Steve Dixon interview

Steve Dixon always runs a tight ship and his Bike It Yamaha team are very much looking at making 2014 another success story. With Max Anstie starting the season in great form, and shocking many people with his speed, Dixon never questioned his riders’ chances in the FIM MX2 World Championship.

Dixon believes a good winter for Anstie and the right preparation meant that his young rider arrived in Qatar and Thailand with a lot of confidence.

Q: Steve, your team, more importantly Max Anstie, came into the opening two rounds of the FIM MX2 World Championships on fire. How was the preparation for those first two rounds?

Dixon: We did a lot of riding in October and November and we were meant to go to America, but Max’s granddad got sick and Max lives with his granddad and didn’t want to leave him. We still found places to ride and it was a good winter for us.

Q: Pretty clear Max likes the bike he rode in those first two rounds.

Dixon: Max loves the bike, he has also enjoyed the standard 2014 YZ, it’s really good, and he rode the 450 a lot also, and he rides that well as well.

Q: Why the 450?

Dixon: He just wanted to ride when it was really muddy, so he had good speed. Sometimes the tracks were too wet on the 250, and it is easier on a 450. They also went to Spain and France and got good testing in for suspension and stuff. We could have done with another month of testing before the season started, but that wasn’t possible.

Q: What did you expect from Max before the season started?

Dixon: We wanted to be battling at the top, and I knew Max could run at the front. We didn’t want sixth, seventh or 8th, we wanted podiums and that is what our team is used to with guys like Arnaud, Zach and Dean, and that is still the plan for 2014.

Q: I am sure Max was more than happy with the bike he rode in Qatar and Thailand, and obviously you guys started the season with the 2013 bike, which was considered by many even quicker than the 250 KTM. Why was that?

Dixon: The bike is a lot different to the bike (Suzuki) he rode in 2013. He had ridden Dean’s bike in the pre-season, and could see why Dean had the season he had in 2013. The problem with the new 2014 bike is it is new, and it takes time to develop. We knew what we had in 2013 and while the 2014 standard bike is better than the 2013 standard bike, it takes a lot to get to where we were with the bike of Dean.

Q: As for Rui Gonçalves, what do you expect from him? The MXGP class is tough.

Dixon: Every year we say MX1/MXGP is difficult, but everyone can get good results. I mean look at Kevin Strijbos and Shaun Simpson, those guys showed it is possible to get good results, coming back from struggling a little. Of course Cairoli is leading the way and everyone needs to raise their game to get near him. I think the MXGP class is about being fast, but to get a good position in the World rankings you need to finish every race. We have to aim for a top five with Rui. We need inspiration from Rui to get results like he has had in the past. He is only 28 and if you look at Chad Reed you need to use your experience and be smart. I would say we would like around fifth to 8^th with Rui, but of course we couldn’t have expected that in the first couple of rounds, but later in the season that is possible I think.

Q: Finally, the MXGP of Great Britain has changed dates and will now run on the weekend of May 24 and 25. Why is that and what is the positives of changing the date?

Dixon: The British MXGP has changed the date yes, that is true, it is earlier in the year now. There isn’t any negatives about changing the date. I mean weather could be a problem, but in UK that is always a danger. The traditional GP date is in May, that is how it was when they ran at Foxhills in the 1990s. I think the track will be better in May, because it will be moister, give more grip. Also championships had been decided in the past (when the British GP was run in August) and now in May that won’t be the case.

Author:

Geoff Meyer