Harri Kullas has raced MXGP, British champion, various European Nationals champs and now he has races the AMA Nationals and SMX (as well as in Brazil) in 2024! The Estonian is fast wherever he goes and he impressed again in his AMA racing, and, despite being a full privateer outdoors, he did enough (12th in th championship) to make it directly into SMX and came out 9th overall in Vegas for 13th overall in the unique three-race hybrid track format to underline, yet again, his versatility as he netted $34,000 for his efforts.
Marco Kamper caught up with the friendly Kullas after his impressive performance in Vegas to discuss his AMA experience in 2024 and plans for the future.
Harri Kullas, today we’re here in Las Vegas, the final round of the SMX. Tell us a bit about your race…
Yeah, it was a good day, really, really happy to have good race on the last round, because we had triple points today. First two rounds of SMX, I was pretty nervous, I didn’t do my potential, I was overthinking. But yeah, the last round, which was most important, being triple points, I was feeling alright Friday, in the track, I didn’t do anything crazy, but I did what I was able to do. Consistent every lap, and I really, really enjoyed the track and my riding.
The timed practice was decent, I’m not really special in timed qualifying I was 18th, it was enough for the first start. I got really good start. I started at top 10, first lap 7, I was there for a couple laps, which was quite nice, and then I dropped to 10, 11. Then yeah, guys were pushing behind, but I managed to keep them behind. So 11th in the first race was really good for the start of the evening, just to get good first moto and then we’ll get the overall standings to get some points – it was really important.
Second race, I had really an even better jump over the gate, end of the corner, tried to push more Roczen to the inside. But yeah, he did what he should have done in the first race, he closed me in the first corner, so I dropped quite far back. But I was doing my laps, I was trying to, yeah, stay upright, I’m not rushing or do any stupid mistakes. And guys in front of me did mistakes, so I passed two guys one time, then one guy crashed, so I came up a couple of positions, I came up to 13th.
And yeah, I just had a safe gap to the front, safe gap behind, so I just tried to do my laps, laps, laps, so I just tried to breath. And I think Wilson had a technical issue in the last lap, so I came in one position, so I moved to 12th. And that came in 9th overall of the day, so yeah, I can’t be more than happy for that, and yeah, great day.
I talked to Dean before this, it was his problem with his fuel pump, it gave out, so that was what happened.
Yeah, I saw him on the running off the track, I was like, oh! On the last lap… like three corners to go .
So looking at the track, and looking at the track from like last week and the week before that, I feel like this one today, I felt more like we got a Supercross section, and then we got the outdoor section. Do you feel like that suits you more, where you have a definitive line of like, now we’re going to go motocross, now we’re going to go super cross?
Yeah, I think this track was perfect for me, I think maybe it was easier for maybe tough guys, but then again, the supercross part was like really slick, a lot of like square edges, holes, but slippery, but then the outdoor side was like pretty soft and bumps and like waves. So yeah, for sure I knew that that’s my strong point on the sand section, so I tried to use that as my strength, and then the supercross side, I tried to do consistent, clean and as fast as I could, so that was, yeah, I think I like supercross in general, and yeah, this is like hybrid track with our group, so it is perfect for me. It was nice to get the feeling of American supercross, a little bit at least, so it was nice to enjoy.
So this year you did your American tour, let’s call it that. Do you think for next year you’re going to return, or what are your plans on that?
I hope! I think today was good day, I’ve improved, I’ve shown myself like I can be pretty okay, and of course like supercross is a different thing if I stay in America, but I think I have it in me, so I could, with some practice, I could learn some tips and I could make something happen in the supercross. Not maybe 450, maybe 250 more, but like, yeah, I will see what the future brings. It would be nice to do one, two, three, four seasons in America, that would be a dream.
I’ve been racing everywhere, GPs, racing in the national level, so it would be nice. This year we did like privately. We traveled a lot, rental car, AirBnBs. We met a lot of friends, so it was big help from them, but it would be nice to get like a team for next year and just really enjoy and go race to race.
So you were talking about maybe race a 250, what was the last time you rode a 250 four stroke?!
Uh, three or four weeks ago?
Oh, okay.
I did a small race in America, so I did 250, there, but yeah, before that I think it was 2017 when I raced the Estonian national championship and British championship as well . Or I did a pretty challenging as well, so, it’s been a long time, but I think like supercross on a 250 will maybe be a little bit easier for me, less rounds, the level maybe is not that high, so I will make it maybe to the mains. And yeah, then 450 outdoor, that would be ideal. I mean, that’s in my head, so I can’t decide, you know.
You need a team to help you with that, I get that!
