It’s been a big year for two-time Penrite ProMX MX1 champion Kyle Webster, who earned his second premier class crown before heading Stateside to contest the final three Pro Motocross rounds leading into the upcoming Motocross of Nations (MXoN) at Ironman next month. In this Fast Thoughts interview, take an inside look with Webster following his recent races, how he went in the US, and what to expect for the future.

Image: Octopi Media.

Competing in the final three Pro Motocross rounds…

It went really well, to be honest. The races were a little up and down, but I think overall it was a good trip. It was nice to be in the mix at some of those races for a little while, which was good. All except for Ironman, where we cooked ourselves, so that wasn’t an ideal one. I think coming in from the Australian winter and straight into that with the humidity and how hot it was on that day was just… Yeah, it was rough. I’ve never been that hot before in my life during the first race, and especially afterwards, I was absolutely cooking. Everyone over here was sort of saying that was probably one of the hottest ones they’ve had this year. So yeah, just not ideal timing, but otherwise it was a really enjoyable time.

The intensity of the American competition…

They’re fast, for sure – Unadilla felt like it was a much better event. It was nowhere near as hot that weekend, and I felt like I was riding well. I felt like I was in the thick of it, both motos, which was pretty cool. Especially in the first one, being right behind [Dylan] Ferrandis and Justin Cooper for quite a while was good to learn that speed and, I guess… Yeah, riding at their intensity for most of that race was nice. It’s definitely cool to be around all that and learn how they race and their speed, and ride some different tracks. We got to race some pretty cool tracks, which was awesome. Then, actually, second moto at Budds Creek, Eli Tomac caught me around the halfway mark and then sort of stayed there. I was like, ‘Oh, surely he’s going to blow by me in the next lap or so,’ but he didn’t, and he was right behind me for that whole second half of the race. So that was pretty cool. It sounded like I could get sucked into his bike at any moment, though…it was loud back there [laughs].

The level of Australia currently…

I think with just a fly-in and race, you know, I think inside the top 10 is probably where we are, which is not too bad. Obviously, if you were here for longer and maybe started this season here and spent the whole year here riding, training, and progressing, it would be higher. But, yeah, I think just to fly from Australia and jump in at the end of the season and do it, yeah, I think that’s where we’re at. Which is cool, it shows, I guess, how much of the work that we do at home with Ross [Beaton] and the crew, you know, everyone back there, that what we’re doing is good and it really does work. We can fly here and be semi-competitive and whatnot. We’ve got some good things to work towards, but the level at home, especially at the front, is pretty high right now.

Image: Octopi Media.

Future American plans…

I mean, I would love to go to the United States – like, come here full-time. My supercross wouldn’t be super competitive here, so it’s hard. I would love to come here and do the full Pro Motocross season, which obviously is pretty tough alongside our ProMX series. There aren’t that many motocross-only rides here, but yeah, I wouldn’t say I don’t want to come here. I would love to come and do a season over here. It’s just a bit hard, you know, like a lot of things, a lot of teams are full, and even Yarrive’s team here, it’s pretty full with Joey [Savatgy] and Shane [McElrath] and stuff. So yeah, it’s just a tough situation. But in saying all of that, I definitely would love to come and do it if the opportunity came up.

Riding the Honda HRC Progressive 250…

It’s sick – the bike is so good. It’s nice to be here spinning my laps for a little while, and I’ll do this week and then I’ve got to come back to Australia for about two weeks and then… do a little bit of riding there while I’m at home before I’ll come back for about three or four weeks leading into MXoN, so I’ll be here again riding this bike and getting used to it. So honestly, nothing too crazy other than just lots of riding. But yeah, I just think the overall package, you know, they’ve done a lot of development on this thing and spent a lot of time getting it right, and obviously it’s very competitive here with the results they’ve had. So the whole thing is just sick. The power, for a 250, is next level, and the handling is just really, really good too.

MXoN at Ironman…

It’s nice to have ridden the track, you know? Now knowing what to expect, knowing what jumps are there, knowing where it goes – all that stuff. Just to have done some laps there is really good. And I guess it just takes that little bit of second-guessing out, which is nice. But yeah, up until I was cooking, the National was really good, and I felt super comfortable on the track too. I got an average start and worked my way up to ninth or 10th before it all went downhill in race one. I was really enjoying it. It’s a cool track. It’s very, very different with all the different soil types and the layout now, where it goes into the woods, but it’s pretty cool. Jett and Hunter [Lawrence] are in SMX mode at the moment, but once that’s over, they’ll hop on to motocross too, so we’ll get a couple of weeks riding together as well, which will be really helpful heading into this year’s event.