Pauls Jonass became the first rider to beat Jorge Prado to an MXGP overall this year at round five which took place at a muddy and brutal Agueda track in Portugal.
The likeable Latvian talent spoke to the media after his impressive win.
On if he expected a win…
Yeah, obviously, I didn’t expect this. You know, of course, you always want to win and that’s why you race. You want to win, you want to be on the podium, but I didn’t expect this. In the first races of the season, you could see Romain, Jorge, Tim and Jeffrey. They were one step or a few steps ahead of me. So, of course, the conditions played in my favor today.
But overall, it feels really amazing. First win in the MXGP class and first win since 2018. So it’s been a really, really long time. And yeah, for sure, I’m going to enjoy it today still and back to work tomorrow.
It’s my first win in MXGP and I think my last podium was in 2022. So it’s almost two years ago. So I don’t know what to do anymore on the podium and stuff like that. I’m a bit nervous when I get up there.
On his consistency so far this season…
Of course, like that was also one of the main goals during the off season and coming into the season. Just to be consistent because, like, you know, the season is really, really long and it’s only the fifth GP. We have still a lot of races to go.
Overall, I’ve been pretty consistent, you know, with a few small ups and downs. But always been in top 10, mostly top 5, top 6. That was also the goal before the season and just to build step by step.
On the Standing Construct Honda team…
The team worked really hard and I worked really hard. It’s always, you know, like the hard work pays off.
When all the pieces of the puzzle goes in the right places, then the result also comes. So I’m really happy about this win. I have to give a big shout out to all the team, all the sponsors because, they worked really hard. Even today, you know, after the first moto, the mechanic had to swap the engine. All the team, all the mechanics, they worked really hard just to get the bike ready for the second moto.
It’s a big team effort. You know, we are not the biggest team. But everyone is putting their 100% into it, even 110% in. It’s nice to be in a team like this who puts all their effort in. Then the results also come someday.
On everyone in the media room being happy for him and his easy-going character…
I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s just, I’m just me, you know. I’m an easy-going guy. I’m from a small, not even a city, from a village in the middle of nowhere in Latvia. And yeah, I’m just happy to be here, happy to be racing.
We are not the biggest group over here in MXGP. So, it’s like one big family. I have a good relationship almost with everyone. When I see someone, I say hello. And just, like I said, I’m an easy-going guy. I like to talk with everyone.
On winning the same day as Liam (Everts) who he spends a lot of time with…
We spent a lot of time in the winter together. So, yeah, Liam was riding just on his Sunday cruise to the bakery. He won everything this weekend, so if we had ridden together he would have kicked my ass.
We spent time together in the off-season but even today, during the week, we train together very often. Stefan (Everts) is in charge of our program. We also have the same physical trainer. Paulski and Liamski are on the podium this weekend. We’ll be able to have a sushi night when we get home (laughs).”
