Exclusive: Jake Moss Talks Toowoomba SX

On Monday afternoon, we published Josh Hill’s side of the story on what went down during Lap 3 of Toowoomba’s Australian Supercross Championship finale. Transmoto‘s Kurt Teague caught up with the other man involved in the ‘take-out’ incident, Campbell Mining Suzuki’s Jake Moss, to get his take on how everything played out that night…

So, Jake. Coming into Toowoomba’s 2013 Australian Supercross Championship (ASX) finale, there was merely seven points separating yourself, Josh Hill and your brother, Matt. How were you hoping things would pan out by the end of the night? And what do you think of the way everything actually panned out in the end?

In my mind, the only way it was playing out was with myself standing on the top step of the podium at the end of the night. Obviously, I would have loved for my brother to come second, but I was out there to win – for my team and for myself. I said to my brother before the race, “If I have the chance to get past you, Matt, I’m going to take it and I’m going to do all that I can to get past you,” and he said, “Yeah, I understand. You haven’t won a championship for four years, and I expect you to do nothing less than try and beat me.” We were both on the same page, and that was fine. I wasn’t playing favourites out there to help him, as many people have now said – I was out there to help myself. Matt and I have different sponsors, and I don’t go out racing to help his sponsors or his team one bit. He’s my brother, and I love him, but I have to earn my own money to put food on the table, you know? He doesn’t pay my, so why would I go out there to help him win, as many people are stating. It’s a joke. And it sucks that his whole ‘take-out’ incident with Josh Hill did go down the way it did, as it’s taken away from Matt’s victory. He earned it, and he deserves to celebrate as he wishes.

Alrighty, let’s get stuck into the ‘take-out’ incident then, shall we? We’ll go from the start of the day at Toowoomba. What happened after practice in the morning?

Apparently, I messed up his fastest lap. He came over to me and had a few words to say about it, but I thought to myself, “Hey man, if you’re only heading out in practice to do one fast lap, you shouldn’t even be out there.” I never took anything to heart, and I wasn’t going to hold a grudge against him. Seriously, there’s nothing wrong with the guy. I applaud him for coming out here and racing, and attracting fans to the sport here in Australia – even though it may not have shown in numbers. I don’t hate the guy like I’m being made out to, you know? I’ve had words with pretty much every guy out there that I’ve raced against, and I don’t hold a grudge against anyone. We’re all out there to earn a living, and it gets heated sometimes. Everyone has pride, and everyone is determined to win, and I respect that. Everyone gets angry, and unfortunately, that’s just the way it goes down sometimes.

So, then came the Main Event. Give us your perspective on what went down on that corner when the ‘take-out’ occurred.

Josh passed me just before it, and he passed me as clean as he could. I set myself up so that I was on the inside before the next corner, and I scrubbed the jump in front of me, and I went straight. You can’t really tell on the video footage that everyone’s been checking out, but on the down-ramp, Hill turns into my line, which sends me off the track. He was never going to make that corner. He put so much of a turn on his landing that he was going to end up off the track no matter what. We were both heading off the track, and it was unfortunate that he hit the Tuff Block. If the Tuff Block weren’t there, we both would have kept on racing. Sure, we would have banged bars a little, but we would have continued. Anyway, Hill was barely looking at the corner. He was looking at me the whole time, and that’s probably the only reason why he did hit the Tuff Block. He was so focused on not letting me past, and keeping me in check, that it messed him up completely. I’ve never intentionally taken anyone out in my entire racing career. That’s not who I am. I wanted to get past Hill, and he didn’t want me to get past him – it’s as simple as that. It’s just the way it played out. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to cut the track – I was forced into a position where moving off the track was my only option, without hitting a Tuff Block myself. After he hit the Tuff Block, I didn’t touch him. He hit the Tuff Block and sent himself flying. It’s that simple.

The incident happened on the third lap of the race. Do you think it would have made a difference if it had happened later in the race? Say, on Lap 19 or 20?

No, I don’t think so. I find it easier to race from behind and play catch-up, you know? I’ve caught up to plenty of racers, so for me, having a lead early in the race wasn’t on my mind. It’s not like if he got around me and kept in front of me he was guaranteed to win the championship – no one can say that. Racing’s racing, and no one knows what’s going to happen out there. He could have taken himself out on Lap 10 or 11, or I could have taken myself out on Lap 15 or 16 – it can happen to anyone. It’s a motorsport event, so people can’t just jump to the conclusion that Hill would have won the title if the incident hadn’t occurred. Josh has his own pride to defend, so I can understand why he might be pissed off. If I was to head to another country to race, I’d be mad if I didn’t come with a title. I just want to make it clear that Hill hasn’t said anything specific to me, and I haven’t said anything specific to him. He may not be happy with me right now, but I honestly don’t have an issue with him. The people making accusations via social media aren’t the ones wearing the helmets, are they? I wish the incident could have been left between Hill and I to sort out.

I heard there were a few protests made on the night. Have investigations by Motorcycling Australia (MA) come to an end?

Yeah, they have. MA has multiple angles of the crash captured on video, and I’ve been cleared, and told that I did nothing in the wrong. If I did anything wrong, they would have taken my points away, but they haven’t. Hill can still appeal the case, I believe, but I’ve been notified that I’m in the clear.

Thanks for your perspective, Jake. Moving forward, this is the first time in history that brothers have gone 1-2 in the Australian Supercross Championship. It must feel pretty awesome, eh?

Yeah, it’s awesome. It’s always great to stand up there on the box with Matt. Obviously, I would have loved to be on that top step, but it doesn’t matter. Australians keep the ASX on home soil, so I think it’s great that we ended up with the results that we did. And really, it sucks to see so many Australians bagging me out via social media. I don’t think that’s fair. I would stand behind any Australian – if Chad Reed had a similar incident with an American racer, I’d be so happy, purely because an Aussie won. The people that are bagging me out are the people I wouldn’t want to go to war for this country.  Do you know what I mean? It feels like they’d be happy to turn around and shoot me in the back. It sucks, really… People are judging me, and they don’t even know me. They don’t understand what I’ve been through to get to this point in my career. We all have such a short career in terms of making money, and it’s my bread and butter. We fight to put food on our table like any other person would, and I don’t deserve to be treated the way I’m being treated right now, I don’t think. I’m really copping it for what people reckon I did out there.

While I’ve got you, have you got anything planned for next year? I know your brother’s shooting off to the US at the start of the year.

I’m not too sure yet. I’m definitely going racing, that’s for sure. Obviously, times are really tough, but Campbell Mining has definitely said that they’re going to help me out again next year. Whether it’ll be a Privateer effort or on a team, I don’t know yet. But yeah, I’ve definitely been speaking to a couple of teams, and I want to win a championship next year. I want to do what my brother did this year, and win both MX and SX titles.

Thanks for your time, Jake.

Anytime, mate.

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For more in Toowoomba’s 2013 ASX finale, click here.