We caught up with Cole McCullough after he impressed at the Swiss round of the EMX125 series. It was one of his worst tracks on the calendar last year but this year he was able to finish eighth overall which shows just how much progress he’s made.
We caught up with McCullough to discuss his selection for the Irish MXoN team, racing all over Europe and much more…
GateDrop: Cole, here in Switzerland. In terms of conditions, completely different from Saturday to Sunday, but actually you kind of had a similar race in both, in terms of bad starts, but in both races, you were able to work your way through the pack… Especially yesterday, it was quite hard to pass, I would say, but you and Doensen probably passed the most riders on the track…
McCullough: Yeah, two different races completely. Both bad starts, but yesterday, I came around the first corner, probably about 30th, and just the first few laps, you couldn’t really do the big first laps you usually do, maybe pass five, six boys, three laps in a row, but yesterday, just ten minutes to go, I started to really pick guys off. Me and Ernecker, were always maybe two positions, and he passed two, and then I passed, and then we both come together, and I ended up ninth. Pretty good, just solid. If you look into the race, it’s a very good race without starts and passing, but on paper, it’s just solid. Then this morning, kind of the same start, but this morning was more chaos. The first lap crashed, was about last but just kept going, and crashed two more times, but still finished seventh with three crashes, is pretty good I’d say, but the track today was just survival.
GateDrop: I would say last year, this was probably your worst track… I mean, last year, you weren’t that great here, but it shows how much you’ve developed in the space of a year, so you must be happy with that. Obviously, you’ve got better equipment, but you still have to put the work in to improve in these conditions…
McCullough: I am starting to go well in the hard pack now, I think the bike, not just fast-wise, just the handling-wise. When I first got on it in the hard pack over in Italy last year, I could never even turn a KTM like this so yeah, the bike’s a big difference, and I’m getting more used to the hard pack now.
GateDrop: How did you feel yesterday out in the track? There was loads and loads of ruts, it was quite hard pack as well, or was it all just ruts?
McCullough: It started off pretty nice and gloomy, and then they watered it, took all the soil off it, and then it got really rutty, hard, baked, blue-groov in bits. It’s the complete opposite of what I’ve been used to my whole life, but no, 30 degrees odd yesterday for 30 minutes, it was a very good race. I felt I rode very strong, and yeah, it just felt really good.
GateDrop: The last couple of rounds, bar that last moto today, which was just survival, you’ve sort of worked out how to stay on, is that something that was on your mind? Because at the start of the season, obviously starts were still an issue, but you were kind of pushing hard the whole race, did you sort of realise, once you maybe hit halfway, to calm down a little bit, just to get results on the board?
McCullough: The first few laps, usually, it is kind of just balls out. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. When it works, it does work, but it’s very rare. So now, still put in a big push the first two or three laps, maybe inside the top 15, and then I calm down a bit, and just keep ticking the boys off, and then the last five minutes, I try to hammer down a bit more, just to get up more.
GateDrop: It shows you’re getting more mature though, and this is obviously your third year racing in Europe, and even growing up a lot, you didn’t really race that much, so is it nice to be racing week in, week out, in the GP paddock, and travelling all around Europe? Are you enjoying it?
McCullough: The travelling is just sitting in the van, people would say you’re living the dream, but not too much. But no, I’ve felt good.
GateDrop: You’ve just been selected for Team Ireland MXoN, thank goodness you got the nod, as we can see what you’re doing every week in the GP paddock. How does it feel to get the nod, and you must be excited to go and represent Ireland at Matterley Basin?
McCullough: Yeah, it feels good. The last time I was at Matterley (with the exception of EMX there last year), I was about eight, and I was sat beside Martin Barr, and now I’m about to race with him as part of the Nations, so it feels very good.
GateDrop: Between now and Spain, you’ve got a bit of a gap for the last EMX125 round, but is the plan to get on a 250cc and start preparing for the Nations?
McCullough: Yeah, probably get a 250 back home. There’s a track called Sperrin back home and that will be good practice for Matterley, and just get a 250F and see what I’m like on it.
GateDrop: In terms of equipment, what will you have at Matterley? Do you know yet what you’ll be riding? They said a factory Fantic on the press release, but I don’t know if that was jumping the gun or not, but that would be amazing if you could get that bike…
McCullough: Yeah, I think I might get a bike from Braceras or Karssemakers, hopefully anyway, because a factory bike is just another level, it would be another big help.
GateDrop: In terms of next year, do you know, obviously there’s probably two options, the EMX125, or the EMX250 class, have you got any preference? It’ll probably depend on what kind of ride you can get in the EMX125 class…
McCullough: Yeah, just whatever seems best at the time, we’ll see what it’s like.
