Dubai-based rider Jake Shipton is in the midst of arguably the busiest week of his career so far. The 21-year-old Briton made his Motocross World Championship debut for KTM-UAE at last weekend’s season opener in Qatar. This weekend, he will contest the final round of the Emirates Desert Championship, which he is in contention to win at the first attempt. He sat down to speak with The National about his past, his present and his plans for the future:
QUESTION You finished 22nd on your debut in the first round of the MXGP World Championship at Losail. How did you find the experience and did you live up to your own expectations?
ANSWER It was good and bad. I learnt to ride a bit better, but it was quite nerve-racking to ride with the guys I was racing with. These are guys I looked up to when I was younger, so to be on the starting line with them was a bit daunting. I had some good battles with some big names, though, and my times were OK. I suffered from a bad qualifying, which set me up badly for the main event, but overall it was good experience. I definitely want to be involved more in the future and know what I need to do to improve.
Sam Sunderland, a stage-winner in Dakar, is your teammate at KTM, and Marc Coma, the five-time Dakar winner, is visiting this week, too. It must be fun training with a childhood friend and a six-time world champion?
Riding with Sam out in the desert is really great. It’s nice to have someone to race with. We train together although he obviously has a lot on, too. Marc Coma is here, so we’re going riding this week, and it’s good to meet people like him. I am not really from a rally background, but it’s cool to meet the guys from the other bike sports. You can have fun together in the desert and then, when the time comes to be serious, we all work together and get stuff done.
Friday will see you compete in the final round of the Emirates Desert Championship, where you are just 13 points off the leader, your KTM teammate Mohammed Al Balooshi. What are your hopes going into the race and what is your relationship with your title rival?
Mohammed’s a really cool guy. I get on really well with him. He is one of my good friends over here. I rely on him, trust him and he has helped me out a lot. For me, this weekend, I just have to go there, win and hope it all pans out my way. Simple as that. I’ve won three in a row, but I’ve also had two bad rounds, so I need a bit of luck. We have Marc Coma over this week, so he might be able to get in between a few of us, which would help me. But it’s my first time riding in the desert, so I’m learning every time. I’m enjoying it, but I need to go there and win.
Coma, the six-time world champion, is obviously here to prepare for the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which is at the end of this month. Do you have any intentions of one day taking part?
No, I haven’t done any rally training and don’t really want to yet. I think I’m still a bit too young to get into it. I just want to push motocross for a couple more years, go back to the UK and Europe for summer, base myself in Belgium and Holland and just ride, train, do some Dutch championships and hopefully some more grands prix as a wild card. That’s what I’m planning, so fingers crossed it happens. In the winter time, I’ll come back here.
You moved here from the UK about six months ago. How are you enjoying your new life in terms of riding and life in general?
Living here is cool, because it’s a lot easier to go training. But even away from riding, it’s a better lifestyle and has better facilities. So it’s probably 50-50: some things are really easy, but some simple things, compared to back in the UK, are so hard to do. I’m still getting used to it. I have my girlfriend here now and we are enjoying it. I want to do really well at riding, but it’s important to have a life as well. You have to be strict, but you need to have some fun, too – go out and see the city. We’re still young, after all.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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