American MX World Championship contebder Thomas Covington got his first win of the season with his Saturday qualification moto victory last weekend at the Valkenswaard circuit and put together a consistent Sunday with fifth overall in the class. He is now eighth in the series points.
Despite a less than perfect winter due to an injury at the October held Monster Energy Motocross of Nations, the factory Husqvarna rider is looking solid already and will head to round three in Spain this weekend with some confidence.
We caught up with Covington and asked him about his season so far.
Obviously because of your MXoN injury, your offseason wasn’t great, which meant your first rounds might not have been what you wanted. Can you explain the rounds in Argentina and Holland?
I was pretty happy with last weekend, especially that qualification race win on Saturday, and two solid motos, that is pretty much where I expected to be in these two rounds. Top five or six and build back into it. In Argentina, I was feeling good coming into it. It might sound stupid, but I had a nutrition malfunction. In the off-season I improved my diet, but with the travel to Argentina, there were not a lot of good option to eat and also the supermarkets in Argentina there wasn’t what I needed, so I ended up not eating anything and Sunday I just had no energy, especially after the first race. I think that was my biggest issue there. I have learnt from it, and we will build now for the next rounds.
Did you enjoy the trip to Argentina, because I know you have mentioned you like that place?
Yes, I love going to Argentina and my dad and I try and plan a fishing trip. It’s probably my favourite place on the calendar. I didn’t have time to go fishing this trip, we were meant to go Thursday, but I was too tired from the trip, but he went down two days earlier and went fishing. Last year we stayed an extra week and went fishing.
That win on Saturday, considering your off-season, and you mentioned you didn’t expect it, that must be a massive confidence boost?
Yes, that is the plan. I know I have the speed and the skills, and, I need to improve my starts, on Sunday my starts were not that great. How the track was, it is hard to catch the top three with those starts, they can really send it, especially with all the jumps faces like they were. Get consistent starts and I should be there.
That weather on the weekend. I know where you are from on the East Coast in America it gets cold, but have you ever raced in conditions like that?
I can’t remember racing in snow at all, or anything that cold. Sure, when we go riding in Alabama, it gets cold and wet, but for the last seven years, I actually lived in California and it doesn’t get too cold there.
I can’t remember it being so cold and I have lived in Europe for 25 years. What was it like then riding in those conditions, because watching was unbearable?
I didn’t have big issues, but the biggest thing was the hands, stop the hands from actually freezing. We had some big massive hand guards on the bike, but I think what made it cold was the wind, it was freezing. I didn’t leave the truck the whole weekend apart from to ride my bike. Once the racing got going though, I didn’t think about it that much.
Have you ridden Redsand much?
I was down there for like three weeks this winter, but I think everyone did. It will be cool to race down there on a familiar track.
Are you surprised at all about how well Pauls Jonass is riding?
No, not really. He is a really strong rider and consistent every weekend. I am not surprised at all, but hopefully I can get up there and put more pressure on him, and also Prado and Olsen can get up there, hopefully make him make some mistakes.
When somebody is riding like that and dominating really, if a few of you can get up there and ride hard against him, not just put pressure on him, but maybe push him around a bit, and like you said make him make mistakes, is that something you have thought about much?
I haven’t though about it at all, and I haven’t really been up there to do that, so I have just been concentrating in my race.
How is your week leading into Spain?
Just staying here in Belgium, get a couple of days in Wednesday and Thursday and then head to Spain on Friday and hopefully to some good weather.
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