Jonny Walker: Well done to my mate
By Jonny Walker on 1st Jun 16
I have got to kick off this months column by giving credit where credit is due.
I take my hat off to Graham Jarvis and the manner in which he won Erzberg. It was a performance that only a person like Graham can do. He was incredible, there's no two ways about it. I was delighted to see him win it like that.People sort of forget that Graham and myself are good mates, so I'm genuinely happy for him.
It was cool too to see Cody Webb on the podium. We're good mates too, and Cody is a seriously talented extreme rider when he puts his mind to it. For his second time to the Iron Giant, he rode a great race.
It felt a little weird not racing Erzberg this year. It's the first time I've ever been there without that pressure of riding on my shoulders.
But I did get to see things from the other side of the fence and really enjoyed it. Of course I'd much rather been racing but I definitely enjoyed the event as much as I could. Erzberg's literally the biggest race on the extreme enduro calendar.
Going there as a racer, there's a lot of pressure to succeed. Your focus is 100 per cent on delivering your best during those four hours of race time in the Hare Scramble.
With pretty much all of the world's motorcycle media there watching you perform, it can be a heck of a pressure cooker - there's a lot to deal with.
Not having that this year was nice. I got to hang out with a lot of people, spend more time with spectators and see some of the things that happen back stage.
I even got a small part on RedBull.TV, which was cool too.But once that flag dropped for the main race, I was jealous not being in the mix of things. There's nothing else in the world like racing around the Iron Giant - it's a special place. And I'm already itching to return there in 2017.Right now the focus in racing again at Red Bull Romaniacs.
My leg wasn't quite strong enough for Erzberg but I'll be good to go for Romaniacs. It seems like a very long time since I was racing or even riding my bike for that matter. And I can't wait to get going again. I've been out of action for too long!
Jonny
