Steve Dixon loves his motocross and with that love comes a lot of experience in this sport. The team owner, GP promoter, former MXoN team manager and former GP mechanic knows the sport better than most.

We caught up with him and asked him about his team in 2018, the injury to his rider Tommy Searle, the freezing cold of Valkenswaard, and also about the brilliant Herlings vs Cairoli battle.

MXlarge: Steve, with the injury to Tommy, its more bad luck. Seems like motocross just kicks you in the balls sometimes.

Dixon: It is what it is. Its my 29^th year and you will have ups and downs. It isn’t a patch on some other teams, like HRC in America and Europe. That is the nature of the game. We also had great years with four riders uninjured.

MXlarge: How is Tommy?

Dixon: Tommy is okay. His spirits were high before the crash, he was riding smooth, and had one of the best winters he has ever had. His practicing, and everything around him. He felt good in 9^th in qualification and he is gutted. He said he should have made a better start and not been in the position to get into trouble.

MXlarge: And what is the prognosis for his return?

Dixon: He had the operation on Sunday night at 6pm, and obviously with a broken collarbone, it can be less than two weeks, and we won’t press the issue, we are expecting two to four weeks really. So, he will miss Spain, but might be back for Italy.

MXlarge: Tommy wasn’t going to win the world championship, I think he even knew that, but taking too much time off, with the MXGP class being so mental, and using Gajser as an example, I guess you want to get back as quickly as possible?

Dixon: I think it is safe to say that Herlings and Cairoli are on a level above everyone else, so you are not going for championship wins, but you are going for good results, to showcase your sponsors. Podiums would be nice, but we have to be realistic, there are 10 to 12 GP winners in there, and Tommy can be battling with those guys. He can be in the top five, but so can 10 or 12 others. Its an awesome class and very tough.

MXlarge: Antonio proved last year he is riding better than ever, and by the distance he and Jeffrey are beating the others, its clear the level is higher than ever from both guys. I am thinking Antonio is riding better than ever, and still Jeffrey beating him. What is your opinion of Tony and Jeffrey?

Dixon: As with everything, football, or whatever, and competition breeds competition, with Herlings sussing out Tony’s game, now Tony has to suss out Jeffreys game, and respect to Jeffrey, he has matured drastically. I think some of his injuries have helped him do that and he is taking everything on board and is now using that in his race strategy. Those guys, they now just have to go back and make another game plan. Tony won’t make it easy for Jeffrey in Arco and let’s see how that goes, because last year Tony was unreal there.

MXlarge: And Jeffrey isn’t great there.

Dixon: No, and that will give some strength to Tony. Its going to be a good while before guys like Gajser, Febvre, Van Horebeek and the other pick their game up to match Tony and Jeffrey. Saying that, as we know with motocross, it takes just one wrong bump and it changes everything.  The crash Jeffrey had in Valkenswaard, with that cold weather, it could have ended with a broken bone.

MXlarge: Speaking about bad or good luck, Darien (Sanayei) has looked brilliant at times this year, and in Argentina he looks really fast, but still the results are mixed. Why is that?

Dixon: The results were showing in Argentina, and sand is something that he has improved on. In Valkenswaard he passed a lot of guys and we know it’s a long series and we can only worry about yourself.

MXlarge: Valkenswaard, you ever been to a race that was that cold?

Dixon: No, that was the coldest race, and maybe it shouldn’t have gone ahead. I mean everybody was so cold, and maybe Tommy wouldn’t have broken his shoulder had it been warmer. I mean I come from a union background and you wouldn’t be allowed to work in those conditions. But to answer your question, it was the coldest race I have attended.

MXlarge: How is it running a team?

Dixon: The winter was good and its been busy. There is no secret the level of orange and white factory bikes is very high. There are two schools of thought, and I am in the second one. In MX2 we want to go for the win, and while we don’t want bike problems, to get up with the factory efforts, we need to push to the limit to the edge. We have seen with Dean Ferris, with Max Anstie, with Zach Osborne, all those guys wanted a fast bike, and we have had a lot of winners. Those riders don’t want a bike that finishes sixth or 8^th at a race. Most of our riders get picked up by a factory team, be it Zach, Ferris, Max, Tonus, or whoever. When Max came to us, he said he wanted a bike he could show what he can do, even if it’s just one race or a few races. He didn’t want to power turned down and finish sixth. He said he would rather push a bike back to the pits than finish sixth.

MXLarge: The thing with Antonio and Jeffrey, if you had to bet your house on one of them for the championship, who would you put your house on?

Dixon: I wouldn’t do it, because I want a roof over my head. You have two guys, that are travelling incredibly fast and something can go wrong incredibly quick. Anything can happen, those two are just travelling at huge speeds. Also, the backmarkers, they need to be prepared for these guys.

MXlarge: You think we have ever seen anyone ride like this before?

Dixon: I don’t think we have.

MXLarge: Watching Herlings riding, I don’t think I have seen anyone ride like him, not DeCoster, not Everts, not Carmichael, not Stewart, not Cairoli. The way he rides a bike, so clean and so aggressive, hitting technical sections at full gas and just riding so nicely. I mean Carmichael was quick, but he was all over the place. What do you think?

Dixon: Sometimes Tony does?

MXlarge: Tony isn’t as quick as Jeffrey.

Dixon: No, but he is smarter.

MXlarge: Is he still?

Dixon: Raw speed, Jeffrey has it all, he is training hard and the guys now. I can say its my 29^th year and I have seen riders since 1990, but what they do now, they pick lines, travel at speed and of course they can use the bike a lot better now, and back in the day those guys didn’t train the same. It’s a different era, and like all sports, its moved forward. With improved knowledge of sports science the level of athletes are much higher.