Apart from a bit of fun riding last weekend at Mercer for Kawasaki Demo Day this was my first time back on the track since mid July. It was a long 103 days of no moto and I had some cool adventures. Because mum had already booked flights and accommodation for Aussie Juniors we still went over and had a holiday and watched a couple of days of racing. When we came back my move to 85s was made official with selling my KTMs and going green. I’m now on a KX85 after doing some test riding of different brands before I busted myself up and I liked the Kawasaki the best. I feel really comfortable and stable on it and trusting my bike has really helped get me back into racing.
I was excited and a bit nervous to be back at Awakaponga… every SummerCross here so far I have had spectacular crashes and done damage to my bikes so coming here today was like a new beginning on a new bike. After practice the nerves were gone and with each lap I started getting faster and jumping again. Having so much time off my bike and not being able to do much PT my strength and endurance are a lot less than what it used to be. I know it will take a lot of work to get back to my pre-crash levels of fitness and confidence but I am really motivated to do what it takes. I was riding in the 85 A class today which we found out after is the older 85 group so I had some solid competition for my first race day back and it felt really good.
Soren Staudinger 