Exclusive: Caleb Ward Interview

Transmoto’s Jeremy Hammer spoke with young Caleb Ward after he rode an impressive 1-1 to claim the MX2 Overall victory at the Murray Bridge MX Nationals round over the weekend…

Jeremy: 1-1 today, mate. You have to be stoked with that?
Caleb: Yeah, I couldn’t be happier really. First race back, I’ve been sitting on the couch not having a lot of fun. It’s a bit depressing really, putting in a massive effort through the off-season, only to get hurt at the second round. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, and it made me really want it. So to come out and get two wins on the day, I’m pretty stoked.

You came into this round with a bit of an injury, tell me a little bit about it.
I tore a few ligaments in my knee at Appin, and pretty much just had to sit on the couch for two to three weeks, rest it as much as I could. And then I’ve only been back on the bike for the past two weeks, probably only rode five or six times. I’ve just been taking it easy, doing a little bit of cycling and stuff. I was a bit unsure how my fitness was going to be as I haven’t done a whole lot. But it’s still pretty good.

So you wouldn’t say you’re at 100% yet?
Not quite 100% yet, I’ll keep building and should come pretty good soon, hopefully.

You’ve definitely kept the haters quiet who said you couldn’t win on a four-stroke, you must be happy to prove them all wrong?
Yeah definitely, that was, yeah (laughs). Obviously didn’t do very well at Horsham, I got bad starts, but I’ve fixed them now and almost holeshotted the first moto. Obviously I can ride the four-stroke as well, same with Luke Arbon, he proved that today as well. It doesn’t really matter if you’re on a two-stroke or four-stroke, you’re still going to be fast.

Are you excited to be heading to Coolum in a couple of weeks’ time for round five?
Yeah definitely, this year we’ve moved down, I’m renting a house just 20 minutes up the road from Coolum. So it will be good to sleep in my own bed, and I’ve put a fair bit of time into that track now, so I’m looking forward to it.

What are you going to work on over the next couple of weeks?
I’ll probably just do the same, rehab my knee, get it fitter and stronger. I’ll continue to practice starts obviously, do some motos and continue to get some more bike time.

Awesome. Thanks for your time.
No worries, thanks heaps.