Honda 114 rider Mitchell Evans claimed his second-best result of the season last weekend in the mud of Mantova. The Australian finished in fourth place with 8-6 results and while the conditions might not have been what an Aussie is used to, he showed amazing consistency and control despite having some bad luck and even a crash.

Evans who holds down eight place in the MX2 championship points and is just five points off seventh placed rider Calvin Vlaanderen on the factory HRC machine is looking to grow as a rider and continue to enjoy his debut season in Europe.

We caught up with the very friendly and professional Evans as he prepared for the Grand Prix of Portugal this coming weekend.

MXlarge: Obviously last weekend was very wet, have you had conditions like that in Australia before?

Evans: Probably not anything as deep as that. It is funny actually, because the first two rounds of this year’s Australian championships were like that (muddy), so I missed out on those. But nothing as deep as what I had in Mantova, so it was something new again.

MXlarge: I am not a racer, but it looked like it wasn’t much fun. Did you enjoy it?

Evans: I went out for free practice and went out with a big smile on my face. Even with how the motos went, crashing in the first moto and hitting the gate in the second one, I still had a lot of fun, in fact it was probably more fun in those conditions. At first you are like, I don’t want to get muddy, but then once you are muddy, its like being a little kid and you don’t care.

MXlarge: You made a lot of passes throughout the muddy races, you passed some guys riders, that must have felt great. You just missed out on the podium.

Evans: I know I got fourth overall, but points wise, there was a bit of a gap. Most of my passes were made in the first three laps, when I got the bad start and when I went down in the first turn, I just went for it. I thought it didn’t really matter if I crashed again, so I winged it pretty much. I tried different lines here and there and thankfully they paid off. Once the field spread out a little bit, I struggled with the track, because I went from the mentality of, I don’t care if I crash, to, I hope I don’t crash, because I was further up the positions.

MXlarge: Despite the conditions, you remained calm and you looked very smooth. A lot of people have mentioned how smooth you ride and even in the thick mud you looked good. I guess that is one of the positive things about being a smooth rider in those conditions.

Evans: It does for sure, but again, in qualification, when you need to put down one quick lap, I am still struggling, and Eric has told me I need to hang it out more. Maybe I need to let the bike go sideways here and there, get a bit looser. In those wet conditions, you need to be perfect with everything, because if you go off the line a little bit, you lose two seconds coming out of the turn, so everything has to be perfect.

MXlarge: It is funny, but last time I spoke with you it was after England, and the first three rounds were completely different. Now after the last two rounds, you again had totally different conditions from the hard pack in Trentino to the mud in Mantova. You have really seen the complete diverse tracks this year. Which one have you enjoyed the most?

Evans: I have enjoyed them all. Honestly, I have enjoyed all of them. I enjoy every weekend, they are all new tracks for me, and just being able to ride them and learn it what I am most stoked about. I had watched all the tracks on MXGP.tv before, so to be finally riding them and seeing what they are like in person is pretty cool. So, I am enjoying it when I am there.

MXlarge: I have spoken to a lot of Aussies, South Africans, New Zealanders, or Americans who have come here to race, and it seems the big secret in success is to really get into the culture of Europe. You seem to be enjoying that and taking it all in.

Evans: Yes, well, otherwise I go back home and go to university or I get a job, so what is there to complain about. I am living my dream, so you got to enjoy every moment of it, otherwise you would be miserable. I got nothing to complain about, I am having fun every day and I am loving life at the moment.

MXlarge: Have you had any down moments where you have missed home, or something has happened to make it difficult here?

Evans: No, not so much. I have been texting one of my good mates and he is pretty keen for me to come home, but otherwise everything has been going pretty well. Actually, my mum went back to Australia the other week and she has been sending me photos of my dog, that’s making me miss my little girl a lot. It is all good, I will see them at the end of the year.

MXlarge: You said you have looked at the Grand Prix tracks online, and Portugal is the next one. It is a really beautiful track, nice tacky clay, that should be a nice one for you.

Evans: Yes, definitely. Last year the track was very technical and rutty due to the rain, while years before it looked more hard pack. I am interested to see what it will be like, they have had some rain this week, so it should be rough and technical. The layout of the track looks really cool.

MXlarge: You went through some injuries after Argentina. How are you physically now?

Evans: Everything is pretty much back on track now. I did hurt my thumb at a French round, the week after Arco and that is still giving me a bit of trouble, but nothing too serious, just a bit of strapping taping it up and its good to go. Pretty much back to 100%.

MXlarge: Have you spoken to anybody about next year yet, or is that something you are not busy with at the moment?

Evans: No, not really. Just really focused on bettering myself and bettering the bike and I think before we talk about next year, I need to get some better results. That is where my focus is at the moment.

MXlarge: You made the podium in Argentina, which happened very quickly. I know we spoke after Argentina and you mentioned your goal was to be consistent. Has that changed in the last two months?

Evans: The goal was to be top five overall, every weekend. Since getting on the podium in Argentina, you obviously want to get back on that podium. So that is the goal now and I think I can achieve that, and I am really hungry to get back on it.

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