Latvian rider Matiss Karro is very much a special young rider. Easy going and a no problem sort of guy his results in recent times have also surprised some people. Injury in the pre-season meant he missed the Grand Prix of Qatar and also the Grand Prix of Thailand.Despite not a lot of time on the bike Karro claimed a top 15 place in the Grand Prix of The Netherlands and followed that up with a top three in the second round of the Maxxis British Motocross Championships last weekend.
Riding for the STR Racing KTM Karro is slowly reaching the point where he might be a top ten guy in the FIM World Motocross Championship and if that happened then the curly haired rider would be more than happy.
Q: You obviously haven’t ridden much due to your injury?
Karro: That is right. I had the wrist injury and the doctor said six weeks before I would ride, then the last appointment four weeks later he said I could ride. I have only been back on the bike for two weeks, I did Valkenswaard and my goal there was just to finish the races and it ended up really good.
Q: Your performance at Valkenswaard was pretty impressive considering your preparation due to the injury.
Karro: I think, because I hadn’t ridden for ages I really was motivated to race. I was watching Qatar and Thailand and from fifth place to 15th place there was nothing in it, everyone was on the same speed. I was like this is going to be a tough year, but my goal was just to finish, I didn’t think about the position, or the points, I just wanted to finish the races with no crashes and build on that. I managed to do that with a good result, which gives me more confidence for the future races.
Q: Matiss, can you tell me about your race in England last weekend?
Karro: We went to the second round of the British Championship. Last year I finished third and my Latvian fans told me I had to do better than that. I managed to have three good starts and finished third in all three races and I was happy about that.
Q: I heard Searle and Leok were really fast, could you keep with them?
Karro: Tommy and Tanel were really strong. In the first race I was fourth out of the start and battled with Jason Dougan, I passed him and stayed third the whole race. In the second and third motos I tried to keep with Tommy and Tanel, but I got tired and they were like 10 of 15 seconds ahead of me, but I managed to get a gap on fourth place, like 10 seconds, so I finished a safe third. In the second race I struggled a little with arms getting tired, but in the third race I had that gap and stayed in my rhythm.
Q: Now it’s onto Italy for the Grand Prix of Italy. Do you know this circuit at all?
Karro: I didn’t even know about that track, I have never heard of it, so I have no idea. People have told me its hard pack, but not really hard, not blue groove hard pack, so it won’t be polished.
Q: What are your goals for 2013?
Karro: It is hard to set goals, I need to get hours on the bike and get the speed back, but by mid season I would like to break into the top ten, I would be happy with that and I need good qualification I was watching lap times and it is so tight this year, its a tough class.