Australia has produced some of the best downhill riders in the world and Remy Morton 16, is one of Australia’s up and coming junior stars! Between his travels, signing with a new team and life in general we sat him down and had a chat. Remy is super laid back, down to earth and honest, here is what he had to say;
“I am Remy Morton and I have been riding bikes since I was about 4 when I rode BMX, I got into mountain bikes when I was about 6 and I did my first downhill race when I was 7 years old.”
Remy lives on the Gold Coast and if you haven’t seen he has a pretty dialed pump track in his backyard and some serious jumps him and his mates look after just down the road. “I mainly ride these because they’re fun but I do think they help with the downhill and being smooth. The closest downhill tracks use to be 5 minutes down the road but unfortunately, in an all to familiar tale, they have been closed and the closest are now about 30 minutes away. My favourite kind of riding/track is low speed technical, where you actually have to have skill to ride it, I also like race tracks that are flat out fast with big jumps and corners.”
We asked him a set of questions and these were his answers, a great insight into his positive attitude:
You’ve ben racing for a few years now, when did it all start: My first full national series was the 2012/13 series and that was my last year in under 15s, I won the series and the championships that year.
Was that when you decided you wanted to make a career out of it and ride bikes every single day:A�I don’t think it ever changed, I always just wanted to ride, its always been my dream because I mean I ride every single day anyway, it’s what I would like to do for a living because it is what I do.
Moving up to Under 19’s for this upcoming season what are your goals: I just want to try and do well and have fun, I think the more fun I have the better I will go. I would like to get top 3 at all the races.
With the upcoming national series what races/tracks are you looking forward to the most: Thredbo and hopefully Toowomba because it is a local racetrack I have ridden since I was about 7.
What is your race weekend routine for a track you haven’t ridden what is your plan:A�I do a track walk either the day before or the morning of practice, then in practice I try to do every A line feature by my third run. That’s so that by my fourth run I can really try getting up to speed. I do as many runs during practice as I can, I like to get my moneys worth! If I am having fun there’s no point sowing down the number of runs.
Moving on from the Australian series last year you spent a lot of time overseas racing: I finished school at the end of year 10 (December 2013) and went and worked full time for about 8 months, saved as much money as I could then we (Remy and family) went to Europe around June (2014). Originally we were going to go to Crankworx in Whistler and then a month or two before we saw cheap flights to Europe and thought that would be a good idea. When I was over there I didn’t even expect to podium because everyone told me the riders were really good there, I was hoping to podium but then I got a shock when I won the first race in junior mens (Downhill247 – by 15 seconds no less).
You said you headed over to Crankworx, it is definitely one of the biggest events on the calendar, what did you race there: I entered for everything but I ended up doing 4 events; Garbo downhill, I was really sick the night before and when I woke I wasn’t even going to ride, I had tonsilitis but I couldn’t really help myself haha but somehow I got second! Then I did the Air DH and got third which I was pretty happy with because to do well you have to scrub and pedal. I am usually not that good on pedally tracks but that’s the one race I did well at. I did pump track that night for fun and got 20th in pro men. Then the one race I really wanted to do well, all year, was Canadian Open. That was probably the best day of my life, I felt good on the track but i knew it would be hard because I had all the riders taking it serious. I ended up winning that and the overall in the junior category.
You rode sweep at a few world cups this year, tell us about them: I was a sweep ride at the Cairns and Leogang world cup, Cairns was so crazy, the spectators were so loud! I crashed in Cairns coming into the whoops – the bike shot me backwards into the whoops. I landed and the back end just dropped, I was so lucky to get just one graze I definitely scared myself. I got a run in the morning and one in the afternoon there, in Leogang I could do runs all during B practice which was really good to ride.
Previously you have been riding a Devinci and NSD have been helping you out, for 2015 you are riding for Polygon UR, how did that come about:A�I started talking to them at the Cairns world cup and then in Europe, I knew a few people in Europe when I was there but became good friends with Tracey and Mic (Hannah), I was hanging out with them then I got to know some people from the team and it all fell into place from there.
What does the 2015 Season look like for you:A�I am doing the full world cup series and all three Crankworx, plus hopefully the world championships if I am selected, then maybe a few races between that, hopefully some IXS cups again.
Finally, who would you like to thank: Definitely NSD more than any one else, Nigel was the first person to be talking us into going to Europe and if I didn’t I don;t know if I would have got a world cup, I am thankful for everyone that has helped me out. Oakley for doing more than they should have initally, they went out of their way to help me and Gabe Fox from Devinci. He was always making sure if I had bike problems or something I was okay. My parents have definitely helped a lot, if it wasn’t for dad I probably wouldn’t be riding. He initially wanted my brother and I to race moto, he got us racing Peewee 50s then to get bike kills took us to the BMX races. He got a hardtail so he could ride around the BMX track to ride with us and thought that was really cool so he got a downhill bike and then I got one. He is always the one driving me shuttles and has helped more than anyone. My parents definitely went out of the way to help and travel Europe with me.
No doubt one of the future stars of the sport and an all round good guy, that was our interview with Remy Morton, we will be following his progress all year.
Image Credits:
Jason Stevens / www.jasonstevensimagery.com
Ryan Finlay / RFPhotographics
Jaime Black / www.jaimeblack.com.au