Racing in the Josh Coppins Yamaha Race Team, British rider Alex Snow competed in 2012 Honda Summercross MX1 class, finishing in third spot on the podium.

Fresh into the New Zealand motocross season, the overseas rider experienced wet, muddy track conditions against a stacked field, settling early in moto one to battle for top honours.

The 2008 British Under-21 champion ran apace with the frontrunners, taking deteriorating track conditions and altered race format in his stride.

With such determination and positive mind-set, racing JCR Yamaha’s YZ450, BikesportNZ.com contributor Sharon Cox took the opportunity to ask Alex how the event went, how he has settled in from racing in Britain and what’s in store for the JCR Yamaha Race Team rider.

Q: Racing under JCR Yamaha Race Team with Josh would be a great experience … how has the transition gone from racing overseas to JCR Yamaha Team rider in New Zealand?

Alex: The transition coming over has been really easy for me. I find NZ is quite similar to the UK, and with Josh’s experience and good organisation has made everything run pretty smoothly so far.

Q: Competing in 2012 Honda Summercross event was challenging given weather and track conditions…how did racing go in the 10 minute back to back and 10 laps motos in the stacked MX1 class?

Alex:  Doing that was quite different for me as it isn’t something I’ve done before. It was lucky that the rain held off for the 2 back to back motos as it would have made things pretty hard. It definitely keeps the speed high and racing tight so it was cool to do something different and certainly threw a spanner in the works as far as the overall results fared.

Q: As 2008 British Under 21 Champion what are your thoughts on New Zealand Motocross tracks, layouts and competitiveness among riders?

Alex: It’s hard for me to comment on that too much at the moment as I have only ridden a few different tracks and competed in one event. I find the biggest thing with the tracks is that you seem to have a lot more space to work with than in the UK so it makes the tracks very fast. As far as the riders go, I think it is very similar in most parts of the world, the closer to the front you get the more competitive it is so it’s pretty much what I expected really.

Q: Working with Josh Coppins would certainly be awesome opportunity…have you put any goals out there on what you would like to achieve under JCR Yamaha racing?

Alex: Yeah, it’s been a great opportunity for me. As far as the goals go, between myself and Josh, to at least reach the podium was what we thought would be realistic, but mainly to ride strong and consistent. I felt like I had some flashes of strong riding at Summercross but I was a bit up and down, so I know what needs to be worked on and I’m in the right environment to be able to do it.

Q: Leading into the New Year 013, what events have been planned to compete in and will we see you lined up for NZ MX Championships MX1 February through to March?

Alex: I have only agreed a deal to race for the team in two events, Summercross and Woodville. As things stand at the moment I have commitments to race back in the UK again as of February so unfortunately I won’t be racing the NZ MX Nationals. Who knows though, maybe I will get the chance to race the Championship at some point and possibly a trip to Aussie in the future too.

© Words by Sharon Cox, www.BikesportNZ.com

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com