Five Minutes with Jarrod Bewley

Jarrod Bewley is an off-road purist. Always has been. Unlike many current-day elite enduro riders, he started his career as a lightning-fast Junior off-road racer and carried that success into his Senior career over the past five or six years. He’s been an Outright winner at the Australian 4-Day Enduro, a multiple class winner at both the 4-Day and AORC, and the bloke really shone in his debut desert racing efforts. But after a frustrating and injury-riddled 2012 with the Active8 Yamaha team, Bewley is intent on reinventing himself; getting back to his racing roots and rekindling the love for the sport. And to achieve it, he’s set up his own Husaberg-Australia-backed campaign for 2013. We grabbed the 25-year-old Oberon resident for a chat about this new lease on racing life and his expectations for the season ahead.

Transmoto: So Jarrod, when the announcement came that Tom McCormack would be racing with the Active8 Yamaha team this year, it became clear that your future didn’t lie with the team for season 2013. Tell us a little bit about the new deal you’ve got set up.
JB: Well, I basically made the decision that I was done riding for other teams. I’ve done it for eight years now, and I think that the only way I’m going to get what I want out of racing these days is to head out by myself. I’d like to try and get back to why I started all those years ago ¬- because I loved it. With the love fading, I felt it was important to head back to my grassroots and ride for myself.

Why Husaberg? And how did that come about?
Well, I was keen to get on a Yamaha again, but communicating was hard over the Christmas break, so I couldn’t really set anything up. So I gave Jeff Leisk (KTM Australia’s General Manager) a call and he was happy to listen. I told him exactly what I wanted, and he was keen to sort me out with a deal there and then on the phone. We’ve had a successful relationship in the past, so it looks like we’ll just be following on from that.

You won E1- and E3-class titles for KTM in 2010 and 2011. Nice to see that you haven’t burnt any bridges there.
Yeah, I try to remain on good terms with all of the manufacturers I’ve ridden for. You know, anything can happen in this sport and you never know where you might end up. And as you’ve seen, riders tend to return to brands that they love in the end, so I try my best not to hold any grudges and keep the peace where I can.

So you’ll obviously be racing the AORC and the A4DE this season. Do you plan to do any desert racing as well?
Yep, I’ll be doing those off-road events along with state races, provided I can fit them in. A guy from Melbourne, Joel Stafford, is helping me get to Finke and Jeff’s going to hook me up with an FE501 to ride there, so I’m looking forward to that. I’ll also be racing Hattah, so I’ve definitely got a busy year ahead.

And funding? It’s not exactly cheap to run your own race team, and there’s obviously a lot of time and effort involved in running the team and deal with sponsors, etc. Tell us a little bit about that side of things.
As soon as I made the decision last year to run with my own team, I jumped on the phone and began to rekindle old relationships, and got in contact with whoever I could. I talked to the guys at Monza Imports and they’ll be helping me out with gear. Chad’s Off-Road will be doing my suspension, and because I’ve had a lot of success with Metzeler tyres in previous years, I’ve chosen to run them, too. I’m right in the heart of it all now, and its all coming together well. That said, there’s still plenty to do.

What about the cold hard cash? The expenses such as travel, working on bikes, paying people to help you out? Was that discussed as part of the budget with Husaberg and Jeff Leisk?
Mate, the budget will be based off whatever I have left over after I’ve paid all of my bills! That’s my budget, right there. A mate from work, Greg Lucas, is going to be helping me out a lot. He’s pretty handy on the tools, so he’ll be my mechanic at all the races I attend. He wants to drive everywhere, too, so that’s pretty awesome. I’ve got full support of my wife, Victoria, and things are definitely going to be tough here and there, but we’ll make it through. I’m doing this because I love it. Going to work so I can pay for my ‘habit’ (laughs).

Over the last five years, you’ve consistently been a top-three contender, yet here we are talking about working for a living.
Yeah, I’m a carpenter and joiner by trade. Honestly, it blows my mind. After a year of winning the 4-Day and not having a ride at the end of it (2009), sometimes I’m just baffled. I’ve always had solid results, yet I’ve found myself in situations where I don’t have a ride for a while, and I can’t understand why. I’ve heard that I can be hard to communicate with, so this year I’ve made it a point to be upfront with my sponsors as much as I can, and just stay on top of that. It’s a two-way street, though, and it’s a tricky game to play.

One way or another, you’re sure to learn a lot this year. There aren’t many guys on the off-road scene who race professionally these days. Toby Price might, but then you’ve got guys like Chris Hollis who work to make a buck.
Yeah, it’s hard. The winner gets paid, while the guys who place second or third get nothing. There are plenty of riders out there who work hard, but when the results don’t display a victory, it just doesn’t work out fairly enough. It’s not a sport that revolves around making money, so you’ve just got to roll with it, I suppose.

So, does it look as though you’ll be leaning towards racing a 450 in the E2 Class, while racing the 501 in the desert?
Yeah I picked up a FE350 and a 450, and I wasn’t sure which one I preferred. I have enjoyed smaller bikes over the years, but the 450 really suits my style. It’s so smooth, but the power’s definitely there when you need it.

Speaking of hooking up with old colleagues, I believe you’ll be doing a bit of personal training with Tim Cole?
Yeah, that played quite a big roll in my decision to ride a Husaberg. I said to Jeff that if I came back, I wanted to work with Tim, and he granted me that wish straight away. I’ve had great success with him, and he knows how to get results. My property’s all set up now, gym included, so I’m sorted.

Yeah, word on the street is that your set-up at Oberon is pretty special. You’ve got some pretty good track set up out there, yeah?
I can roll out of my driveway and I’m set. Seriously, there are endless tracks out this way. And Oberon sits at over 1000 metres up, so I’m doing altitude training while I’m at it. I can’t even go for a short run without having to suck in all of the air that I can (laughs).

In 2007 and 2008, you were clearly the fittest guy in the AORC paddock. Since then, more guys have taken training a lot more seriously and closed the gap. Where do you think you sit now?
I was young back then and I was keen to push my body as far as it could go. I’m starting to get back to that point now, taking my training programs a lot more seriously. I want to be more professional, so when the other guys are training harder and pushing harder, I’ve got to do the same. I may not be the fittest guy in the paddock, but I’d like to think that I’m right up there.

Alright, so it hasn’t been officially announced yet, but we’ve heard that Husaberg will also be supporting Geoff Braico and Scotty Keegan in 2013. Was there any thought of you guys working together, or do you see yourself as the lone wolf?
Yeah, I spoke to Jeff Leisk about that and I told him that I wanted to focus on doing my own separate deal. Sure, we’ll probably pit next to each other to make the Husaberg outfit look bigger and better, but I’m keen to do my own thing. I’m doing all of my own testing, and I’ve got personal sponsors, whereas Geoff and Scott have a bunch of in-house deals with KTM/Husaberg.

Okay, so you’re obviously redefining the way that you look at this sport with everything that you’re doing. What will ‘success’ look like at the end of the year?
I’m looking at this year as one where I just want to consolidate. All I want to do is get back to loving riding my bike. When I’m having fun riding and feeling love for what I’m doing, that’s when the results will show. I’m not too focused on the results for now, though. It’s just important that I really enjoy what I’m doing, and it’ll be important for me to thank those who are supporting me.

Thanks, Jarrod. All the best for this weekend’s Melbourne EnduroX.
I appreciate it. Cheers.

Bewley’s Results

2007 AORC: 1st E3, 3rd Outright
2008 AORC: 2nd E2, 3rd Outright
2009 AORC: 3rd E2, 3rd Outright
2009 A4DE: 1st E2, 1st Outright
2010 AORC: 1st E1, 2nd Outright
2010 A4DE: 1st E1, 3rd Outright
2011 AORC: 1st E3, 2nd Outright
2011 A4DE: 2nd E3, 8th Outright
2011 DESERT: 2nd Outright at Finke, 3rd Outright at Hattah
2012 A4DE: 5th E1, 15th Outright (injury affected)
2012 DESERT: 5th Outright at Finke