go, win a few races here and there, and disappear. Champions know that the road to a title is a long one. Winning is great, but you can’t have screw ups. One mechanical failure in this sport and it’s game over. Hasta la vista, championship.
“Winning championships is what I’m most proud of,” Gosselaar says. “That is the ultimate achievement in any sport and I’ve been fortunate enough to win a few.” Barring a complete meltdown that neither are prone to, Gosselaar and Carmichael will win another one this year. Maybe two. The Supercross title is within grasp and when summer comes around it will be time to hit the outdoor Nationals. It is in those outdoors that this pairing has really strutted their stuff. Think about this: together, RC and Gosselaar have had two perfect seasons of motocross. Twelve races, 24 motos. And not a single mechanical hiccup to cause Carmichael to lose. That’s impressive stuff.
“One of the most challenging things is keeping RC’s bike
together and dialed in,” Gosselaar said. “He’s very hard on himself – a perfectionist.”
Gosselaar relies on his Makita tools to help him keep Carmichael’s bike out front. The most important tool in his arsenal: The Impact Driver. When RC’s Suzuki needs a new clutch, it needs it in a hurry and that’s when Gosselaar reaches for the impact driver – it lets him disassemble and reassemble that clutch in a rush. And racing is always a rush.
Take one example from last year. In the very last practice session in the very last race of the year at Glen Helen in Southern California, Carmichael crashed hard, bending just about everything on the bike. With minutes to spare, Gosselaar had the bike back together, back to the perfect settings that RC had come up with in earlier practice sessions. But he did it. He made the bike perfect again, and perfect is what Carmichael was that day, the Floridian riding the bike to two victories to make history again with his second perfect season.
“We had to change everything down to the frame,” Gosselaar recalls. “That was a pretty extensive change right before the start of the event.”
 Using a Makita Cordless Impact Driver helps in such challenging circumstances, Gosselaar says. He’s been using the drivers for years. Ditto for the rest of the Suzuki crew.
“Makita’s Impacts are incredibly powerful, fast, light and durable,” Gosselaar says of his favorite tools. Right now, Gosselaar and Carmichael have their sights set on the Supercross title. When they get that one wrapped up, they’ll turn their attention to the outdoors again. Another perfect season? With these two working side by side, don’t bet against it.
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