HRC rider Mitch Evans had a very mixed 2020. A sensational moto performance at the opening round in England, where he battled for a third place finish in the opening moto of the season, and even started making ground on Jeffrey Herlings at one point showed what was possible, but he also picked up two injuries, one just before the postponement of the championship and then another after the return.

When he did come back from his shoulder injury, he started making progress, scoring three top four moto finishes and was looking likely to get close to the top three again, when another injury ended his season, this time a wrist injury.

Now back in Australia and sitting in a 14 day quarantine with his girlfriend we thought we would give him a call. All ready to prepare to enjoy some family time around Christmas and spend time with his mate, the Aussie charger sat down and chatted with us about his season and what’s up down under.

MXlarge: Are you back in Australia mate?

Evans: Yes mate, in quarantine in Perth.

MXlarge: Was Perth the cheapest quarantine?

Evans: Yes, I think so, but we could only get a flight to Perth.

MXlarge: How is that 14-day quarantining?

Evans: Yep, it is a bit of a rollercoaster. Some days go really fast and some days last forever.

MXlarge: Do you just stay in the room or can you hang around different parts of the hotel?

Evans: No mate, just in the room, and they bring food to you. Can’t even open a window.

MXlarge: I was thinking of going back, but its too expensive. How was your trip cost wise?

Evans: Well, we could only get a business class flight, so that alone was 4000euro, and then quarantine cost 3300 Australian dollars for two of us. We now have to fly to the East Coast once we are out of here, so more expenses.

MXLarge: Did you think about not going back, because of the cost?

Evans: Yes, I did, but we have no family in Europe, and the time frame and with the season starting a month later we get two months at home and it makes it worth it when you have no family or friends in Europe to do Christmas with and what-not. It is worthwhile to come back and spend time with family.

MXLarge: So how is the time frame now, what will you be up to in Australian and when do you have to come back to Europe?

Evans: So, basically, we get out of quarantine on Sunday and then I will fly to Brisbane and then to Cairns to see family. I will spend a week at home then see a surgeon in Brisbane to get some x-rays and check out the wrist and hopefully get the green light to start riding again. So, I will do some riding in December and January, then head back to Europe at the end of January.

MXlarge: You obviously started the season on fire, and I think you probably could have continued that form from Matterley had you not hurt yourself. How do you look back at the season?

Evans: I completely agree with you. Even if I didn’t get shoulder surgery, I believe if we came back for Spain, I would have been right at the top there, but I definitely underestimated what the shoulder surgery took away from me. I thought I was okay coming into Latvia and it took a bit of time to get back and I started getting a roll-on in Spain and then that was disappointing to end the season with another injury, because I felt like I was coming into my best form again.

MXlarge: Those first two rounds in England and Holland, they seemed fast, but once everyone came back for Latvia and the following five or six rounds, the speed from everyone was just crazy. How did that feel?

Evans: Yes, the first two rounds wasn’t so bad, because I had done the Italian championship round and came in with some confidence and felt I belonged up there. Latvia really surprised me, and they were on another level there and that track you need to take big risks to go fast and I wasn’t in shape to do that. If I took those risks, I would have ended up on the deck again. It was really frustrating because my cardio was good, I was riding around with my heartrate 10 to 15 beats lower than what is normally should be in a race, but I just couldn’t hold on from my upper-body and that was so frustrating. To know I could push so much harder, and not be able to do it, and even more so because those guys were really pushing harder.

MXLarge: I was speaking to Jeremy Seewer and he finished second in the World ahead of all these guys who are multiple World champion and GP winners. Do you think about that at all, that these guys have so many results and somebody like he can do it, so why not you?

Evans: I don’t really look at other riders, I don’t compare, I just tell myself I can be there and once you get results you don’t compare to others and you get the confidence.

MXLarge: I know it’s a long way off, but do you know what you guys will do for the pre-season, maybe the Italian races again?

Evans: I am pretty sure we always do the Italian championship, and they are important before the season. If we don’t, we will just do some others, depends what the MXGP schedule looks like also.

MXlarge: The calendar is out; have you look at it?

Evans: I took a quick look, and I didn’t look too far past the first round, so I could plan for what I do in December and January. It is back to the two-day format correct.

MXlarge: Yep, that is correct.

Evans: That will be interesting, and I will be interested to see if we are able to do that. A full season or if we have to do the overseas, still a lot of questions everyone has.

MXlarge: I guess you can’t talk about the length of your contract, but is it a contact that is result based?

Evans: I guess they are all results based, and if you are not getting results any team will drop you really. I have a couple of years with that contract, so I am not too worried and can do what I need to do and can just concentrate on getting good results.

Bavo Swijgers images