Pauls Jonas Interview
By Infront Moto Racing on 14th Apr 16
Red Bull KTM Factory rider Pauls Jonass hasnt had the most consistent of starts to the 2016 MX2 championship challenge. After finishing second in last years MX2 championship the Latvian rider picked up an injury in the off-season, and started his season less than 100%.
A crashes in Thailand and Argentina cost Jonass a bunch of points, and he will head to Mexico this weekend with high hopes of regaining his second place ranking behind KTM team-mate Jeffrey Herlings.
"I'm always a bit too aggressive at the beginning so I know I need to stay more calm and learn from my mistakes. I didn't get the best start in the first race in Argentina,” Jonass said. "Then in the second corner I hit a bump and had a big crash. I wasn't able to continue because my bike wouldn't start after someone ran over it. Also I didn't feel too good and was pretty banged up. I didn't know if I would be able to ride in the second race but I got a good start and made up some good points.”
In round three in Valkenswaard two weeks prior to Argentina Jonass pulled off a podium finish as he went 2-2 behind Herlings. It was a good reverse of form.
"I felt really good because after Thailand we did a lot of riding hours on the bike and I felt confident coming to Valkenswaard. We had a good week of testing and we improved the bike suspension. Today Jeffrey was faster. He's the king in the sand and I was really happy with second place. That was my goal and I thought that would be the best scenario. Now I'm very excited to go to Argentina (the next GP on the calendar) because this is one of my favorite tracks so I'm looking forward to the next GP.”
As mentioned Jonass came into the Grand Prix of Qatar and Thailand underdone, and he knew it would be tough, but he still put in the hard work and scored well. After a solid performance in Qatar, he crashed in a moto in Thailand, and struggling a little. Going 3-3 in Qatar and 9-5 in Thailand set up a solid foundation.
"Maybe it was good that I didn't ride any pre-season races because I went into Qatar without any expectations. I wanted to do my best and to take some points and thought if I finish in the top ten it is already good. I haven't had so much bike time the last two weeks' (before Qatar and Thailand) and in Thailand my thumb was quite painful but on the Sunday it was okay. I think I could have made two top five places in Thailand, if I hadn't crashed in the first race in the second turn, so it's not so bad.”
Now onto Mexico and hopefully a similar result in both moto's as in moto one of 2015, when he scored a moto win, unfortunately though he again showed a lack of consistency scoring just 8 points in his second moto.
