We caught up with Rockstar Energy's Ryan Morais at the Motocross of Nations in Lakewood, CO last week and talked about his plans for 2011.
So Ryan, it’s good to see you here at the race supporting Team USA.My brother-in-law, Andrew Short, is on the team. I'm pumped for Andrew and the team for bringing home the title again this year! My wife Hannah and I are also spending some extra time with family his week. I've been doing some mountain biking out here and even climbed an incline on the side of Pikes Peak.
Tell us about the 2010 season. It started out strong for you, but things took a turn early on.The year started out really good and I felt I was a strong contender for the championship, especially after the first two rounds. Then at round three I got landed on and hit the ground really hard. I had a lot of internal bruising and bleeding, but luckily I came out of it ok considering how nasty the crash was. Once I got healthy I rode the 450 for a few rounds. I rode pretty good but a couple of crashes took me out and so I parked it for a while. I came back for the first couple of nationals and ended up tearing the ligament from the bone in my thumb after hitting a soft spot on the track and cranking the handlebars.
Ok, so this season didn't quite go as planned. What have you been doing to stay fit and prepare for next year?I've been working with my trainer, Darren Stockton, a lot and I am feeling really good right now. I'm back on the program going to the gym and riding the road bike a lot. For the last five weeks I've been able to get back on the motorcycle and even raced a supercross in Sweden a couple of weeks ago.
What are your plans for the 2011 season?I signed again with the Rockstar Energy Suzuki team and I'm looking forward to next year. I'll be riding the Lites West Coast on a 2011 RMZ250 which is the same as the Factory bike from last year. Suzuki has really stepped up support of the team and I’m looking forward to getting on the new bike. My goals are to get some race wins and bring home the championship.
So the time off has been good. Now it’s back to work when you head back to California.The time off with the family has been great. When I get back to Cali I'm going to get back to work and I'm really looking forward to getting on the new bike. I'll start testing the new bike this month, which will put us way ahead of last year. I'm going to put in all the work necessary to come out swinging at Anaheim 1!
Good luck Ryan!Thank you.
