INTERVIEW I AMA ENDUROCROSS CHAMPION JONNY WALKER
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"I knew tonight was like a
game of chess between me and
Trystan. I knew that going in,"
said Walker. "So, I just thought
I'll stick with the 'not trying to
push and make a mistake and
maybe lose time' strategy, and it
paid off."
Walker ended the Enduro-
Cross season well, but his first
round was somewhat of a disas-
ter, although he got stronger as
the season wore on.
"I had only ridden the bike two
weeks before," said Walker who
was coming back after a couple
of injuries. "I had six months off
the bike. The first time I rode an
endurocross track was when I
came out here on the Monday
before the first race. Then we
went to the track. I just rode
around, so I could feel good on
the bike. That was the first race.
It always takes a bit to get back
into it. I was really pissed off
after the first round. I had a few
little issues, so then we came
out, and I think I won the second
round, which was good. Then
a bit of a disaster again at the
third round. At the fourth round,
I feel like I should have won. I
was definitely the fastest, but I
just had an issue in the last race
in the first corner, which kind of
screwed it for me."
Walker finished second
to Billy Bolt in the 2022 FIM
SuperEnduro World Champion-
ship during this past winter but
injured his shoulder during the
final round, which put a question
mark on his plans for the rest of
the year.
"I tore my shoulder in that
last round so I decided to get it
fixed," said Walker. "That meant I
missed the Hard Enduro Cham-
pionship, which started in April.
I also had a torn ACL, which I've
had for like four years. So, I was,
like, 'I'll get them both done.'
When he got his shoulder
"I just thought I'll
stick with the 'not
trying to push and make
a mistake and maybe
lose time strategy,'
and it paid off."
Jonny Walker's first try at AMA
EnduroCross yielded the Brit the 2022
Championship.
