GasGas factory rider Pauls Jonass is working hard again in the winter and recovering from his injury riddled 2020 season. The former MX2 World champion also changed teams from the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna effort to the GasGas factory team. We caught up with him and asked him how life for a motocross rider in the European winter is.

MXLarge: Obviously you had Christmas, how do you do that in Latvia?

Jonass: I was actually in Belgium for Christmas, what with the Corona restrictions and everything. The travel isn’t easy, and I decided to stay in Belgium and the weather wasn’t best, but I spent a Christmas with the people in Belgium and that wasn’t so bad.

MXlarge: I saw you got a trails bike from GasGas, was that a surprise and how has it been having a trails bike?

Jonass: They told me I was going to get it, so I was just waiting for it to arrive. I was doing some trails with Harry and Liam, and it was fun. I used to do it together with Stefan when I was with KTM and we went in the winter, but it was more like Enduro riding. We went to a real trial track and it was fun learning some tricks from the guys there.

MXlarge: Harry isn’t getting any younger, how is he on a trials bike now?

Jonass: He was struggling. When he came back, he said his wrist and body was hurting. I think the last time he rode a trials bike was maybe 10 or even 20 years ago. When we went riding, he couldn’t even close his boots, so it was funny. He hasn’t been riding for a while.

MXlarge: You are obviously GasGas now and you have been a KTM, Husqvarna and now GasGas factory rider, so you have been right through the Austrian family. Does it feel like a big change, or some ways not such a big change?

Jonass: For sure not, I mean all the teams were completely different. I was with KTM and it was different from IceOne and now GasGas and it is a change, but the good thing is the bikes are not completely different, so I can step on another bike and I don’t need too much time to get used to it.

MXLarge: I remember asking you when you moved from KTM to Husky how different it was and you said there was some differences, so how is the difference from Husky to GasGas?

Jonass: I would say it isn’t really close, some things are similar some are different, but even when the plastics are different it feels to ride. Overall, the feeling on the bike is different than Husky and I really like it. Training is different to racing and once we start racing, I will know if I like it or not. So far, I am really happy with the GasGas. It is a good step, and we are making good progress.

MXLarge: I mean it is January and you guys might be racing in a month. It is amazing how quickly it goes, because it feels like it is too early to be getting too serious. Where would you be at this time of the year?

Jonass: For sure, for me, it was different to others, because I missed a lot of riding in 2020 and I was a month off the bike and riding in the middle of November. Physically I feel really good and I need to ride the bike and get used to everything. It will take some time to be 100%, and I don’t need to be ready and we still have three months, so no stress and we take step by step and not rushing anything.

MXlarge: You must be sick of rebuilding as you have had to do that a few times now. You have shown glimpses on the 450 what you can do, and then you have to restart. Do you get sick of that or just stay motivated?

Jonass: You know, for me it doesn’t really matter. When you get time off from injury then you come back, and you enjoy the training more and rebuilding. When I was laying in bed in the hospital or even the rehab, it is boring and when I could start doing my physical, I could do hard training, but nothing compared to riding. I am just enjoying the process and I forget all the bad things.

MXLarge: Obviously 2020 was a crazy year and you didn’t go through a lot of it, because you missed so many rounds. I guess in some way a lot of guys will need to get used to a normal year again. How do you look back on those triple headers and stuff?

Jonass: You know, for the riders nothing compared to racing and I just did two races, so it will be difficult for me to get into racing mode when the racing starts, but that is part of racing and the other guys will need to get used to the two day format, but that won’t be a big change and seeing the situation we don’t know what the season will look like and maybe we do have to do three in a row again.

MXlarge: You know the pre-season is just a month away. Do you know yet what races you will do in the pre-season?

Jonass: Yes, the mid-season races start in mid-February, but we haven’t made the final plan yet for the pre-season, which races I do, because with the situation and everything we don’t know when the season starts. We will do some races before the season starts.

MXlarge: What about the calendar?

Jonass: I like the calendar and when I look at it, I hope it goes like that, and if it stays like this then everything will be fine. It wasn’t easy for anyone to do the three races in a row and also for the fans watching from television at home. I think as far as the calendar goes, I am happy if we just race at different tracks and not the same track for a whole week.