On The Pegs May 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 5 | Page 34

On The Pegs
You are the most successful rider
at the Erzbergrodeo Red Bull Hare
Scramble with five victories, are you
looking forward to racing there as
part of the WESS for the first time?
“I have a lot of history with the Erzber-
grodeo Red Bull Hare Scramble, it’s
helped build my career to where it is
today. I love racing it, it’s so much more
than just a race - it’s become a real dirt
bike festival. Everyone is there because
they all love the same thing, which is
doing crazy things on enduro bikes.
The level of competition has grown so
much and there are a lot of guys easily
capable of winning but I also feel that
I’m still one of them. I’m excited to race
there in June as part of WESS.”
Where do you feel your strengths
will lie in the series?
“I’m a pretty good all-round guy — I
can adapt. I’ve been around for a long
time now, so I know all the disciplines
we’ll race. I know how to prepare for
each one and prepare my bike too. I
can swap from a two-stroke bike to
a four-stroke bike easily enough de-
pending on where we are racing, so I
also think that adaptability will help
me a lot.”
With such a variety of disciplines in
one series will you train specifically
for each event or try to ride on in-
stinct at some races?
P 34
“Overall, it will be a combination of do-
ing both! Erzbergrodeo Red Bull Hare
Scramble and Trèfle Lozérien AMV are
the hardest rounds simply because
they are back-to-back weekends
whereas others have some time be-
tween them to prepare more specifi-
cally. Starting the series strongly is crit-
ical so we will focus hard to be ready
for rounds one and two while trying to
work on the speed elements necessary
for round three at Trèfle Lozérien AMV.
After that we can dedicate more time
specifically to each event because we
have a decent window of testing be-
tween each round.”
Mass participation events are an
important aspect of WESS, what will
it be like to race with up to 3,000 rid-
ers at some rounds?
“Enduro is founded on amateur rider
participation. It’s unique for our sport
that we all race at the same time on
the same track, you don’t see that in
many other motorsports. It removes
the elitist element from sport — on
the start line everyone is equal. In the
paddock we all mix together too, so
the amateur riders can see how some
of the factory teams operate. I’m look-
ing forward to sitting on the start line
at Gotland Grand National or Red Bull
Knock Out surrounded by thousands
of riders. That’s special.”