A major shift occurred for MX1 title contender Nathan Crawford between the Wonthaggi and Canberra ProMX rounds, with the Queenslander making a high-profile move from KTM Racing Team to the newly-formed MotoCoach Elite Racing Honda program. In this Conversation feature, Crawford speaks candidly about the switch and his expectations entering Gillman this weekend.

Image: Foremost Media.

Nathan, thanks for taking the time to chat. We saw a big change for you between the Wonthaggi and Canberra rounds – ultimately seeing you on board the MotoCoach Elite Racing CRF450R. Talk about how the second round shook down with the new bike and team.

Yeah, so obviously, as you said, plenty of things looked a lot different from round one to round two. I mean, going in, I guess there were a lot of unknowns – I was on a new bike with new people, and there were a few things that kind of stayed the same, too. But, I guess the big unknown was how it was all going to go in a racing situation. I knew how I felt during the week and obviously really enjoyed the bike, so yeah, I guess the only question mark I had on the whole deal was putting the situation – from team, to people, to bike, to engine – all in a racing scenario, you know what I mean? It’s easy to do as many laps as you want around the practice track and feel good, but until you go and race, you really start to uncover a lot of things. To be honest, to get out there and, you know, even in qualifying the first session of the weekend, I was basically second behind Jed [Beaton] until I think it was like 10 or 20 seconds to go, and Kyle [Webster] got me. But even then, like I was on the same second, same tenth as Kyle and, you know, [that’s] someone who’s been on a Honda for pretty much his whole career. As soon as that first session was out of the way, it was a big relief off my shoulders.

Were you surprised to be that good immediately? That was a lot different to say, how things went at round one – but you were also pretty vocal that you were a long way off where you needed to be at Wonthaggi. So, was that a case of you being more of a shell of yourself at the opener?

Yeah, I was very much not riding to my potential [at Wonthaggi]. There are a lot of things that went into it that, you know, probably I won’t go into too much detail, but, like, I felt like I’d done a lot of preparation myself and done a lot of training and all that sort of thing, and I just knew going in that it was not going to be ideal. And, you know, just for me, I can only speak for myself, I just decided that my safety was more important to me, and I would have kicked myself if I had gotten hurt when I felt as uncomfortable as I did, you know? So yeah, there were a lot of things that went down, but I knew that there would be a big jump from Wonthaggi to Canberra. I knew that Wonthaggi wasn’t even a fifth of how I can ride. So I knew that if I was comfortable, my fitness and my body and my training and all that sort of stuff were up to par. So I knew that if I felt comfortable on the bike, it wasn’t really too much of a question for me. But it’s hard to say, you know, it’s easy for me to sit here and say that now because I backed myself. But at the same time, with how rushed everything was and how quickly we turned everything around, it could have really easily gone really bad, and it didn’t. I was quite happy with the first outing, and I think it’s really only going to get better from here. The bike already feels like it’s in a better position than Canberra. I rode on a completely standard shock out of the showroom for Canberra and still went as well as I did. And that shock was a long way off, but it was just the fact that that was what I’d spent so much time on already – what I was familiar with – and I didn’t want to go race on something I hadn’t put enough time on.

You talk about that move in between rounds, and there was a lot of talk. I feel like the consensus was that if it didn’t go well immediately, it was almost a bit of a bust. It turns out that you did succeed on the Honda from the outset. Does it feel good to prove those words wrong?

Yeah, definitely. I mean, to be honest, I couldn’t really give a shit what people think, to be quite honest. I knew that if Canberra was a fail, how bad it would have looked, but that doesn’t, in my mind, that doesn’t mean it was a bust because in motorsport, there’s just way too many variables that can go into having a bad weekend. So, you know, thankfully it wasn’t that, and it was good aside from that last moto – we just had an unlucky mechanical failure with a clutch that was out of my hands, and out of anyone who worked on my bike’s hands as well. We’ve rectified that situation, but yeah, I guess like, I put that pressure on myself anyway, regardless of what anybody thought, you know? For myself, it was more or less to prove that I wasn’t the problem. To prove it to myself – you know, I don’t owe anyone anything. I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, they don’t pay my bills – I just wanted to prove to myself that the struggles I was having, like, I knew it wasn’t me who’d lost my touch or changed the way I was riding or even, you know, getting towards [one of] the older guys in the freaking class. I just wanted to prove to myself that I wasn’t out of my mind, so to speak, and what I was feeling…What I was struggling with was a real thing. I did that for myself, and then, in turn, I guess, in the background, it automatically proves to everybody that what I was talking about was a real thing.

It was a way to clear your name in a sense of being the problem, which, honestly, was a narrative that was out there. Maybe not the main one, but at least one that was somewhat present.

Yeah, well, dude – I had, I think, maybe a week and a half to two weeks on a red bike before Canberra. It’s like…that’s what I mean when I say the recipe was there for it to be disastrous. You know, I had maybe six or seven rides on a Honda…

Image: Foremost Media.

Your back was almost a little bit up against the wall, but I mean, some people thrive off that.

I knew that, but at the same time, there was a sense of confidence. Like, as soon as I got on the bike and I came to the tracks that I spent January, February, and most of March riding on an orange bike, as soon as I got to the same tracks on the Honda and felt what I felt, I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, you know, this is it.’ I knew what I was feeling, you know, and straight away, the people that I ride with during the week, my speed [in comparison] was really good, if not better than what it was almost immediately. And, for the first portion of the red journey I’ve been on, I was on standard forks and [a] standard shock off the showroom floor, and, like, being one of the fastest dudes on the track, you know what I mean? As soon as I start getting up and running and get some good suspension, which I’ve now got, and all this sort of stuff, I just know that it’ll be good.

Yeah, for sure. And then with this new move, why Honda? Why MotoCoach? And how did it all come together?

So look, I guess from my point of view, I had to look at the whole situation as, ‘Where am I going to get the most support?’ Basically, it was a lot to do with logistics. It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, you know, yeah, let’s go jump on a Yamaha, this and that,’ but it’s like, ‘Okay, how am I going to get my bike to the track? Who’s going to pay for my entries? Who’s going to pay for my travel?’ There are so many things involved, and I knew all of that straight away. And Yarrive [Konsky] has been super helpful with being able to get some bikes out of Honda – I’ve got nothing to do with his team, so to speak – he’s just helping me from Honda Australia’s standpoint, you know, getting some bikes and whatnot. And Leigh from MotoCoach, how that actually came about was my suspension guy does the suspension for that entire team, and he said, ‘Dude, Leigh would have a grin from ear to ear if someone like you were to become available or want to be around his team.’ He’s got a good amount of support with an investor, and she’s awesome. I’ve met her. I’ve met everybody on the team now. It’s basically… I don’t want to say full factory team, but it’s a team where I have zero outgoings. So, that was a defining part for me.

We knew towards the back end of last year that you might’ve had a bit of interest from Yarrive and the Honda Racing program, but what’s his involvement in this deal? Is he sort of that intermediary between you and Honda, or do you get parts from his outfit?

He’s literally just helping me out with organising some bikes from Honda. So, yeah, I get my own engines done and this and that. If I’m to order some spare parts for my practice bike – say some chains and sprockets and shit, just cosmetic stuff, we do that through Honda, but yeah, he’s very much just helping me have that connection with Honda. I’m not getting any freakin’ shit thrown out the back door or getting all this crazy stuff – it’s not like that, you know? I’m very much on my own program that’s set up through Leigh and Dan from MXRP, and, you know, engines and all that are done up here in Queensland. So yeah, Yarrive’s helped me get some bikes through Honda, and he’s been super supportive. Without him, we probably wouldn’t have been able to get up and going as quickly as we did, so that was massive from his side of things.

So, we know you have a pretty close relationship with Factory Spec Suspension – I feel like you have had that throughout your whole career, including last year. But when you talk about this off-season or pre-season – that discomfort – where and what was it that went askew?

So, yeah, I had the same suspension guy last year when I had a successful season. You know, and then we rolled over into this year to make some changes that were to benefit us and the bike. And I don’t know, man, it just…I’m not really sure to be honest with you because, and that’s not me trying to like hide anything. It’s literally like we went back to stuff that I used last year, and I actually can’t tell you where the problem came from. And that’s because he and I dissected what we could to crazy amounts. I’m not going to say too much about the whole KTM side of things because I have a lot of respect for Kyle [Blunden] and we still have, actually, a really good relationship. Everyone thinks it’s this crazy, toxic ending, and the bloke still called me on Monday after freakin’ Canberra, and we spoke on the phone for 20 minutes. We still have such a good relationship outside of business. It’s like, yeah, it’s just for some reason it didn’t work out. But it wasn’t like I just gave up. I put in a lot of effort, like a lot, a lot of effort. So did Kenny [Wheeler] and, you know, so did Kyle as well. I don’t want to say it’s just one-sided, but for some reason, it just didn’t work out, and that was kind of it.

How hard is it mentally to come into a season knowing that you’re not in the position or place you need – is that a tough thing to be looking down the barrel at?

Yeah, for sure. I’ve, you know, I’ve done plenty of pre-seasons in my career – I’m bloody 28 years old now – and this was definitely the hardest one for sure. I was putting in a lot, and I was digging myself out of a hole, too, a mental hole. I’d pick myself up off the ground, metaphorically, I’d pick myself up off the ground and, you know, come back with a fresh head on my shoulders and just keep going and keep going and keep going. And, you know, obviously, at that point when it just wasn’t working out, and we were getting closer to the first round, it was tough. It was tough. This was my own thing, this has nothing to do with KTM – [but] I wasn’t enjoying going to the track. I wasn’t excited to go to the track. And it was just a shitty feeling, to be honest with you, because I knew deep down that I wanted to just go to the track and have a fun day of riding. In my head, I knew that it wasn’t the sport [that I was over], I just wanted to go and enjoy myself for a day, and I just couldn’t. Mentally, it was hard, but I don’t know, as I said, in the end it just didn’t work out, and I think it was just time for me to look at what was important and make a change, I guess.

Image: Foremost Media.

With this Honda program, as well as everything that’s gone on and also how good you were last year, is it a relief to wind up in a place you want to be at, and achieve that comfort again?

I’m definitely enjoying myself at the track again, and it just relieves a lot of tension in the areas of my life that have nothing to do with bikes, too, you know? It’s very easy, you know, and I’m the perfect example – I did it to myself and didn’t even realise it until I got too deep in it, but other parts of my life, areas of my life were just struggling, you know, because I was so consumed in what I was trying to do. That’s just how the ball started to roll, but yeah, once I got this bike and started training with Ford [Dale], everything is going really well. I’m back on track, bloody four times a week, enjoying myself, having a good time, it’s good. That was a relief too. Just to be able to come to the track and switch my brain off and actually think about things on the track and my technique and riding – other stuff rather than constantly having a testing head on my shoulders. Because it’s different, like when you’re testing, you have a different head on your shoulders than when you’re just riding and thinking about your technique and grinding – it’s different. So, I was stuck in a bit of a testing mindset for I want to say nearly two months, where I couldn’t do anything else. It was always, you know, we were working constantly, so I just had a different sort of mindset going to the track every day, but now it’s just turn up, complete the program, and have a good time doing it.

Does the whole thing give you a little bit more perspective? As you said, you can get so buried in, you know, the job at hand, the task at hand, that other areas of your life can take a hit. Has this, have you learned like kind of anything like that through this kind of situation?

Yeah, definitely – when I say other areas of my life, all I do is ride and train and spend time with my girlfriend. Personal life stuff with my partner and my parents and all that sort of shit, it never got rocky. I was probably just being an asshole because I was just always a bit grumpy, I guess. Because I want to do good. I wanted to get back on the right track so badly that it just consumed my brain and my thought process, and I couldn’t stop thinking. I’m the type of person who really processes a lot of shit, and my brain’s always ticking over on how to be better. This time, I went down the freaking wrong rabbit hole, and I was just probably a hard person to be around for anyone who was around me for a bit, because I just was not the happiest of personalities. I only realised how bloody difficult I was being once it was all gone, and then I just noticed everything else around me freeing up at once. I was like, ‘Oh shit, I was in a lot deeper than I realised,’ and this is not to do with bikes or KTM or whatever, this is purely just other shit in my life. I don’t want the consumers to listen to this and think that I’m saying that the team was the reason I was being an asshole or a moody prick or whatever. That’s not the case. That’s purely separate from sport. That’s just me. But that’s something that people have to understand. Like, it’s not as glamorous as it all seems sometimes. And we as athletes, even on factory teams and whatnot, go through shit. And that’s every team, not just one in particular.

Lastly, on the Honda, is this a work in progress? As you said, you’re going to get some suspension and different stuff than you had in Canberra. But is it kind of this going to evolve and develop over the season?

Yeah, no, look, we’re really in a good position now. I think we’re in a good position. I had suspension in Canberra, but I just chose to only use the forks. So yeah, I’ve got suspension and whatnot in the bike now. We’ve made a few small modifications. I think, you know, with the engine side of things, we’re in a pretty good position. We’ll massage that as the year goes on. But yeah, man, I made the choices that I made to be better and for me to be comfortable, and I want to get to the top. I did everything for a reason, and I want to get it to a position where I’m constantly trying to fight up front for a win. Like obviously last year there was some… A lot of the year, there was a big gap between the two front boys and me, and obviously now we’ve got some more players in the field this year, and I want to be right at the front and constantly being someone that’s trying to win – not like when the stars would all align, I’ll be right there, you know?

For sure, mate. Well, a happy rider is a fast rider, so it’s good to hear you’re in good spirits heading into Gillman.

No, for sure, it’s been good. We’ll keep chipping away at things and see where we can get to. Getting everything to Canberra was a very big job, but, yeah, it’s a lot more chilled now, and the wheels are in motion, that’s for sure.