Five Minutes with Motul Pirelli Suzuki’s Matt Moss

Kurt Teague

Pixel Pig

With the second half of the 2013 Monster Energy MX Nationals set to kick off this weekend with Round 6 at Appin, NSW, Transmoto’s Kurt Teague checks in with MX1 contender, Motul Pirelli Suzuki’s Matt Moss, to discuss his season so far. After entering a little shaky, Moss has since solidified his place in this year’s championship, and feels confident heading into the next half of his 2013 campaign.

Transmoto: First of all, Matt, how were you feeling coming into the 2013 season? Things seemed pretty bumpy there for a little while, I recall?
Moss: Yeah you know, I struggled a little bit, to be honest. I wasn’t feeling the best, and I didn’t really know where I stood. I’d just got back from America, too, and nothing seemed like it was going to fall into place properly for me. I sort of had a ride, and then I didn’t have a ride, and then I did again – so it was pretty stressful at times. And I was carrying a shoulder injury as well, so I didn’t stuck into training as quick as I would have liked to. That said, the team’s been so good to me, and we’ve slowly been building on everything and it’s all starting to work.

So looking back at the first five rounds of this year’s season, are you happy with the progress you’ve made so far?
Oh, definitely – we’ve only moved forward. I took solid places at the first two rounds, which I was really happy with. Obviously I want to win, though. Eventually we got a win, and two solid second places, and that’s where we need to be to contest for this championship. I’ve stayed injury free and I’m just trying to ride consistently. This mid-season break has been awesome, to have that time to train and get faster on the bike has been incredible. We want to come out swinging when the second half of the season kicks off this weekend at Appin.

Before we talk about the season resuming, what exactly did you do with yourself over the six-week break? I noticed that you took a trip to America with your brother, Jake.
Yeah, Jake and I went over to the US with Dan Reardon from Alter Ego Elite. Off the bike training is a huge help, so it’s great to have Dan in my corner. I’ve always trained off the bike, but not necessarily in the right way – and he’s shown me a lot of great things. And of course, riding in America is so good – I’ve learned to go a little bit faster as the tracks allow that over there, and it’s good to ride alongside Jake, too, because we’re both so competitive and constantly pushing each other. We’ve both lifted our game so much heading into the second half of the season, and I think we’ll be right up there when the gate drops.

Would you say that you feel pretty confident coming into the second half of the season, then?
Yeah, super confident. I’m the fittest I’ve been in a long time, the bike’s great, and the team’s working really well at the moment. It’s all falling into place the way that my Team Manager, Jay Foreman and I had hoped. Jay actually said to me at the start of the year, “Let’s just be there at the start of the second half,” so really, I reckon we’re looking pretty sweet right now. We’re in a good position now to have a proper run at this championship. We’re ready to go.

You’re currently 25 points behind Motorex KTM Racing’s Todd Waters, and 18 points ahead of CDR Yamaha’s Billy Mackenzie. Happy with that?
Yeah, we all need to be on our toes. I heard Todd broke his collarbone recently, which I haven’t read too much about, and honestly that doesn’t phase me. I’d rather see him fit and healthy, to be honest. If I do win this year’s championship, I don’t want anyone to be making any ‘what if?’ excuses – I’d much rather claim this thing fair and square. So at the moment, I’m just focusing on myself and doing everything that I can do in my own power to claim this title.

Unreal, thanks for your time, mate. See you at Appin this weekend.
No worries. Thanks.