Josh Sheehan Continued…

In Transmoto’s November Issue we had a chat with WA-based FMX star, Josh Sheehan. Because of the mag’s word limit, we’ve had to continued the interview online. Read what Sheehan has to say about riding with Travis Pastrana, becoming a hired Red Bull gun and flipping a Honda CRF450R.

Transmoto: Would the Double Backflip be your most difficult trick?
Sheehan: Ah, most difficult, I don’t think so. It’s definitely the scariest. It’s puts a lot of stress on you, not knowing when to do it but knowing you have to do it. The ideal situation would’ve been to not use it until the final, but when I came up against Dany, I knew I had to use it. It is difficult, mainly because of the fine line between landing and crashing.

In the media presentation after X-Fighters, someone asked you if you were going get in touch with Travis Pastrana to relay the news…
Yeah, for sure Travis has helped me a lot. I mentioned to him that I had managed to stomp a Double in the final for the win. I guess it was morning time for him. I was stoked that he let me practice at his house, and yeah he was pumped for me.

So you’ve spent a bit of time riding with Travis…
A bit over three weeks in total I guess. I flew over to his place for week right after the Nitro Circus tour here in Aussie, and then a couple of weeks before X Games 17.

You hear a lot of epic riding stories about his ranch. Is it really that good?
It’s like the ideal training compound. You can have so much fun there from skate to BMX to moto. If its pouring down outside, he’s even got a sweet little indoor BMX foam pit to practice into. Foam pits, tramps, moto tracks…it’s all there.

What’s the story behind competing on a Honda CRF450R…it’s a bit out of the 250 two-stroke norm isn’t it?
I started racing when I was 17, and when the 450s came out I got one at the end of 2006. I raced it for while and felt comfortable on it; loving the power and going fast. I learnt a lot of my initial tricks on it. In ’09 I actually tried the 250 four-stroke because I was making a few silly mistakes on the 450 and thought it would help. In the end after a few technique corrections I went back to the 450 – I just love it and the lads at Carlton Dry Honda have done a wicked job tailoring it for my needs.

At what point did Red Bull pick you up?
That was finalised right before Rome’s round of the X-Fighters in June. The last week or two before Rome I was hanging around Travis a bit and learning some new stuff. A lot of things seemed to pop up on Red Bull’s radar, and I guess winning six Night of the Jumps (an IFMXF 12-round European FMX comp) in row helped as well. Rome was definitely an epic weekend.

Thanks for your time, Josh.
No problem. Cheers, Transmoto!