2001, I remember it well. Walking the paddock at the season opening Grand Prix of Spain at the Bellpuig circuit. I came across the two young Aussies (Chad Reed and Andrew McFarlane) in the paddock, they had been signed to race for the factory Kawasaki and Yamaha teams for the MX2 and MX1 championships.

What struck me was the coolness of Reed, who as a GP rookie oozed confidence, and despite an injured thumb, was saying how it wouldn’t be a problem and gave me the old no worries mate, and walked off.

I remember walking away thinking, what an arrogant kid that Reed guy was. Later that weekend and Reed had finished eight in the 250 overall, a brilliant result for a GP novice. The next round Reed would score no points, and again the lesson on taking your time, and being patient started to sink in. Slowly, but surely Reed would build, eventually scoring some podiums and then finally, with one GP to go, would win the Grand Prix of Netherlands in the deep sand of Lierop. He finished second in the World, flew to America and of course, the rest is history.

At the opening round of this years MX2 championship I got to meet another young Australia, Mitchell Evans. Now while Evans is clearly more humble (or realistic) than what Reed was, there was something about Evans that reminded me of that young Chad Reed back in 2001. An inner confidence that you don’t see in every rider. A calmness in the eye of the upcoming storm and that typical Australian attitude of, no worries.

Now Evans, who started his Grand Prix career with a brilliant podium in round one in Argentina and has struggled with injuries since, is a very special rider. Sitting eight in the MX2 championship points probably doesn’t really show just how good this kid is, and I am 100% confidence, within the next couple of months, everyone will be singing his praises and a factory ride will be just around the corner.

Last weekend at the very tricky Trentino circuit, the Australian finish with a very comfortable 6-7, and while that might not be what the 114 Motorsports Honda rider was looking for, it was a tremendous performance under the circumstances and around one of the really tricky circuits on the World scene.

We caught up with Evans yesterday and asked him about these first four rounds and what he expects in the coming months.

MXlarge: Mitchell, first of all, how are you, because I know you have had a bunch of injuries since Argentina?

Evans: The weekend was tough, but now I feel really good. I had some stitches in my elbow and I got them out Saturday afternoon at the track. As soon as they came out my arm felt way better. Every time I tried to straighten my elbow the stitches would pull on my skin and on the cut and it was kind of painful. All my burns are sort of healed up. I tweaked my knee on Saturday, but if feels pretty good now. If I twist it like I did on the weekend it will probably give me trouble again, but I am surprised considering how sore it was on Sunday, that is isn’t too bad now.

MXLarge: You started the championship on fire with that podium in Argentina, in some ways maybe that came too quickly, then obviously the long break, which wasn’t great after such a good result in the opening round, and then you had three GPs in a row, carrying injuries, so it has been a pretty tough introduction into the series hasn’t it. A bit messy the first four rounds?

Evans: Yes, it has, but I mean, I kind of expected that. After Argentina I sat on the couch for two weeks, because my whole knee was swollen, from an infection. The last five weeks training has been hot and cold, one day I can train, the next I couldn’t. I pretty much just survived those three rounds. From sitting on the couch I could tell me fitness wasn’t like it was in Argentina, and I am happy to get through those three rounds without picking up a major injury. It is good to be back into the routine now and have a break and get back into the fitness I had in Argentina.

MXLarge: Having sat on the couch for two weeks, then arriving at Matterley, and you showed good speed, despite you having issues there. The one moto where you rode in front of the leaders (nearly getting lapped) and they couldn’t catch you, you must have been happy with that?

Evans: Yes, it did, but like I said, in free practice and time qualification I was a lot higher than I was in Argentina. My times were not that good in Argentina, but I felt comfortable, but at Matterley Basin, I didn’t feel comfortable all week. I believe that came from the fact I had only three days on the bike before England, but really only the last day was a decent day, because the first two times I rode the knee would get really sore. That last day it was a decent day. Matterley, I kind of felt off all weekend, but that first moto, again, it didn’t surprise me. My mind set in that race was I needed to stay in front of the leaders as long as possible, and once we start lapping people, they might think I was with the leaders and move over for me, but when the track is two minutes 30 long, you don’t lap anyone. I think in the end I was the only rider to get lapped.

MXlarge: Four rounds and four completely different tracks. Was it what you expected?

Evans: If is funny, because the first three rounds, I had watched those rounds on television before and I expected them to be more open, but they were pretty tight, so when I went to Trentino, I said to myself, it will be tighter than you expect and nothing really surprised me. I think the tracks have been cool and I have liked every single one of them. Nothing like anything in Australia.

MXlarge: In saying that, as a International rookie, it must be pretty mouth watering to know how many cool tracks you will visit in the next few months?

Evans: Absolutely. Before we have had just one weekend to improve ourselves against these guys, at World Junior championships or MXoN, so now going racing every weekend, it is awesome. Even riding during the week, I am learning a lot. I am trying to just enjoy every moment and learn as much as I can.

MXlarge: Speaking to people in the paddock, you have made a very good impression, a lot of people seem to like your attitude and also your qualifies as a rider. Has there been interest from teams about your future?

Evans: I haven’t spoken to anyone about next year. Because of the injury in Argentina I just want to focus on getting healthy and getting back into training. We have a job to do for this year.

Evans: We have a French championship race this weekend in the North of France and then spend a few weeks in Belgium and then the next French round and then onto Mantova. We want to keep racing, like everyone else does. In Australia we don’t race as much as these guys, and that is why you develop so much faster here, because racing is a lot better than just pounding out laps at the practice track.

MXlarge: I was actually looking through Chad Reeds results the year he raced the World championships and he started with an eight place, then scored no points in the second round. Slowly throughout the year he built, getting podiums and even a GP win before he left for America. I think for a lot of riders coming from Australia, or New Zealand, or South Africa, or a long way away, it is a pretty quick learning curve. So that building process was also for Reed. Is that how you see it, to slowly build and get stronger and stronger?

Evans: Yes, for sure. Your mind has to be in it every weekend. Even training during the week, you can’t get too excited and over do it. We have a lot of racing and a racing weekend is busy, with a lot of riding and you get pretty tired from it all, and it wears on you mentally but also physically. When I got the call to come over, I just started training really hard, and I felt really good in December and January and then it went a bit downhill, because you just run out of energy. You just wear yourself out pretty much, so that is also important to do that correctly. That is something I need to learn and get better at, and I need to keep it fun during the weekend, because that will help also.