Good Aussie-based coverage of Queenslander Michael Byrne has been few and far between in recent years, however as one of our greatest ever exports, he’s more than worthy for regular updates.

Last week saw our U.S. contributor Steve Matthes put together a cool column outlining Byrne’s career of late, but we also decided to catch up with him first hand for an interview following the Freestone round of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship on Saturday.

One of the good guys in the sport, it’s clear in this interview that Byrner still has the motivation to return to the top, and he’ll do anything it takes to make sure it happens before his career’s out.

Queensland's Michael Byrne is still ultra popular amongst the U.S. fans in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship. Image: Alex Gobert.

Byrner, last time we spoke was the start of last year when you were on the privateer Kawasaki…

Man, I’ve ridden four bikes since then [laughs]!

Yeah! It’s been a while. But right now you’re back on a Suzuki, which is obviously a bike that you like. How’s the team and everything for you this year?

Yeah, I mean, for me coming back to Suzuki was something that I was comfortable with after riding one for so long. I rode one for three years and it just has a good feel to me.

Also, coming to this team, these guys weren’t at the highest level but they’re trying to build it up to be good, you know?

They kinda wanted to get someone like me who has been on a factory team and has that knowledge and experience, to help them and tell them how to get it done.

It’s been a learning curve for all of us since at the moment we don’t have the budget some other teams do, so you have to pick your battles with what you want to try and accomplish.

That’s about it, it’s kind of been a learning year, really. I have a two-year deal, so it’s a matter of developing the bike to make it better and build on what we have at the moment.

You guys are using a Pro Circuit engine and Factory Connection suspension, so how is that stuff compared to what you’ve ridden in the past? Do you know what you’re looking for from the package considering your factory experience?

Yeah, I know what it needs. It’s just a matter of getting the time to develop it and to make it better. That’s hard when both Pro Circuit and Factory Connection have race teams at the highest level.

Obviously to come and work on our stuff 24/7 is kind of tough, so we need to try and get some time in with those guys.

I feel like I know what it needs, we just need the time to develop it within those guys’ schedule. We need to make it a little bit faster and Mitch [Payton] has been helping out more and more, so we’re just kind of in that stage where we need to take the bike to the next level.

If you want to get up there in the top five the bike needs to be awesome, so that’s our goal.

Byrne finished with 14-10 results at Freestone last Saturday, where MotoOnline caught up with him. Image: Alex Gobert.

Backing up a bit to supercross, you missed the first few rounds through injury, but did gain momentum when you returned mid-season. Were you content with how that went?

Well, it was good to race supercross, but coming in off the injury at Bercy in November was hard. At first I didn’t think much of it because I didn’t even break anything, just dislocated my wrist and I thought it would be fine.

I had surgery and then apparently it’s a really serious, really bad injury to do. It took a long time to heal, and was really weak, being my throttle hand.

So, the doctors were saying I might never race again and that I might not get any movement back, and that was kind of stressful. I had therapy and stuff like that just to make sure I got movement back.

It was definitely hard when I came back to ride, being my throttle hand and not having all the movement I had at the start. Now, it seems like I’ve adapted to not having the whole range – it’s about at 70 percent movement of total. That alone was tough.

We didn’t have any testing or development on the bike for supercross either, because those teams [PC and Factory Connection] had already started their season and they both were focusing on their guys.

We just did that we could and I felt like Vegas was the best that I was riding, but I caught a hay bale cover on my footpeg. I stopped to pull it off and my bike stalled, then for some reason it wouldn’t fire. I was in seventh or something, which was frustrating.

But now I’m building on the motocross season since I don’t have to worry about a contract for next season. I can try and progress at the end of the season, take my time, get healthy and slowly get back into training.

Here in the heat of Texas, it looked as though you were strong all moto in both of them. Right now you could say you’re a regular top 10 guy when things go well, so what’s it going to take to move up a level? More development?

Yeah, exactly. I’m struggling, well not really struggling, but the bike’s not where I like it at the moment as far as suspension and the engine goes. We’re working on it each weekend, and now we have a weekend off, we can try for more improvements.

I feel strong, but I feel like if I could ride the bike a little harder in the last 10 minutes of the moto instead of just maintaining my speed, I could definitely get a lot further up in the top 10 around the five, six or seven range.

We need to get there before I can get there before I can get into the top five, and then we’ve gotta work on those podiums like I was a couple of years ago.

You’ve been in America for a long time now, around 10 years or something, on a lot of teams and even experiencing the two-stroke to four-stroke era. Are you still enjoying it over here? Does it feel like home now?

Yeah, I mean obviously home is home where I came from, where my friends and family are at. But as far as racing goes on that side of things, this is what feels like home to me.

It’s what I’m so used to now, it’s been so many years of racing here and this is where I feel most comfortable now. It’s good, I like it, and I’m still enjoying it, that’s for sure. You obviously enjoy it even more when you do good [laughs].

That’s for sure. As far as the future goes, you have another year with these guys, so I guess you’re hoping for additional support from the team’s suppliers?

Yeah, exactly. We’re already trying to work on the plan for next year, trying to plan where to put the budget and what we’re going to spend money on to make it better. We just have to keep working on that.

I had a good ride going on here today at Freestone, was in 10th or 11th in moto one and stalled then dropped back, and then I finished in the top 10 in that second moto.

I feel like we’re improving, so now that there’s a break I need to work on my speed in the first couple of laps and then I should be able to get the ball rolling and get back up with the front guys again.

Byrne is back on a Suzuki with the BTOSports.com/BBMX team in 2011 on a two-year deal. Image: Alex Gobert.