For Australian riders, the dream of conquering Europe is one that comes with equal parts excitement and reality check. The depth of talent, the ever-changing track conditions and the relentless calendar make it one of the toughest proving grounds in motocross. For Jake Cannon, that journey has been good after signing with BUD Kawasaki — but at Arco di Trento, everything finally came together.
After knocking on the door with a string of consistent podium finishes, Cannon secured his first overall victory in EMX250. It didn’t come easy either. Forced to fight through the pack in both motos, the Australian showed impressive fitness, determination and race craft, digging deep right to the final laps when it mattered most.
We caught up with Cannon as he opens up about the emotions of achieving a long-awaited first win, the hard work behind the scenes, and how his growing confidence is starting to translate into results. He also discusses adapting to Europe’s demanding tracks, the influence of his training group, and why this victory is only the beginning of what he hopes will be a strong and consistent season.
GateDrop: Jake, you know, everyone from Australia comes over to Europe with these dreams, some people maybe think it’s going to be easy, some people know it’s going to be hard, but you finally got your first win, it’s been a lot of hard work I’m sure, but just talk me through how you feel to get a win at this level…
Cannon: Yeah, I mean, I dream about this nearly every night, I’m thinking okay, it’s coming, you know, sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. For all the hard work I’ve been putting in, I knew it eventually would pay off – today is the day. I am still yet to get my moto win, but I mean, I’ll take an overall win.
GateDrop: You had two very different motos, I suppose the similar bit was the starts weren’t great this weekend, but I mean that first moto, I told you right after it, your best lap of the race was your very last lap, you pushed the boundaries there to get second and it’s a good job you did, because that probably got you the overall in the end, but how did it feel to get that done? I saw you celebrating going over the line like you won…
Cannon: Yes, that was… It felt good, you know, I seen him up around the racetrack, around seven seconds in front of me, so I’m like okay, if I can pull this off, tomorrow will be a good day and take some stress off me. I’ve been working really hard on my fitness and my body feels amazing and it’s showing off because I’m feeling very strong at the end of the moto.
GateDrop: In the second moto, you probably didn’t come through the pack as quickly as you did in moto one, the first half nobody was really doing anything, but like I just said to you, the second half you were on it and showed good fitness, but also you probably knew you had to get to second to win the overall, how hard were you pushing to make it happen? Were you on the edge or was there a little bit left?
Cannon: No, I was just riding the race, I felt a bit more comfortable towards the end as the lines kind of settled in, but to be honest I wasn’t even thinking about the overall. I didn’t know I won and I came in and then I was like, oh wait, did I get the overall? I didn’t even know who won the race, I was just in my own zone. I went to the podium, and they said I won, I was so happy to find out.
GateDrop: I mean obviously your family aren’t here this weekend, but have you chatted to them on the phone since or I’m sure, and what do you think this will do for back home in Australia too? Jett Lawrence was the last EMX250 overall winner from Australia – that’s going back!
Cannon: Yeah, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard the Australian national anthem up there, I’m super happy. I think everyone in Australia is watching and they’re super proud of me as well. I called my parents and they were stoked. I mean, to do it once is good, but I want to back it up again, so we’ll see throughout the season if I can keep the ball rolling.
GateDrop: On the track, Saturday it looked really rock hard, not too many ruts, needed to have a good throttle control, Sunday a little bit different, but it looked slower to me watching, but not as hard pack, but still quite tricky as well…
Cannon: Yes, both days, the track was very technical but today had a bit more moisture in the dirt and it created some more ruts. It was a bit better racing and as you can see a lot more riders were a bit faster. For me, it doesn’t matter how the track is, I feel like I’m strong on everything.
GateDrop: Do you feel like that’s one of the big benefits of Europe though? I mean last weekend we’re in Sardinia, bumps everywhere, massive, and then you come here and it’s like hard pack, you need to ride in a completely different way, do you feel like that’s probably the biggest thing about being over here, you’re getting to ride lots of different tracks and different conditions?
Cannon: For sure, you can’t really be good at just one condition over here, otherwise for a championship standpoint it’s going to be difficult. I feel confident that I’m an all-around rider and I can be good at any track at any time. Sardinia wasn’t my best weekend, so I’m happy to bounce back at this completely opposite track and get my first win.
GateDrop: Before the start of the season you did tell me before you mentioned winning, you wanted to be consistent, I feel like this year is a lot better in terms of consistency compared to last year, last year a good day was good but you were up and down, this year apart from Sardinia you’ve been really consistent, are you happy with that?
Cannon: Yeah, I’m very happy with how my consistency’s been, I mean I’ve been second in nearly every race. I was second at every round so far apart from Sardinia. I feel like my speed’s definitely there to be up the front every race and I’m starting to believe it now. I always believed it but the confidence and everything is starting to come together and that’s a big thing for this.
GateDrop: A word on your teammate Francisco, he rode unbelievable there in that second race, he was so far back, like half a lap, but what’s it like practising with him in all these conditions… when you’re out there practicing, are you able to hang with him for a while because he’s going so fast?
Cannon: He’s an unbelievable rider, we have a really cool training group, everyone is fast. Mano, Fran and Mathis, everyone are pushing limits all the time and it just makes everyone a better rider, some days we’re all the same and some days someone’s quicker. I think us training together has been really good, we do everything together and it’s working. Unfortunately for Mano, he had a crash in the first race.
GateDrop: There’s a really big break now, I think the next one is in Germany in like six weeks or something like that, what are your plans between now and then, I do know there’s maybe one or two French Elite but I’m not 100% sure how many, will you be staying in Europe or will you make a quick visit back home?
Cannon: No, we have next weekend and the weekend, the French Round and then we have one weekend off. I know my Mum is in Scotland, I might go visit her there. We’ll see but just keep our head down and focus for Germany.
