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Interview: Max Anstie

Interview: Max Anstie

Max Anstie experienced the ultimate highs and lows of motocross in 2015.

From winning GPs and a late season surge for the MX2 title, to experiencing a rider’s worst nightmare when he was sickeningly landed on at the MXDN at Ernee in his last race of the year, Anstie went through it all in 2015.

A broken neck and shoulder blade kept the stylish Anstie off the bike for the rest of the season but he had a bright shining light at the end of his tunnel to focus on – a factory Husqvarna ride for his final year in MX2.

Now healthy and steadily getting back up to his startling speed, Anstie feels at home with Husqvarna and is ready to get the GP season started. We caught up with the always friendly and entertaining Anstie and he headed to Belgium for his final preparations for Qatar this weekend and discovered Max is cool, calm and collected on the eve of his final MX2 GP season.

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Gatedrop: So we are few days away from Qatar how are you feeling on the bike and how has the pre-season went for you?

Anstie: Yeah it’s been good, it’s been nice to do a few warm-up races. After the motocross of nations it has been nice to loosen up a little bit and take that time to learn the team and myself. At the beginning I was a bit nervous to see how my body would feel, my back and my shoulder, things like that. It’s been really nice to do because it has blown out the cobwebs. I wasn’t going there to push, I knew I wasn’t 100% but it was the fastest way to get me back up to speed. It was part of the plan and it was really good to do. I feel good with the testing, good on the bike and good with the team. I think we are in a good position to go into Qatar now.

Gatedrop: The crash at the nations was scary, the injuries were scary. Just talk a bit about the recovery from that and were you nervous getting back on a bike for the time?

Anstie: Yeah I was. It took three months really. I only got released from the doctors just before Christmas. In a massice way I was really lucky not to have anything more – it was just broken bones. I broke two vertebrae in my back, one in my neck and broke my shoulder blade. To be fair I was just stiff for three months and I am still a bit stiff now. It’s just like a normal thing when you break a bone, it takes time to build back up and build a bit of strength in it.

When I started riding, I felt fine off the bike, and when i started riding I was getting into it not to badly but I am still a bit weaker on that side. It’s shame because just before Ernee and at the end of that season I was really strong, my body was really good but at the end of the day that’s the way things go and I was lucky enough to be in a position where I am now with a good group of people around me.

I am positive going into the first round but it’s still important to just build and come out of there with some solid points, at the end of the day it’s such a long season and I remember when you get to Czecho or Lommel or wherever in August you don’t really remember the first round! I just want to stay consistent and stay solid. I have a lot to learn with the team and the bike but I have time and I am in a good position and I’m happy.

New team and new gear for Anstie this season.  Pic: Husky Images

New team and new gear for Anstie this season. Pic: Husky Images

Gatedrop: Last season was probably your best ever, it looked like all the pieces on your side had fallen into place, all different tracks, it all came together. How much confidence does that give you going into this year on a factory team?

Anstie: Yeah it does. When you have an off-season and when your injured you don’t really know where you are at. That’s why it’s been nice to do the pre-season races. I’ve pretty much raced all of the the guys except the Kawasaki guys and everyone is basically the same as last year! You are a few months away from everyone and you think, ‘ what has everyone done,’ and then you go there and everyone is the same!

So yeah, it does give me confidence. I know what I need to do to win races but I have to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together for this year. I am really excited to be on the factory team, I think it’s going to give me the area of consistency that I have been looking for for my last year in MX2. I just want to want to put myself in a good position each week and put everything together. There is not too much stress on it right away, each season is different and I want to perform at my best and focus on myself.

Gatedrop: How have you found the transition from the Kawasaki to the Husqvarna?

Anstie: It’s a funny one, I’ve been a pro now for seven or eight years and every year I have switched bikes! Although I stayed with Dixon for two years it was Yamaha and then Kawasaki. So to be honest I am used to it and I know what I want so it’s been ok. i wouldn’t say it’s an ideal situation. A year is actually not a long time you think with a full season it is, but it goes so fast. I’ve been planning for this ( to be on a factory team) for four or five years, I’ve known where I wanted to get too so it takes a lot of time. But it hasn’t been too difficult, I haven’t changed much on the bike but it is the race time, being at the GPs, how we work together but at the end of the day, it’s the same old thing, we are riding a bike round a field with a few jumps in it, going round and round and up and down, that’s it!

Gatedrop: Regarding your deal with Husky, it also includes going to the 450 team next year, which must feel good?

Anstie: Yeah and I’m excited about that, the following two years 2017 and 2018. It was a main goal of mine to to stay with a brand and group of guys and I think it will give me a consistency and stability. That’s what you need when you step up to the 450s for sure.

Gatedrop: The way ride the bike is pretty, smooth, technical and thoughtful, the 450 should suit you well?

Anstie: Yeah I raced a 450 at the Nations in 2012 so I have spent a bit of time on one but we will see, it will be a new challenge but I have to focus on the this year but I am excited to going with what I think is the best team in the 450 class.

Anstie is focused on himself and not his competition this season. Pic: Husky

Anstie is focused on himself and not his competition this season. Pic: Husky

Gatedrop: Just going back to this year and Herlings is back and Herlings in flying in pre-season but yo hyave shown before you can run with him when everything is right and Ferrandis is back from injury too. Are they going to be you main rivals for the title or who ar eyou looking at?

There are a whole load of guys who are fast, the series isn’t just one race, it’s not done in January or February, to be perfectly honest it doesn’t matter who wins in Qatar or Thailand, you just want to walk out of there with some solid points. What I’ve learnt is you have to be there the whole season, you have to be solid. You can’t look at one guy and think, ‘oh I want to race him.’

Anstie: Everyone is going to have good days, everyone is going to have bad days. I think the main thing we have all learnt, and watching last year’s 450 championship, the tracks and the travelling, it’s who can deal with all those things, that’s what determines the world champion. I mean no-one would have really thought Romain Febvre would have won the world championship at the beginning of last year, all eyes were on Cairoli and Villopoto. Yeah Jeffrey is going to be fast, Ferrandis will be fast, Seewer will be fast, Tonkov will be fast. There are a lot of guys that can potentially win races, it’s not always the fastest guy that wins the title, it’s the whole package and the whole year, so I think that’s the most important thing.

Pic: Husky

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