Exclusive: Mike Brown Interview

American MXer, desert racer and endurocross champ, 41-year-old Mike Brown reflects on his recent Australian Enduro-X Nats experience and the adventurous few weeks he spent in Oz … with KTM’s Toby Price for a tour guide!

In Transmoto magazine’s 15-page feature article on the 2014 KTM Australian Enduro-X Nationals (which appears in the May issue, on sale now), you may have seen a few shots of a bloke riding a Husqvarna with ‘B’ on his number plates. Yes, that was legendary American, Mike Brown – former AMA MX champ, podium place-getter at the MX World Championship and AMA Endurocross Championship, and X Games gold medalist … among many other two-wheeled accolades.

Having been in Australia for two weeks in late Feb and early March, we tracked Brownie down as he made the overnight road trip back to Sydney with KTM’s Toby Price after the two had duked it out at the KTM Australian Enduro-X Nats finale in Melbourne. All things going well, Brown would make his 9am flight out of Sydney the following morning…

TM: We’ve been keeping tabs on you, Mike. It’s been a whirlwind two weeks, mate!

MB: It sure has! The whole thing has been a dream vacation. I’ve done and seen so much in such a short space of time. I’ve travelled all over the world, but seen things in Australia that’s blown me away. So often when you’re racing overseas, you head from the track straight back to the airport and jet out. Which is kinda what I did when I was last in Australia – back in 1991 for a supercross race in Perth. But this trip was very different.

How did the opportunity to come to Oz arise this time?

Well, last November, Toby (Price) came across to the USA when we were doing the Baja, and he made the suggestion to me. And he made it sound like fun. Toby got onto Jeff Leisk to arrange me a Husqvarna race bike. In fact, Toby pretty much arranged everything for me. He made my life easy.

After a 25-year professional career, you’ve ridden the odd race and race track. How did you find the tracks built for the Enduro-X Nats series in Australia?

The tracks here were very good. They’re a little more open than the technical tracks the trials guys like, but they suited me because of my motocross background. The tracks here still have technical obstacles, but being more open makes for better racing, and I think that’s what this Aussie series produced. Some of the X Games endurocross tracks were bigger than average, but not as big as what the guys built here for the Aussie Enduro-X. Bigger, more open tracks means you can race each other as well as the obstacles. And they’re much more fun to ride.

What did you think of the local talent?

The Aussie guys are good, and there’s lot of depth for sure. I mean, you only have to look at the Six-Days and EWC to see that Australian off-road riders are getting right up there on the world stage. Of course, when you race guys on their home turf, they’re always a little faster, so I expected I’d be in for a real fight. Plus a couple of American guys – who do well in America – didn’t do so well out here last year. So I knew the local riders had been working hard on their endurocross skills for some time now.

You posted a 3-1 Overall result at the two rounds you were here for. Do you now wish you’d raced all three?

Yeah, I do. But I couldn’t make the opening round because that’s when Husqvarna had their grand opening for the brand in America. I kinda had to be there for that. Missing that opening round was a bummer, though.

What’s you’re take on the sport of endurocross in general, and where it’s headed?

It’s really taken off in recent years. There are a lot more guys getting exposure through the discipline around the world, and I think having endurocross as part of the X Games really accelerated that growth. It raised the sport to an all-new level and helped the riders tremendously – both in America and around the world, too, I’d say.

Is endurocross no longer the discipline for more experienced riders; for guys in the ‘twilight years’ of their career?

Well, there’s money to be made in endurocross these days and that always tends to lure the younger guys in, plus there’s the cool-factor that X Games helped bring to the table. And as the good money is concentrated to the top-10 guys in MX and SX there days, there’s another reason for racers with good technical skills to switch into endurocross. Nowadays, you’re seeing a lot of the top guys in the Enduro World Championship coming from motocross backgrounds (which is also what’s happened in Australia – with guys like Toby Price, Matt Phillips and Daniel Milner), and that’s got a flow-on effect into endurocross.

Racing aside, what did you think about Australia?

I loved it, because everything is more laid-back over here. And not only the racing. The biggest thing I’ve noticed is how everyone drives sensibly here. Back home, it seems every second car is going 30 miles an hour over the speed limit. I’d always seen a lot of stuff on TV about Australia’s landscapes and weird animals, but to come here and see it live has been great. I wish everyone back home could experience in a year what I’ve experienced in the past two weeks.

And we hear that cultural experience extended to koala bears and didgeridoos. True?

Totally (laughs). Toby showed me so many things, so I’m very thankful for that. Yeah, Peter Boyle had a ‘didge’ at his house last week and I got to play that thing. You guys have got a good lifestyle going on over here; that’s for sure.

What about Glenn Kearney and his new Husqvarna Enduro Racing Team … did the boys hook you up with a good bike and good times?

They sure did. Toby helped me out during the week, and then on the weekends, I’d hook up with Glenn. I’ve known Glenn for some time now, as he raced in America for many years. He’s a good guy and I’m stoked he’s got himself a good managing gig out here with the Husqvarna team.

And you even managed to fit in a few desert rides while you were out here?

Yeah, Toby shared all that on Facebook, right?

Yep, Toby likes The Book!

That he does. Yeah, we went out to some places he called the middle of nowhere, so it was cool to get the chance to see the kind of open terrain he likes to go fast in. It reminded me of going out west from where I live in America. We took a trip out to near Mildura and checked out some of the country the Hattah Desert Race is run in. It was crazy to see how fast Toby was going in that rough stuff. It was a great experience, and kinda good timing for me as I’m about to head home and I go straight into the GNCC series opener next week. I needed some endurance riding in the sand to prepare for that.

Will we see you back in Oz, and can we expect to see more racing cross-pollination between Australian and American riders?

I’ve love to come back, as the tracks here are best tracks I’ve raced on. And I think plenty of American guys would think that, too. It’d sure help grow the sport if we saw more two-way off-road racer traffic between Australia and America.

So you went 1-2-2 in the three finals at the Calder Park round, for an Overall win. That must be a nice way to finish the Aussie holiday.

Yeah, it was. I won some money, so I might shout myself a beer at the airport (laughs). But I’ll remember this trip not so much just for the racing, but because I had so much fun and got to see and experience so much.

Thanks, cobber. That’s bonza. Hoo-roo!

Huh?!