Words: Nic Still

BBR 102 Motorsports Yamaha rider Matt Moss continued his run of strong form to return to the top step of the Australian Supercross Championship (AUSX) podium at Newcastle, emerging victorious in the Triple Crown format at round three, as SX2 red plate-holder Max Anstie extended his advantage by taking the win at McDonald Jones Stadium. MotoOnline caught up with both riders after the races for this Debrief feature. 

SX1

Image: Foremost Media.

Congratulations, an amazing effort tonight. Can you take us through it?

Man, it felt good to win. It feels so good to give back to the people who believe in me, to finally get a result that we deserve, and that we felt like we could get. It’s an amazing feeling to have my family here, all of my kids that I sponsor and the crowd was loving it – it was just amazing man. I love this sport, I knew I could do it, it’s just a good feeling, I can tell you that much.

Just going over the line there with the first main, the emotion came out of you. Is that what you live for, is that why you line up on the bike, week in, week out, is that a part of it?

Yeah mate, this is all I know. I’ve been riding bikes since I was four, and it’s been a long road. It just feels so good to get a win. It’s been so hard to convince my wife to spend all this money going racing, and tonight it finally paid off. It’s an amazing feeling, I love this sport, I love what it stands for and I wish everyone would… help all of these kids coming through, that’s what I want to do, inspire kids and them learn from my wrongs and be champions. I would love to see everyone succeed. I’m a different guy now, I was all about myself and didn’t care about anyone. Now I love it, I love trying to give back, I love everyone around it and I love people succeeding. It’s a really gnarly, hard sport to succeed in so when things like this happen tonight, it’s surreal. I will remember this night for the rest of my life.

SX2

Image: Foremost Media.

Australian Supercross round three, another victory, take us through your day. 

Honestly, it is cool to be here. It’s a cool stadium, when I first looked at the track I thought wow, it’s a really cool layout and I thought they had done a good job. Obviously, after riding it now it got hard-packed, probably the most hard-packed I have ever ridden. It was definitely different, challenging in its own way, and with the short races, it made it very tight because everyone was pretty much doing the same thing. I honestly enjoyed it, I managed to get the win in the heat race and go 1-1-2 in the last main, and Rhys [Budd] managed to get it done in the last one. But it was good, we got some good competition here, the Australians are riding well, Wilson [Todd] my teammate and all of the guys that are out there. It’s nice to come to their home, be welcomed and enjoy the time I have spent here. Newcastle has been a great place and the team have done an awesome job, the bike was working really well tonight. I think we will keep rolling on, and be ready for Wagga Wagga.

Different ball game for you, obviously coming from the United States. 14 hours on a plane, bit of a time delay, how does that go for you? You seem to be doing well, what’s it like?

I’m not bad until I text my wife in between motos and it is 2:30am and she’s asleep, or whatever time it is, it is probably six or seven in the morning right now. The time change isn’t ideal, but I am here to do a job and I’ve been picking it up alright. It is definitely another factor to consider, but I am going to be here all week this week and be ready for Wagga next week. I’ll be fully acclimatised to the time, so I will be alright.

Throughout the year, different bikes, stuff like that. How’s the transition been to Fire Power Honda and Honda Genuine here with Yarrive [Konsky]? It looks flawless, it looks good. 

Honestly, it’s been really good. I wasn’t planning on riding a 250, I wasn’t planning on being here. At the start of the year, I was riding a 450, different brand, racing supercross and then things went a little sideways there with the team. Martin [Davalos] and Yarrive called me and were like man, you should really consider riding a 250. I was debating it thinking I am a 450 guy. I’ve been on a 450 for years in Europe and racing GPs, but honestly now, making the transition, it has been easy. Having Martin as the crew chief, test guy, team manager, everything over there in the States has really helped me with the bike, because he has a lot of experience with the 250. Coming to race these races has sharpened me up. Of course, there are differences, but I’m prepping for January, West coast supercross, going to ride the 250 as well and I’ve really enjoyed coming to race. The more laps that I can get, the more whoops I can hit, the more time I can spend in the pack racing with the guys, it’s only going to bring me on. I want to be better than what I was yesterday, so each time I’m out, I am doing the best that I can and I’ve really enjoyed coming here and seeing how it has all worked. Yarrive has done a great job, so I am really happy.