It’s never easy to make the move from outside Europe to make a name for yourself in the Motocross world but South African talent, Camden McLellan is doing just that. He was impressive in Arnhem finishing fourth overall but he had the pace for a podium in the very demanding conditions.
Due to his Father and Brother having visa issues they’re back in South Africa so he hasn’t seen them for a couple of years – not easy. We caught up with McLellan after Arnhem to discuss his situation and more…
GateDrop: Camden, Here at Arnhem, kind of like a home GP for you as we aren’t far from Lommel where you live. You gave it everything you had there for the podium, just came up a little bit short, but I think you can be really happy with your speed and progress all weekend really…
McLellan: Yeah, 100%. It’s much better than the previous weeks where I’ve also felt good, but I just haven’t had the speed. This week I had it in me, the track was super demanding and I was good throughout the whole moto. In fact, in the last moto I put my best lap in on the last lap, so that was cool… A lot of positives. If I didn’t have a couple of dips in the middle of both moto’s, I think I’d have podium this weekend. So I’m a little bit bummed to miss it, especially because it was so close at the end with Andrea. But no, definitely positive, go home with a bit of bonus money, so it’s good.
GateDrop: Obviously this year you picked up the injury, but ever since you came back in Indonesia, you’re sort of running the same places as before the injury. That’s not easy to do, but it sure goes to show the progress you’re making this year…
McLellan: Yeah, 100%. And I feel like when I came back, I kind of felt stagnant. I wasn’t making progress, I kept getting 8th, 7th, 6th, and the speed and everything was good. I was missing maybe a second a lap, one and a half to Kay and Lucas, but at the moment it’s tough to get there. But I was there with the other guys, it was all down to start, I would say, which I fixed this weekend. I’ve grown a pair and I go in hard in the middle and that seems to be working. So slowly we’re getting there. Small things, small things, everywhere. Every corner, every braking zone, if you can brake a little bit later, get on the gas a little bit earlier, that’s actually what separates us. So we’re getting there.
GateDrop: Lke you said, the track was super demanding. It was really, really rough there today. What’s it like to ride? It’s not quite like a Lommel where you can just blast over bumps and use them as waves. You have to ride it a different way…
McLellan: I was going to say, I just had the debrief and I also explained, you cannot just, let’s say, Jeffrey Herlings through the track, where you hit everything as fast as possible and bah, bah, bah, you can’t do that, because it’s really hard base here and the bumps are super sharp. So there’s two or three bumps in every braking zone where you kind of got to help the bike, because if you don’t, it’s just going to kick you in the ass and you’re going to go flying over. And I think you see it a lot with Sascha Coenen, obviously with the smaller legs, he must have had a lot of those moments. So it was super, super demanding on the arms, shoulders, legs, hips. You have got to grip the bike a lot to keep it straight. But to be honest, I think my bike is the best in the MX2 class in terms of this kind of behaviour. It sits, it stays, it goes where I want it to go. You know, I was riding behind some of the KTM’s and they looked a little bit nervous at times, where I feel like I had a great advantage in the braking zone.
GateDrop: I was going to ask you about the bike, obviously it’s the first year, new brand, like even from the start of the season, how’s the bike developed to now, and what kind of changes have you made?
McLellan: I haven’t made a lot of changes to be honest. I’ve gone harder on springs, but that’s because the pace has been going up, so I’ve gotten fast, I hit everything a little bit faster, so I needed the harder springs. But I haven’t made any changes. I’ve been working more on myself, off the bike physically, and then obviously technique-wise on the bike, I had a lot of improvements to make. But this weekend was actually the first weekend that I made a pretty significant change on the mapping. We took a lot of the engine braking off, so it was almost like a two-stroke. You could say, you know, if you go off the gas, you roll, where there’s no engine braking. And I like the look of braking, but you can’t necessarily use your back brakes a lot, so it was good.
GateDrop: I was talking to your mum the other week, and she told me about your brother and your dad having visa issues. I mean, you’re coming from South Africa, I don’t think you’ve seen them in two years because they’re still there. What’s that like, you know, being on the other side of the world from your father and your brother? It must be quite tough, but at the same time, you seem to be loving life here…
McLellan: No, 100%. It’s hard to not be appreciative of where I am, you know. This is what I’ve dreamed of since I was, you know… and I honestly never thought I would make it here. So it’s something that, when I wake up in the morning, it’s like, oh, I’m Camden McLellan, I ride on the best team in the paddock. You know, it’s something to look forward to every day. So it’s easy in that regard, also because I’m doing what I love, you know. But no doubt it’s not easy, especially for my mum. She’s missing her other kid and my dad, so I would say it’s much harder for her. I have a distraction, you could say. But I definitely miss them, especially on days like this where I do good. You know, I want to come off the track, give my dad and my brother a hug, but it’s what it is.
GateDrop: Final question, just if you keep developing the way you’re going, next year could be very, very bright for you. I guess the last stage is get to the same level in hard pack as you are in sand…
McLellan: Yes, yes. I think it’s just build myself in terms of starts, speed. Like you said, on the hard pack I miss a little bit competitive and so we’re trying to kind of end the season consistently 3, 4, 5 around there, you know. Then have a good winter and come out swinging next year for a title bid. I can’t lie, that’s the goal with the team, so we’ll see.
