Champion down under.

“I am doing really well. Here in Australia, the Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted quite a lot so life is almost going back to normal. I did use the time during that period to do a lot of training on my pushbike, a lot of cycling and just keeping myself fit for whenever they allow us to go back racing.”

“When I was a young fellow, we moved out to where I currently live at Douglas Park just outside Sydney in New South Wales and it was in the countryside. I’ve always loved riding bicycles and then when I was about five, I got a TW50 for Christmas from my parents and that was something I instantly just became in love with. Every afternoon after school I would jump on my dirt bike and ride until the sun would go down and then I just loved doing it. My Dad loves the bikes and we went and watched a dirt bike race one time and I just said to Dad that I’d really like to do that and when I was about seven years old he took me to my first race and I competed. I loved racing but I also loved that we used to go camping and we would take our dirt bikes and go into the Australian countryside with my cousins and my Dad, and we would go dirt bike riding. I just enjoyed the freedom that dirt bikes give you.”

“I raced dirt bikes until I was 18 and I was quite successful. When you are a junior, it’s not really a big deal. They have championships but it’s more for fun at that stage. Then I raced Supercross which is with the big jumps when I was 17 and 18. At 18 unfortunately I hurt myself really bad in a Supercross race and I had multiple fractures in my leg. It was a really bad downside of my life but I was lucky that my Dad was really positive and said ‘You’ve always liked road racing because we’ve watched Mick Doohan racing on TV and always wanted to have a go and what we will do is just put the dirt bikes asides so that you heal and when you come back we could give road racing a try.’ And then in 2001, I gave road racing a try on 250 production bike and I loved it. I finished second in the Australian championship and never looked back.”

“Exactly. I can remember being in the hospital and the doctor giving me a worst-case scenario on my leg. Because I had compartment syndrome, there was a lot of nerve damage and he said I would be lucky to be able to run and bike racing would be out of the question, which is what doctors do. So I was devasted but it was a typical time in my life when one door closed and another one opened. And I am happy about it. I look at it as a blessing in disguise.”

“With the new bike, I am incredibly impressed with the torque of the engine and the chassis just seems more nimble to me. There is nothing wrong with the old bike but I just feel that the new bike is improved slightly everywhere and I am really happy with the new bike package. The only issue that we had was that we hadn’t had much time with it but every time I go out I seem to improve really quickly and it was just a matter of having more time on the new bike because it is more capable and faster and it does everything you ask of it.”

“The first round was going really well and we were really strong in qualifying and then fighting for the podium. Unfortunately it’s racing and I had a coming together with another rider which made me go off the track and I had a crash in the sandpit. That had an effect on the result but I’m happy with how the bike felt and at that point in time we did not have much development but we’ve been working on some shock settings and now the bike’s a lot better. We went to a test following that round at Wakefield which was meant to be our next round which unfortunately got cancelled. We were in the top three there, we were really strong and I was confident. As we develop the bike just with a little setting we need to change to make me a little bit more comfortable, the bike’s getting even better so I am really happy.”

“Yes, we had a little test at Winton. We had to hire the track ourselves to keep the number of people down. They are still not running proper track days yet but it was good to get back on the bike. To be honest, it was a little shock to the system after being three months off the bike how fast the bike really is. I spent the first two rides just trying to get my head dug back in because the bike felt so fast. It was a really good test and I managed to do a personal best lap time around the track which was great.”

“One of my goals for the season this year is that I try to get us on the podium to start with. I want to progressively get better. I’ve been Australian champion a lot of times but we are in a rebuilding phase at the moment because I had some big injuries lately. In the last three years I’ve broken 12 bones including two vertebrae at my neck, my collarbone and both of my wrists so I am in a kind of rebuilding phase and need to be realistic about my goals. My first goal is to get back on the podium and fight to be on the podium and my long-term plan by the end of the year is to fight to win races. I really believe that with the bike that we have and the package with my team we can do that.”

“Yes, it is the long-term goal of the team to bring through young talent and I think that I do have a lot to give to the young talent and it is something that I want to move into when I stop racing. I still want to be involved in racing and move to help young guys progress to the next level. I’ve got so much to share as far as training and diet and preparing for racing at the top level and that is what I want to move into when I decide to stop racing.”

“Yes, there’s been some guys over the years in America I talked to, and I really like talking to Markus Reiterberger. He’s always open and helps me out. We talk about settings and how his bike’s going and he is very helpful. That is always enjoyable because he is riding on a high level. This year he is racing in the Asian Championship and their rules are identical to our rules so a lot of the settings they have are similar to ours and he helps out a lot. In addition, I was at Winton last week with another BMW rider who did some laps there and I helped him by doing some riding with him. It’s great to be involved with BMW in that way to help other customers, other people that ride the bike, to get more out of their experience.”

“Yes, for sure. I want to be four-time champion. There are a few other guys that also have won the Australian Superbike title three times but nobody has ever reached four times and that is something I am very driven to achieve. Yes, that’s my goal – being four-time Australian Superbike champion.”