Season 2011 was a good one for Victorian Kade Mosig, enjoying a breakthrough season in the outdoors to put himself back on the factory team radar.

MotoOnline.com.au gave the 21-year-old a call to see how he’s settling in and also to find out what his goals are for the new year. Already hard at work, Mosig could find himself right in title contention.

Kade Mosig has signed for Monster Energy Kawasaki to race in 2012.

You’re back in the factory ranks alongside Jay Marmont and Billy Mackenzie at Monster Energy Kawasaki. How are you settling in after some time in Queensland?

We started off last week and have done a couple of days testing. My first impression of the bike is that I was really, really impressed, even surprised with how it handled straight up.

Obviously I’m just adjusting to it at the moment, but in just a few days we’ve made huge progress with the bike from an already good setting. It’s getting better and better.

The whole team is really good to work with. My mechanic Ian is really switched on and working with Troy [Carroll] is great. He’s a great team manager and the way he runs the ship is the right way to do it. I’m just excited to get racing!

You’ve had opportunities on factory teams before, but have also had the harder times where you’ve had to race as a privateer. Do you feel like this is your big chance to reach the potential you’ve always shown?

Yeah, it’s a huge opportunity for me to get back on a factory team. Especially this team, because they run a really good program and I’m sure that I’m going to get looked after quite well.

So as far as getting back on a factory team, it just makes it easier to go racing and takes a bit of pressure off my family and also myself. Now I can really concentrate on my riding, do the job at hand and just get it done.

I’m going to work my butt off and see how it goes, but I’m sure it’s going to be good because I know I have good equipment and an awesome team around me.

This year in the MX Nationals you came out strong and obviously put in a lot of work during the pre-season. How much do you feel like you’ve stepped up and improved as a rider, this year?

I definitely found myself figuring little things out here and there. The season this year started off a little bit rough and I didn’t have the bike quite right, just felt a little bit unorganised.

But I think being with such an organised team now and getting a head start on things, it’s going to be a lot easier to come into the championship.

Obviously missing out on supercross sucked because I didn’t get to race, but I finished off the motocross strong in the last couple of rounds. I just want to carry that momentum into next year and ride like I know how to ride.

I’m not going to do much different, just keep chipping away at it and keep my head down.

Mosig finished fifth in the MX Nationals as part of Craig Anderson's Berry Sweet/Lucas Oil Honda team.

How are those injuries that ruled you out of Super X? Are you back to 100 percent now?

Yeah, I actually went over to the States and did some riding over there. I was meant to do some racing, but I had a crash over there and crushed a vertebra in my back.

I was just going to nurse that through supercross because it didn’t bother me when I was riding, but it’s back to 100 percent now. I did all the right physio and it’s fine.

My collarbone’s fine and that was good within the first four or five weeks. My body is 100 percent and I started with a new trainer. He’s helping me a lot and getting me up to strength, so I’ve just got to put time in on the bike and get a feel for it.

To finish up, we have almost four months before the MX Nationals start. What’s the plan between now and April?

Well at this stage I’m in Queensland for a couple of weeks just doing some riding and getting bedded in with the team. I’ll go back home, plan to get my track rebuilt, and then I’ll have somewhere to ride at home.

I’ll just take it as it comes, maybe float around a bit. I’ll travel around New South Wales, wouldn’t mind doing some riding with Jay and Doggy Marmont.

I’d like to go back up to Newcastle like I did this year, just ride with a bunch of different people. I’ll take it as it comes and just cruise through it.

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