Tanel Leok interview

TM Ricci Racing rider Tanel Leok hasn’t had the best of starts to the season. With a knee injury he picked up in the off-season the Estonian rider will have to work hard to stay competitive for the opening few rounds of the MXGP Championship.

Leok is 13^th in the MXGP points standings after the opening round in Qatar and will want to improve on that when the riders are finished with the three overseas rounds in Qatar, Thailand and Brazil.

Q: Tanel, I heard you have a problem with your knee?

Leok: Yes, I have a knee injury. It happened before Christmas at a track in Estonia. I was riding and just twisted it. I went to the doctor and they made pictures, but you couldn’t see anything. Then I went to Sardinia to ride for a week with the team, and it didn’t feel good, in fact it felt really bad, and I went to Belgium and had another look by another doctor and they found that I had it dislocated and it didn’t go back in the right place and the ligament was torn and I had an operation and they cleaned it all up. That was four weeks ago, but I haven’t had much time on the bike, just riding two weeks. I am struggling a little bit, not enough time on the bike.

Leok: It is hard to know how good it is at the moment, but we taped it, but I lose feeling in my toes, and it is not 100%, because I can’t bend it and it gives pain, and if I twist it again it will also be very painful. I will take a few weeks before it feels okay, but that is the life of a Motocross rider.

Q: Obviously lacking time on the bike makes it difficult to get your testing done. How is the new bike?

Leok: The bike is good, engine is good and the suspension is good, but we are behind. I need to get through the first two rounds and try and get as many points as possible. Just make some little changes to the bike to make it easier to ride for my style.