It was a fantastic start to the season for Jason Anderson at Anaheim 1. The field is stacked as always in Supercross and a podium is never easy but Anderson made it happen at round one finishing third.
It’ll be interesting to see if he can maintain the kind of results and if he can challenge for another Supercross title. We caught up with Anderson to discuss his start to the season and much more…
GateDrop: Jason, a really good start to the season at Anaheim 1, was that what you were expecting? You’re obviously really good at hard pack tracks anyway, or was it a wee bit better than you thought?
Anderson: No, I was expecting that, I knew I’d be good. Obviously, there’s a lot of circumstances that have to go your way, you know. Obviously you have to be up there, up front, and obviously you have to dodge some bullets, which I feel like I dodged enough.
GateDrop: That start was pretty hairy, I watched the replay after the press conference, and I was like, you weren’t joking when you were probably worried about your front wheel breaking the whole moto?
Anderson: Oh, dude, yeah, I can’t even believe I survived the first corner, and not only that, I was really lucky to be able to just have my wheel survive the main event.
GateDrop: So, you’ve done a lot of testing, you were saying at the press conference as well, with this new bike… At your age, can you enjoy the testing, or does it become more of a grind as you get older? Because I imagine it’s just lap after lap and trying not to get lost…
Anderson: I think at my age I enjoy tinkering, you know, I enjoy being able to try and make the motorcycle better, I really do. So, just for me, I think my experience almost makes me overthink my motorcycle a little bit, but at the same time I think I’m pretty good at putting our motorcycle in the correct direction.
GateDrop: Is this the most comfortable you’ve felt on the Kawasaki, just the best bike you’ve had from your time there?
Anderson: I feel like from last year to this year I’m more comfortable on the motorcycle right now, yeah.
GateDrop: Will that translate to the softer tracks as well, do you think?
Anderson: Yes, I mean, that’s what we’re hoping, so we’ll find out, you know. I think the only way we’re going to be able to tell is with the racing going forward.
GateDrop: You’re really relaxed off the bike, then you put your helmet on and you’re so aggressive, have you just always been like that? Because it’s always like, Anderson’s come to play again every race (laughs)…
Anderson: Yeah, I don’t know, I feel like just as far as normal life I’m pretty passive and relaxed, but when we’re racing you’ve kind of got to get what’s yours, and I’ve always kind of been aggressive that way. You know, whenever I want to race I don’t want any of those guys to beat me, so I’m here to let them know that I’m right behind them barking.
GateDrop: Do you think your reputation helps you when people look back and say, oh, it’s Jason Anderson behind me?
Anderson: It better (laughs).
GateDrop: You talked before about maybe doing an MXGP World Championship season in the future, is that still on your radar, or is the sunshine and the warmth a lot better here than it would be in Belgium in January?
Anderson: I mean, I live right where we’re at right now and the weather’s pretty damn nice, but I would love to do MXGP. I just feel like when the time comes I’m going to be too old, and it’s going to be tough for me, you know, because I feel like I have good opportunities here. At this point I have my daughter and by the time I’m able to do that she’ll probably be having to go to school and stuff like that and I’ll be 35 and washed up, so I’m just trying to keep this thing going as long as I can and still feel good. As long as I still feel good I want to keep charging.
GateDrop: And I asked Ken this in the press conference, I think it applies to you as well, you’ve already won a title of course, but do you still feel you’re a title contender, especially after Anaheim 1?
Anderson: Yeah, I mean, I feel like riding wise I have the speed to be really, really good, you know. I think if you have the speed and you can put all the pieces of the puzzle together and get good starts and get used to putting yourself in the right situation, there’s no reason that any of us old dogs can’t win the title.
