Melbourne resident Taylor Potter has returned home from a lengthy stay in the US where he raced the Monster Energy Eastern Regional 250 Supercross Championship as a full-blown privateer. MotoOnline.com.au spoke to Taylor and got his thoughts on the privateer life, the lessons he learnt, and a range of other topics.

Image: Simon Cudby.

Being back home…

It’s been quite a shock, to tell the truth. Every time I come home I feel like I have too much time on my hands. In the US every day was flat-out training, driving to races, racing and working on bikes. Here I have nothing to do. I’m trying to work out what’s going on with the Australian Supercross Championship at the end of the year and speaking to people about help and trying to line up a ride. At the moment I’ve reached the point where I either go back to work full-time – which won’t help my riding – or I receive some financial help for my racing. I need to pay bills and it’s got to go one way or the other.

The privateer life…

The first four rounds of the AMA Supercross were the toughest time in my life because my bike was stuck in customs for two months and I only had two weeks to prepare for the first round. At Dallas I felt like I could’ve gone faster on a 65 and have never ridden so bad. When I made the last qualifying position to progress to the main at Toronto I just lost it and broke down in tears. People don’t see all the work and effort that goes on behind the scenes. Training, traveling and racing off your own back can beat you down, but when I finally made the main at Toronto, it was the best feeling in my life. I got way too excited before the main and my heart was just racing. I couldn’t believe it was happening. I could hear the commentator yelling, the crown screaming, you see the 30-second board and feel the heat from the flames – I just tried to absorb it all.

Best results…

My best results this year were a 17th at Toronto and Las Vegas, and a 19th at New Jersey.

My van at the end of the trip…

It was absolutely chock-a-block. I started off with a toy-hauler for the first four rounds, but it was costing me $100 to fill it up every two hours. I was pissing money against the wall so fast we actually considered coming home. I then got into a Chevy diesel turbo van and got it decked out. By the end of the trip it was full of crap: there was my luggage, two bikes, my girlfriend and her two bags and everything else we could fit in there. My van is still over there ready for us to get back on the road next year.

Biggest lessons learnt…

On the bike I learnt to exaggerate things. If I need to stick my leg up in a rut, I learnt to over-exaggerate the movement in order to get the bike to do what I wanted. I doesn’t look the best, but it’s a lot faster. Off the bike I learnt how to relax more. At the start of my trip I was worried about every little thing on the bike, and the Sunday after racing I’d want the bike ready for next weekend. I needed to relax more and take it as it comes and not rush everything all the time.

Image: Simon Cudby.

The Soccer World Cup…

I hate the sport. I don’t like how the whinge and complain about getting kicked in the shins when half the time they’re just faking it. It shits me. The memes comparing motocross to team sports that float around on Facebook crack me up.

Social media…

It’s definitely more important than I thought and am realizing now how valuable it is. Adam Ingles from Action Sports Tours has helped me out heaps and set up a Facebook fan page for me. I had aimed to have 5000 likes and we’re nearly at 11,000 already. It’s a valuable tool because you can go to sponsors and show them just how many people look at me and makes me more marketable. I still hate the ‘like for an inbox’ rubbish. I’m trying to grow my Instagram account as well. I prefer it, but don’t think it’s as appealing or as important as a Facebook fan page.

Plans for the rest of 2014…

At this stage I’ll race the Australian Supercross if it goes ahead. It’s hard at the moment because I’ve heard a lot of different things and I don’t know if I should train and get my track prepped for it or not. I wouldn’t mind doing the last four rounds of the MX Nationals if something comes up, and I’ll look at doing the Queensland Supercross Championship too. I have two bikes coming back from the US and they’re still a month away, so once they’re back in the garage I can make some more concrete plans.