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New Zealander Hamish Macdonald wrapped up the EnduroGP in Sweden with another two podiums. However, the young Sherco rider has greater ambitions and will settle for nothing less than the world championship victory.
Hamish, you just wrapped up the event here in Sweden. How was it for you?
It was ok! I’m happy with the results. I finished seventh overall the first day and sixth overall the second one, and took two podiums in my class (Enduro 2), so I really can’t complain. Sweden was slightly different from what I expected as it felt more like three different “cross tests” instead of an Enduro, a Cross test, and an Extreme test. The Cross test itself was very challenging and looked more like the prologue to Erzberg Hard Enduro. Up to the point that you had to weigh off the risk versus reward factor at some point.
The most significant difference between Motocross and Enduro is the environment. You guys race in natural environments. Where do you train?
In the off-season, I’m back at home in New Zealand. Over there, you can pretty much ride anywhere you really want. During the season, l live in Italy. Here it can be a little more complicated, but I still manage to find some great environments to train. On top of that, all of us Sherco riders also compete in local events. I compete in the Italian and German Enduro series, giving you an even better chance to train.
A New Zealander in Italy, that must be an exciting combination!
Yeah, it’s interesting. The lifestyle and culture are very different than what I’m used to. On the other hand, Italy really is the international hub for everything related to Enduro. So, If I desire a long career in this sport, being here is a great idea.
Speaking of a long career, what are your future goals and ambitions within the sport?
Short version? I want to be the world champion again. This year I’ve set my goal to make it top five overall and be consistently on the podium in my class, and it has worked out well so far.
A while back, we spoke to a Sherco teammate of yours, Mario Roman. He’s into Hard Enduro. Did you ever think about attempting Hard Enduro?
I did Erzberg rodeo back in 2017 and I was involved in the organization of Red Bull Romaniacs for two years setting up the course. So I’m very familiar with Hard Enduro and if I ever get the opportunity to do it again.. why not?
What’s the main difference between the both of them, obviously it’s harder… but how?
Like you said, it’s just a difficult Enduro event. Usually, it starts out easy, but then it will throw enormous challenges such as river crossings or steep climbs at you, and when you overcome that, there will be another one and more after that. So surviving it is the first part but to be able to be the fastest is incredibly hard.
What’s your first experience with Motul?
That one goes a long way back to be honest. I remember a friend of my father was the Neew Zealand Motul importer. He had a car that was in full Motul livery. I thought that was so cool! At Sherco, we’re using Motul exclusively and it makes all the difference. Especially the RBF700 brake fluid. Brakes are super sensitive in Enduro and in the past, I always ended up boiling my brake fluid. This one I have yet to boil, which is unlikely to happen!
