The Mid-Season Break with Matt Moss

NPE Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Matt Moss (who currently sits fourth Overall in the 2016 Motul MX Nationals MX1 championship standings) speaks with AME Management’s Kane Taylor at the annual mid-season break. 

Kane: Back in 2013, when you won your first Australian MX1 title, you said that as long as you’re within points range, that the season doesn’t really begin until the halfway mark. Would you say that’s been your state of mind for this season, too?
Matt: I wouldn’t really say that I’ve taken that approach for this season, actually. I want to be right up the front in each race this year. I had that really bad round at Murray Bridge (round four), which cost me a lot of points, then at Wanneroo, I probably should’ve capitalised on a couple of people’s mistakes. But even with the way I was riding over there, I just didn’t quite have that little spark to want to beat them badly. That last moto, though, I kind of got that itch back to start winning races again.

It’s interesting for you to not have that spark – you’re a dude who hates losing.
Yeah, I know. I just think that you sometimes get complacent with telling yourself, “ride smart” and “you don’t have to win all the races to win the championship”, so I think that was taking over a little bit. But yeah, after that moto in Perth, I feel as though I have that spark, and I’m thinking to myself, “I want to win” or “I have to win”, and yeah, I’m hoping that it’ll be a bit different for the races to come.

You must feel comfortable about where you currently sit when you consider where you were this time last season.
Yeah, absolutely (laughs). I’m definitely happy. I’m happy with the team, and I feel like we’re growing as we move along. Obviously being with a team that I was with for so long, everything sort of happens quite easy. But all-in-all, I’m very happy with where we’re at, and you know, I haven’t made too many mistakes either up until this point. Right now, we’re sitting in the backseat of the championship, but hopefully in these remaining rounds, I can get in there, ruffle some feathers and get away with this title.

So far, the battles have been between yourself, Dean Ferris, Todd Waters, Kirk Gibbs and Brett Metcalfe when he was here. Were you expecting more challengers?
It’s exactly what I expected, really. I knew Ferris was going to be fast, but had the potential to take himself out, which he did at Perth. Then there’s Waters who’s there and Gibbsy who’s always consistent and always fast. I knew that Kirk would be my toughest competitor, and right now he’s 31 points up on me, and he’s just proving that he’s got everything working the way he wants it at the moment, and it’s up to me to try and change that going into the second half.

Something that you’ve been able to do throughout your career, it seems, is identify a rider’s strengths and weaknesses, then plan your attack accordingly?
Yeah, that’s definitely something that I have done during my career. I think the hardest person to frazzle at the moment is Kirk. We’ll see, though; I’ll never go out there and try to take someone out or anything like that – all I need to do at this point is get out there and start winning races.

Plans for the break, Matt?
I have a week off at the moment, and then I’ll get back on the bike and start hammering down. I’m actually going to change my program up a little bit in terms of training and riding, but yeah, looking forward to it. I have a game plan in place, and I’ll just be working my butt off to be prepared come Nowra! Nowra is obviously my home race, home track – I’ve done a lot of laps around there, so really looking forward to that.

Let’s shift gears to the 2016 AUS-X Open, and the announcement of Ryan Villopoto, Chad Reed and Cooper Webb. What’re your thoughts on those guys?
Seeing Ryan Villopoto and then getting to ride with him will be cool. I met him way back in, I think, 2002. We were both on 85s and I spoke to him a little bit, and then when I went to the States in 2010, he remembered me. He really spoke to me well – a lot of respect – and he’s just a really nice guy. And then obviously Chad, he’s always the big threat when he comes back to Australia; we all know how fast he rides when he’s here. And then racing Cooper like last year will be sweet, but yeah, excited to have another Monster Energy and Kawasaki athlete in RV to be lining up next to.

With a child on the way now, how does this change things for you? Do you see some kind of change happening?
I think the baby thing will be great. It’s really going to force me to have a bit more structure in my program – I’ve always been this person, and Sophie (Matt’s wife) has been awesome to let it be this way, but I travel all over the place. Now, I think I’ll have to gather resources to perhaps buy a property. To have my own tracks and all of that so we don’t have to travel and so I’m able to spend time with my wife and child would be great, because I don’t want to be that dad who’s always travelling, and always far away. And I think in the long term, it’ll benefit me as a rider as well. Being on my own, riding my own tracks and focusing on myself without anyone getting under my skin, and riding tracks where everyone else is will help a lot, I reckon.

Thanks for your time, Mossy. See you at Nowra.
Cheers!