Miro Sihvonen has announced that he will be heading to America for the 2023 season and racing selected AMA National events on a private KTM setup. Sihvonen has plenty of experience racing in Europe whether it be the EMX championships and even in MXGP the past few years but injuries have been a problem.
For 2023, he has decided to do something difficult and race in America to see what he can do over that side of the world.
We caught up with Sihvonen to get his thoughts on 2023.
On the decision behind heading to America for 2023 to race selected AMA National events…
I didn’t wanna make a big deal out of it but last year I found out some hard truths of the MXGP and I started to think what’s the point…? Talking about earning possibilities. I talked with some riders who have had quite good success and I thought they would have it way better. Also got some insight to other riders and what they earn or how they earn.
Sure I thought already long time ago riding a series like ADAC MX Masters and maybe living off of that, but that doesn’t really set any flames in my eyes. Especially during last season when I was dealing with all those concussions and I was very depressed for a few months at the end of the season. (Having a concussion reduces the production of ”feel good hormones” in the brain”) so that was tough.
It just kind of clicked in my mind when we went to redbud for the MXoN. I just enjoyed so much and actually at first my idea was to go and try do the GNCC series. I got a great opportunity to try one race after the MXoN on a factory husky. But I did have a hard time in the race because I hurt my thumb before it. All in all I just didn’t enjoy it enough but riding motocross over there was like a dream.
On what his setup will be like in America and how many rounds he hopes to do…
I’ll go fully private over there and ride a KTM. I’ll want to do around 7-10 rounds of the AMA National series depending on how it’s all going to settle and what I decide during the season.
On his expectations…
I’d like to ride good enough to potentially earn some kind of a ride perhaps. But I also want to add that I really just want to enjoy doing this after a long time and stay healthy which is key for having fun and in my case success too. I started to feel like I’m doing the whole thing for the wrong reasons in the end of last season and I wasn’t happy. But then I got back on the bike again and it made it clear to me that I just want to ride and have fun doing it. Even with this year’s health problems it feels amazing that I didn’t have to heal up from a surgery this year. It is the first time in like five years. So, I feel really good and fit and won’t be having to start from 0 this time.
Interview: Andy McKinstry