Lewis Spratt travelled to the Netherlands at the weekend to represent team Ireland as one of the 125cc riders – the deepest and toughest class with so much talent behind the gate. With plenty of rain before the weekend it also made the track very deep and challenging.
Despite not qualifying, it would have been a productive weekend for Spratt learning the deep sand and also the experience of spending a week outside the UK putting in plenty of laps in the sand.
We caught up with Spratt to discuss his weekend and more…
GateDrop: Lewis, you made your Junior World Championship debut at Heerde, can you talk me through your day? It probably didn’t go how you’d have wanted it too but still experience in the bag…
Spratt: Yes, you aren’t wrong there… to be honest I didn’t really have any expectations coming into this event as I have never ever raced something like this in my life. Free practice give us a good indication of where we stood and I needed just 3 seconds to get into a qualifying position… I went out in qualifying and was trying to put in fast laps but I just couldn’t put my riding together. I think this is purely because of how nervous I was and all I was thinking about was that I needed to qualify which is probably the worst thing I could do but you learn from your mistakes. I then got into the LCQ where I got a cracker jump out of the gate but as I was on the outside gate I got rammed against the bank which put me near into dead last position and I came back to squeeze inside the top 20. I was very disappointed that I didn’t qualify but it gives me good motivation to work towards the FIM Junior World Motocross Championships in 2025.
GateDrop: How was the track? With all the rain before the weekend it was very deep and looked hard to ride on Saturday…
Spratt: I have never rode anything like it, the sand was so so deep and was very draggy and you just had to keep your momentum up everywhere which is probably one of my weak points and it was drastically changing every lap.
GateDrop: Ireland made their Junior World Championship debut. What was it like being part of the setup? It looked like good vibes!
Spratt: Yes 100%, I was very happy to get the chance to ride for Team Ireland and Richard Mckeown done an excellent job of being our team manager for the first time by giving us guidance and advice throughout the whole weekend and also to Laurence Spence who was there to keep everyone on the right track. The vibe was good and made the weekend much more enjoyable.
GateDrop: Richard McKeown was team manager and Heerde used to be his home track, I am sure he was able to help you throughout the weekend?
Spratt: Yes, Richard was a massive help to me and the rest of the team even throughout the week when we were all training it just made life so much easier as Richard knew the locations to all the practice tracks etc. At Heerde when we were doing track walk he was able to point out things that maybe me and the rest of the team wouldn’t have seen, which all really helped and will for the future as well.
GateDrop: Being one of the most experienced riders for team Ireland, where you able to help the young 85/65cc riders?
Spratt: I did get some questions asked from the younger riders of the team and I tried to help them as best as I could but I think I could still do with some more experience myself out in Europe and racing with the European riders and the tracks.
GateDrop: Watching on Sunday, seeing the way the top talents raced the conditions, I am sure is still a big help…
Spratt: Even though it wasn’t what I wanted to be doing on Sunday I can definitely say I learned a lot from the top guys that I can take on board for the deep sandy conditions.
GateDrop: What’s the plans for the rest of the season?
Spratt: My plan is to finish off the British Championship and Irish Championship, might do an odd Scottish and that as well and some other races in England. Also hoping to do the EMX125 at Arnhem in August and the last round of the Dutch Nationals in October.
GateDrop: You’ll be heading to Arnhem, another new track for you and it’s pretty deep as well. Are you looking forward to that one?
Spratt: Yes, I do like the deep sand when it’s dry and I feel like I go better on sand rather than hard pack… but as this will be my debut in EMX125 I will be going in with no expectations but I think this will definitely help me to get used to the whole GP setup and riding with these European guys again and getting on a rougher track which will all help for my future in the sport.
