Conrad Mewse of the Hitachi KTM Fuelled By Milwaukee Team picked up a sensational 1-1 result last weekend at the opening round of the British motocross championship. Mewse who has long been considered one of the shining lights in the MX2 class in England and continues to make progress on the GP scene is growing in confidence and self-belief, and many inside the GP paddock feel he has the potential to be a GP winner.

We caught up with the British MX2 champion and asked him about his victory last weekend and also his progress in the MX2 World championships.

MXLarge: Congratulation on your win last weekend. Can you explain the two races for me?

Mewse: First race we didn’t get off to a great start, just inside the top ten, but I made some quick passes in the first lap and got myself into second. When I got myself into second Gilbert who was leading had like 12 or 13 seconds on me. It was a struggle to catch him, but I was able to do that, pass him and then gap him, so that was good. The second race I got a better start, in like fifth or sixth. I was stuck in fourth for a while and trying to find a place where I could pass the guys in front of me. It was a difficult place to pass. I got into the lead and took the win, so 1-1 on the day was perfect and I got the red plate back, which was the goal.

MXlarge: It has been a bit of an up and down year so far, with good speed, some bad luck, and as I mentioned to you in Valkenswaard, I have never seen you ride as well as you did at Matterley. How did you feel that weekend?

Mewse: To be honest, that race in England, that is how I feel every week and that is a normal speed and I showed that in Valkenswaard and Trentino. I felt good and I was making good passes, but how I rode in Matterley, that is my normal speed now.

MXlarge: So how did you feel in Valkenswaard?

Mewse: The weekend started so well, I was 3rd fastest in free practice and 5th in timed practice. It was a solid start and my speed was promising. In race one I had a good start placing 10th out of the gate, I made progress up to 8th after lap one. Then at the start of lap 2, I couldn’t avoid a rider who crashed in front of me. This resulted in causing injury to myself and too much damage to my bike to continue. I had a disappointing start in race two, which resulted in me riding round out of the points and struggling to make any progress due the crash in race one.

MXlarge: And in Trentino it didn’t go well despite you looking quick.

Mewse: Obviously this had been a very disappointing weekend for me, but it was out of my hands. I proved that I had the speed and when things were going well they were going really well. But we had a couple of bike issues which cost me big time. The team has done a fantastic job with what we have and I’m going to keep fighting and pushing to finish where we derive to be.

MXlarge: How does your season feel so far, are you satisfied?

Mewse: I mean, obviously it hasn’t gone anywhere near as good as I wanted them to result wise. We had some problems with the bike, but we are in a great place at the moment. Some motor issues, but we have worked hard we are on top of that now and I can’t wait for the next GP.

MXlarge: I am terrible at seeing talent, be it an EMX guy, but that race in Matterley, I was surprised how good you looked and a lot of people mentioned that to me, how talented you are, but do you feel like you have upper your game from last year?

Mewse: No, definitely. I am in a much better place this year, with my speed and also mentally I am much stronger. We all saw at Matterley, I couldn’t have done that last year, but I am in a better place, we just need to put the last piece of the puzzle together and we will be away.

MXlarge: MX2 class is really a mini MXGP class now, and while Prado has an advantage over everyone, there are like 10 to 15 guys who could make the podium on a different weekend. You are obviously one of those guys, is the next goal a podium?

Mewse: I am not setting my goals that high at the minute, because I just want to get two consistent top ten finishes and then hopefully the goal for the podium will come later.

MXlarge: Did the bike issues from Matterley take any confidence?

Mewse: No, not at all, the bike is great. The last couple of weeks and it was just a freak accident at Matterley, not the team’s fault. Like I said, the bike is fantastic.

MXLarge: I can imagine the Maxxis is the priority at the moment or not?

Mewse: We want to get good GP results, but the main goal is to keep hold of the MX2 championship, but we also want to get good points on board in the Grand Prix’s and that is the future and something we need to focus on also.

MXlarge: So, what do you have coming up to Mantova in a months’ time?

Mewse: We have two weeks off now, so we will work hard and get my head ready for the next race. The weekends before Mantova we have a British race at Canada Heights and that will be a good preparation for the GP in Mantova.

Ray Archer images