MX3 rookie of 2012 Ludde Söderberg has spent 3 weeks under the California sun to get ready for the new MX3 season.
In his first MX3 Championship Ludde scored a tenth place overall with a sixth place in England as his best moto score. After the MXoN he joined the Finnish army but they gave him a break to get into shape for the new season.
Question: Ludde how was California and what have you been doing?
Söderberg: “Like many other motocross riders in the World Championship I went to sunny California in January to train and get in shape for the new season. There are loads of different tracks so you can ride every day, there are gyms everywhere, you can go running wherever you want and the weather is always pleasant so it is a perfect investment into your racing career.”
“We left Finland the 4th of January and stayed at Jussi Vehvilainen’s place in Perris, which is a good central location with plenty of space for jogging. Jussi is Harri Kullas’ coach and I took part in the training programs with them. The daily job was pretty much like riding, running and training together with Harri in the gym. In total we did over 15 hours of riding and a lot of fitness training.”
Q: With your steady and healthy life in the army plus the California trip under your belt all looks good.
Söderberg: “During my army time in winter I had already done a lot of hard training so I had laid a good basic condition to build on. With a good sparring partner in Harri and supported by experienced motocross coach Vehvilainen I feel I went forward a lot with my riding and quickly started to remember how it’s done the right way at the highest level.”
“I had never been to this part of the world, normally you start the year somewhere in Belgium on a tough track like Lommel which is deep sand and the first day it feels you have never ridden a motocross bike in your life.”
Q: Did you get a good taste of the mx scene over there?
Söderberg: “We rode on tracks like Perris, Glen Helen, Lake Elsinore and Starwest. In the weekends we saw two US Supercross in Anaheim, that was such a cool show! Back in Finland in the army in winter conditions, well that’s a bit tough.”
Q: Back on home soil you got into gear to ride the Helsinki SX, then your luck ran out we hear.
Söderberg: “You can say that. My first 2013 race was the opening race for the Finnish Supercross series. The race was held during the Finnish Motorcycle Expo in Helsinki and the track was good. The first night I finished fourth and felt good on the bike.”
“Winner Jason Thomas was disqualified with a broken silencer so I stood in the podium. Good for my Finnish and International sponsors. I have just renewed with Sinisalo/Battery, BikeWorld Honda, Black7, Shoei and Forma and a lot of additional sponsors like my main sponsor Arannatek. My mechanic will again be Jani Kalajanniska and we never had a DNF last year so he is good company.”
Q: Day two became sort of disaster.
Söderberg: “I was again in the final maybe halfway and in fifth place when another Finn Eeli Takatalo tried to block-pass me and it all went wrong. He came in really hard and hit my knee and the doctors told me I need an operation to repair the meniscus.”
“This week I was in hospital but I have to wait until Monday. They say it’s just two small holes but it will set me back like 3-4 weeks in my preparations. At first I was very angry, but now it’s all good and behind me.”
Q: I guess nothing has changed in your target …
Söderberg: “No, my target is to get into the top five of the championship, and on a good day maybe fight for a podium position. Hope I will be ready in time for Valkenswaard, I was third in qualification last season and next step is to repeat that in one of the motos this year or both.”
Q: Thanks Ludde, make a rapid recovery and good luck