HIGH FIVES - Kristian Whatley
April 18, 2008
This year has seen a number of young rising motocross stars gradually show some true potential, one of them is the son of British great Jeremy Whatley, 17 year old Kristian. With a riding style to match the old man Kristian is certainly one to watch in the next few years, our man in the field Stuart Cawse sat down with Whatley for a HIGH FIVES chit chat.
MOTO: For the last couple of years your results in the Maxxis MX2 class have been steadily improving, and currently your lying 13th in the championship with a string of top ten finishes. Can you explain what have been the decisive factors within you achieving this?
“I believe several factors have contributed towards this but the main ones I believe are my confidence which grows after every race and due to the fact I’ve changed my training programme over the winter period. Within my training I’ve introduced boxing training which I feel has made me mentally and physically stronger.”
MOTO: We’ve regularly seen you getting up early on race days to go for a run; can you explain why you feel it’s necessary to carry out such activity on the morning of race day?
“I normally carry out a 20min run which I feel just generally wakes me up and gets me feeling ready for the days racing. If I’m unable to do some running I tend to do some skipping.”
MOTO: You’ve already taken part in your first grand prix when you took part in the British grand prix of Matterley Basin in 2006 aged just 16, can you explain how that felt and are we likely to be seeing you take part in any grand prix’s this year and if so which out of the current calendar would you like to compete in?
“When I carried out the GP in 2006 I was riding a Honda and didn’t feel the bike was set up right for my riding style and I didn’t feel the bike I was riding was quick enough to run with the regular GP bikes. My team manager Nigel wants me to ride the British GP, so leading up to it we will be regularly testing the bikes and trying to improve the bike speed and engines etc to get them as competitive as possible.”
MOTO: How does Kristian Whatley relax in the off season?
“I tend go out to Spain to stay at my villa and there I usually chill out in the sun, do some jet skiing, catch up with some mates etc, before I begin my training programme for the upcoming season.”
MOTO: During the winter period you can often be found in Spain relaxing and riding. How do you find the tracks out there and would riding domestic championships abroad be anything you would consider?
“I’ve regularly considered competing in the Spanish domestic championship which is called Andalucía and is roughly the same format the Maxxis Championship. Although many people have aspirations of racing in USA, I don’t find its something that I have considered so far but maybe in a couple of years who knows.”
Words and images by MOTO web reporter Stuart Cawse
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