Tommy Searle interview

Posted on September 16, 2021

Crendon Fastrack Honda rider Tommy Searle is very much a rider who has an unlimited amount of talent. His Grand Prix career might not have brought him a World title, but in a career of Antonio Cairoli and Jeffrey Herlings, it wasn’t an easy job to score World titles. He is however the most successful British rider of the last couple of decades with a dozen GP victories and some very strong MXoN performances.

Now in the twilight of his career Searle is juggling a family life with a small child and a partner and his new role as the man in British Motocross. Having won the 2020 British MX1 title, he came into 2021 as the favourite, but had something of a rollercoaster season.

It wasn’t until he had a hurry up from his team manager and three-time World 500cc champion Dave Thorpe that he went to work. Spend a lot of time working on his bike set-up and suddenly, once again, Tommy Searle was the man to beat in the British motocross championship.

Wrapping up the titles last weekend, we caught up with the always funny, and honest Brit and talked about the victory, Team GB and a lot more.

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MXlarge: Firstly, congratulation on your British championship win. How was it compared to your other championships?

Searle: It was nice. It is nice to win a British championship, but it isn’t life changing (laughing). It is my job and that is why I am employed by Honda. I think there was some disappointment this year that I haven’t been winning as much, so to get the job done was good. I rose to the occasion and that was nice, because a lot of the races I wasn’t the fastest guy. We did a lot of work before hand, and it was nice to see it pay off.

MXlarge: You have a small family, and you don’t do the GP’s anymore, that must be difficult to make that transition and obviously motocross can’t be your main focus when you have a wife and child?

Searle: It isn’t difficult, but it is hard to find the balance, because I don’t put 100% of my time just into motocross. When I was 17 or 18 it was 100%, you were eating sleeping, training and it was your whole life. I was resting and able to train harder and you didn’t have a kid pulling you around the house. When I wasn’t training, I just sat on the couch. That side is different, and you don’t have the edge, but what I found when I put the extra work in, I got the edge back and I think a lot of people were surprised. Many had Harri tipped to win it, because he rode brilliant all year, hats off to Harri, but mentally, I don’t get down about results now. When you put 100% in, and it doesn’t go right, it ruins you, but now I don’t let that happen. I put the effort in, and I still want it, but it’s different now.

MXlarge: So, for this last round, you were maybe more motivated or prepared and is that something you now take into 2022?

Searle: Definitely, I will take that on. It really showed and the team stepped up. They have done a great job all year, but they stepped up also in this period. Ryan (Thorpe) came out testing, we did more starts, we did that extra little bit. The percentages came from everywhere. I also changed the bike for the last round. The last four weeks we made improvements. It is a new bike and the way I set it up (pre-season), because we were doing some testing on flat tracks and the UK tracks for racing get pretty rough and up and down hills and we didn’t do much testing on tracks like that. I knew it wasn’t right, but I didn’t know how to fix it. We made some changes, but with the new Honda it works great now, and the extra work paid off. We made a big change suspension also and with Ryan, we fixed it.

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MXlarge: How many championships do you have in England?

Searle: Just three, because I was often doing the GPs and not the British. There was one that I was leading by 50 points, and I just didn’t go to another round, because I was focusing on the GPs. When I was in my prime, I didn’t focus on the British championships.

MXlarge: Do you do anything now until next season?

Searle: No, I don’t think so. There is Weston, but I don’t think I am going to do that. There isn’t a lot going on and it has been a short season for me. I want to focus on the YouTube stuff a little in the winter. I see the sponsors like it, and I don’t think Dave (Thorpe) is a big fan and I stopped the vlogging leading up to the last round. I believe I can do both and I will build it up in the coming month and I will enjoy doing that.

MXlarge: I noticed in the press release for last weekend Dave mentioned what a talent you are. It must be nice to get compliments from somebody of Dave’s status.

Searle: I think he wasn’t so complimentary with a couple of rounds to go (laughing).

Mxlarge: He told you to pull your finger out?

Searle: Yes, I don’t think he was best pleased. The thing with the 450’s, they are so powerful and if you are not feeling comfy, you can’t race it. It is as simple as that and it was my doing, because of the way I set the bike up and I just wasn’t comfy in races. I couldn’t push, so it looks like I am just riding around the track, which I was, but I just couldn’t push any harder because I don’t feel comfortable. Once we fixed a few things with the bike, I was okay again and felt great. I was much quicker in the first race last weekend, and I haven’t done that all season. Dave thought I wasn’t putting the effort in, but I was and do. Although I said I don’t put 100% in, I do, but I also have a family. I can’t kick the kid out of the way and go to the track. I have found making the changes for the last race will help me next year. We put in 100% and I was totally focused, and the days were structured, and I will take that into 2022.

MXlarge: I know you were not too bothered if you were selected for Team Great Britain but going by your results you could easily have been in the team. What is your opinion on the team?

Searle: At the time when the team was picked, I was leading the championship, but Shaun was getting faster, and he had a slow start to the season. One round we did, the track was similar to Mantova, and he was faster than me there, I didn’t do that well. Mark called me and I get on great with Mark Chamberlain and he asked me how I felt and that he wanted to put Shaun in, and I totally agreed, and I wasn’t even feeling like I wanted to go. At that point it was like that, maybe now I am more up for it, but Shaun, Ben and Conrad will be great, and I hope Conrad shows his British form at World level.

MXlarge: Last question, you mentioned you want to do more on your YouTube stuff, and I know a lot of people love it, because you have a great personality. What do you think people have learnt about you from doing those vlogs?

Searle: I don’t know. I am easy going and somebody like you, you already know it, because you have spoken to me a lot, but a lot of people see me at the races, and they don’t see anything really. They see you sitting in your tent in a mood, because you had a bad race, or they see you in your prime and focused, but they don’t see who you really are. They might think I am arrogant, and people get an impression of you that isn’t true. I am pretty normal, and people relate to that, and they enjoy watching. In this sport you don’t see what goes on. They see it when you are racing, but not much else. Even speaking to sponsors like Monster, they like it, they want me to do it. There is a fine line, because you do a lot on social media and you get the results you are a legend, if you do a lot of social media and don’t get results, you need to focus. As a rider you don’t want to overstep the mark and I think people enjoy it and the more riders who get involved the better. 

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