A negative situation can have a positive twist. The cancelation of the MX3 round in Croatia gave Finnish MX3 racer Ludde Söderberg the opportunity to rush home from Italy and catch the last ferry to Finland for the country’s best annual party: Midsummer.
Ludde: “We heard rumors in Maggiora that Croatia would be canceled. Instead of returning to our base with the Schmidinger family in Austria we decided (my mechanic Jani and I) to hit the highways; direction Sweden. We booked on one of the last ferries to Finland. From feeling disappointed about the Croatia cancelation we became happy to be able to celebrate ‘Midsummer’ with our family and friends.”
Question: But you nearly did not make it home did you?
Ludde: “It became a disaster; we were not far from the ferry when the engine of our van blew up with a big bang! We had to hire a tow truck to get us to the harbor and because we had missed the ferry we had booked they said there was no space. At the last minute they squeezed us in so we got across the water and landed in Turku. From there a tow truck took us home.”
Question: Tell us how is the season going so far?
Ludde: “With too many ups and downs to be honest. I was 6th in the championship but with a poor result in Slovenia I dropped to 7th. Still a lot is possible but I have not been steady with my scores. For Slovenia we had worked on the bike’s power and it paid off with a third place in practice. But in the races I had too many accidents and stayed below my own expectations.”
Question: You ended up in hospital, tell us what the doctor said?
Ludde: “Well that was a pretty weird experience. I crashed in moto one and back at my spot in the paddock I noticed one sleeve was full of blood. I told my girlfriend don’t look, I had a deep cut in my arm. We then went to see the medics at the track, they were army guys and gave the first treatment. I was in the army myself during last winter and could see they did a good job.”
Question: How was the experience in the Slovenia hospital?
Ludde: “Ah, not too bad after we had found the right building. I did not have to wait long; they cleaned it thoroughly and said the arm was cut to the bone. They used seven stitches and said to take it easy.”
Question: Your next race was a week later in Maggiora, did you find a doctor in Italy to have a check up?
Ludde: “With the help of the Fontanesi family I went to see a doctor in Faenza who works with motorcycle racers and she did an x-ray and gave me some laser treatment and said I could race. Maggiora went a bit better with better results and a better feeling about my riding.”
Question: You said you improved the bike, what did you do?
Ludde: “During my army time in the winter I did a lot of hard training so my condition was better than ever. My bike was nearly stock as I thought with a stronger body and the experience from 2012 under my belt I was ready to achieve my goals of a top 5 position in MX3. This might sound tough but there are still 10 motos and 250 points in the game. With the help of a specialized mx trainer I got a daily program to work with and that helps me a lot to be more focused on my job.”
“I Feel that I am in better condition than several riders but I need more power as the starts are so crucial for the result. Günther Schmidinger helped me with the suspension and he worked with us on the engine to create a more balanced package and it paid off.”
Question: So for the remaining races you go wide open?
Ludde: “I planned from the start of the year to do all the MX3 races; next round is back to the Ukraine on July 21st”
“I take racing very serious, it is a lot of work to run my own team and organize everything. We are far away from home during the season and spend a lot of time on the road. But I want to give it my best shot and it’s a pity that this is the last year for MX3. ”
Question: It is great to see Finland has a motocross Grand Prix again this year, will you get a wildcard for the MX1 in Hyvinkää?
Ludde: “It is really cool to have the GP in my country; this is good for our sport. I have applied for a wildcard and suppose I will be on the gate. It will be nice for the people who follow me and of course for my sponsors. Depending if I can find extra budget I would like to do more MX1 races like the one in Latvia (the OK for that race has just arrived). The priority now is to get my van fixed and hit the road again.”