It’s been a busy four weeks, to be honest. Portugal was the big one. Heading into that rally, the conditions were already a bit all over the place. Some areas were wet, especially down in the valleys, and then the rain came in properly. It made things interesting straight away, especially with tyre choice. That was honestly one of the biggest decisions of the whole race. I was still deciding what tyre to run about 30 minutes before we had to lock it in, which is never ideal.
In the end, I made the right call, followed what the other guys were doing a bit, and just got on with it. Once we got racing, it was actually pretty fun. It was a totally different rally compared to last year. Back then it was bone dry and dusty, but this time it was slippery, grassy, and a lot more riding shorter sections. It almost felt like a sprint race at times.
I had a pretty solid buffer early on, so I didn’t need to do anything stupid. Just rode smart, kept it clean, and didn’t take any unnecessary risks. The only little hiccup was getting a bit lost one day and dropping about a minute fifty, but other than that it was smooth sailing. The last stage was wild though. We were up in the mountains on what used to be an old WRC track. Big cliffs, sun straight in your eyes first thing in the morning, it definitely wakes you up pretty quick. That was one of those moments where you’ve just got to trust yourself and send it a bit, just to remind yourself you’ve still got it.
Body-wise, I’m not 100% yet. The collarbone is sweet, it’s plated, so once that’s done, it’s usually pretty solid. But the leg is still a bit sore. I only really had about eight weeks from the injury to the race, and realistically it needed closer to 10–12.
Before Portugal, the lead-up was just as hectic. We went from Australia to Morocco for testing, and that was a proper mission: five flights, about 46 hours of travel. Melbourne, Sydney, LA, London, then down to Morocco. By the time you get there, you’re not sure what day it is.
That was my first proper ride back on the rally bike after the injury, so it was more about getting comfortable again and testing a few new things for later in the season. We spent about five days there working on development, which is always pretty cool knowing you’re helping shape what the bike’s going to become.
After that, we shot over to Austria and spent a few days at KTM HQ. That’s always a bit of an eye-opener. You walk through there and realise how far ahead everything is. They’re already working on bikes that won’t come out until 2031, and a lot of the stuff they’re testing now actually comes from feedback we’re giving them on the rally side.
Seeing a new chassis concept sitting there that’s basically come from your own ideas is pretty wild. You look at it and go, “Yep, that’s exactly what we were talking about.” It’s cool to know you’re playing a part in that.
Then it was straight into Portugal, did the job there, and before I knew it I was back on a plane home. I landed at about 6:15 in the morning, went straight from the airport to the Mick Malloy show at 8am, then picked up my new 500, and was back home by 10:30. No rest, just straight into it again.
