THE BOSTON GLOBE

Friday, June 16 2000

Jocelin raring for racing comeback

Back from injuries, she hits NHIS

By Michael Vega, Globe Staff

Jocelin, a 29-year-old Maine native, made her American Motorcycle Association Pro-Series debut - and took a bad spill - at Daytona in March,                                                                         

She answers to only one handle now.  It's Jocelin, just Jocelin.  Born in Waterville (Farmington), Maine, as Jocelin Joy Veilleux, she grew tired of the way her last name (it is pronounced Vay-you) was constantly being mangled by public address announcers.  So last October, she legally dropped her middle and last names.

"I did it for racing, to make it easier, just to be different," explained the 29-year-old rookie on the American Motorcycle Association Pro Series.  "It's nothing against my family name at all.  I love my family.  It's a French name, very French.  But legally, it's just Jocelin now."  If it works for Cher and Madonna, why not Jocelin?

When she arrives at new Hampshire International Speedway today to compete in the MBNA 250cc Grand Prix at the 77th annual Loudon Classic, she hopes everyone will remember her name.  NHIS, after all, is where she was first exposed to motorcycle racing as a devotee of the Loudon Classic.  One trip in particular, to the 75th running, prompted her to pursue her dream by enrolling in the Penguin Racing School at NHIS, where she earned here AMA Pro license after finishing a three-step course last October in just one year.

"I had my hands wrapped around the fence, watching bikes go by on the track and saying, 'I can do that! I can do that!' just like any street squirt would do," she said.  "I talked about it so much that I knew it was what I wanted to do."

An independent businesswoman who for the last five years has operated her own sign company in Maine, Tri-Signs, Inc., Jocelin has tried to juggle her business with her thrill-seeking addiction to motorcycle road racing.  She says nothing - not even polar bear swimming in frozen ponds, bungee jumping, sky diving, or motorcycle drag racing - has matched the sheer adrenaline rush she gets from straddling a high-performance motorcycle and throwing it around a road course at top speed.

"I have always had an interest in motorcycles, and I'm not really sure where that stemmed from, because we didn't ever have motorcycles in the family," said Jocelin, who, against her parent's wishes, bought her first dirt bike at age 12 with money she earned from a paper route.  "Actually, they all detested motorcycles.  Maybe that's why I liked them, because I was always a little rebellious, I guess."

That led to the purchase of a Kawasaki Ninja 250 and later a Ninja 750, which she raced on local drag strips for about five years.  But drag racing provided only a short-term fix for Jocelin's growing need for speed.  "I loved it, but I didn't like that the race was all over in a few seconds," she said.  "Or if you raced and lost the first one, then you wouldn't race for the rest of the day.  You get there all excited, and in one minute - boom - it's all over, and your weekend is done.  So it wasn't quite doing it for me."

After graduating from the Penguin Racing School, Jocelin gained experience in the Loudon Road Racing Series.

"Being a female in a male-dominated sport has its advantages and disadvantages," said Jocelin, who holds a degree in criminology from the University of Maine at Augusta and briefly pursued a career as a policewoman before giving it up to follow her dream of racing motorcycles.

"The disadvantages are when I really try to blend in at the track, because it is so male-dominated," she said.  "I just wish I could be one of the guys.  Everything would be so cool.  But when you go ask someone for a part, their wife is glaring at you, or whatever.  Or when you beat a guy, he hears is in the pits: 'Oh you got beat by a girl!'"

One advantage, on the other hand, is that Jocelin garners more attention from the media, fans, and potential sponsors.  Another advantage is purely physical.  Her 105-pound frame gives her an edge in the thrust-to weight ratio of her bike, which can translate into greater acceleration into and out of corners.

Jocelin's petite build provided no buffer, however, when she took a terrible spill in her AMA Pro debut at Daytona in March.  Her bike's motor seized as she was attempting to negotiate a high-speed turn, causing the front wheel to bite into the asphalt and catapulting her over the handlebars.  She suffered serious injuries to her right ankle, left arm and shoulder as well as short-term memory loss.

Jocelin returned to Maine and, to her dismay, was lectured by her doctors about the risks of motorcycle racing.  "I was frustrated because there was not one doctor who was concerned about getting me back on the bike," she said.

But there was one encouraging voice among the chorus of dissenters.  It belonged to fellow competitor Rich Oliver, a four-time AMA 250cc champion.

Oliver flew to Maine from his home in California to visit her during her recovery, and he offered to help her fix her badly damaged bike.  Soon a romance blossomed.  Jocelin, who is planning to sell her business in Maine and move to California with Oliver, admits there has been serious talk between the two about cementing their relationship. 

Marriage perhaps?  "We'll have to see, but we've talked about it," Jocelin said.  "That would be interesting, to be the first (married) couple on the grid.  That would be a riot.

"I'm just so fortunate that he came along when he did," she added, "because I was overwhelmed with trying to deal with these doctors who were lecturing me and saying things like, 'well, you shouldn't be out there on motorcycles, and I hope you learned your lesson.'

"I was just so devastated, but then Rich would call up and say, 'Hey, I'm thinking about flying up and working on your bike a little bit.' It was like, cool.  He gave me...that little bit of hope that, yeah, I can come back."

While she has yet to fully recover from her Daytona injuries, Jocelin is confident and back in the saddle of her two-wheeled mount.  NHIS will be her third race of the season after making her initial comeback at Road Atlanta a few weeks ago.  She realizes the winding road course at NHIS will present challenges, but after all she's been through, she believes she'll be ready.

"I was really just glad that I was able to be back out there (at Road Atlanta) and throw the bike around the track," she said.  "But now I'm just so psyched to be ready for Loudon."

Jocelin Recovering from her race injuries.