How does the Cameron Sinclair story begin?
My first bike was a Honda QA50 when I was four years old, and by the age of five I started competing with the Hallam MCC in junior motocross events on a Yamaha PW50. As my skills improved, we started travelling further afield. I’ve been fortunate to ride in both New Zealand and Indonesia in my junior years, and I started racing in supercross, moving up through the 65 and 85cc classes, then got interested in freestyle motocross, which I’m still doing today at 41.
What brands were you riding as you progressed?
After the Yamaha PW50, I rode Kawasaki, KTM and Suzuki machines at different times in my career, and my current mount is a Honda 450.
Does any single particular bike stand out for you?
No single bike, but Hondas in general for both freestyle and motocross, as they just keep getting better each year. The event that stands out in my memory would be the 2009/2010 Red Bull X-Fighters Tour, which was very challenging, with all the travelling to places like Red Square in Russia and Mexico City, where the bikes didn’t run properly due to the altitude, and some of the courses were very difficult as well.
What successes have you had?
I won Victorian Junior Titles in varying classes from 1992 through to 1998. I was running top five pretty consistently when I turned senior and finished just off the podium in fourth at the 2002 Supercross Championship, then finished third in 2004. Jono Porter’s death in a motocross race in 2004 was a turning point for me—that’s when I decided to quit racing and concentrate on freestyle riding. I joined the Crusty Demons Tour in 2005, riding with them until 2010, travelling the world and riding here in Australia, New Zealand, the USA and the UK.
Did you enjoy the change of pace?
Very much. It was a different world to racing, and I enjoyed it a great deal with all the travelling and everything. I also rode the Red Bull X-Fighters World Tour in 2009 and 2010 and had a big crash in Madrid in 2009 when I under-rotated a double backflip, which was a new trick back then. I was in a coma for eight days with liver, lung, head, cheek, brain, hip and shoulder injuries, but I came good with time and kept riding afterwards, winning an X Games Gold Medal in 2010, Silver in 2011 and Bronze in 2012.
That’s quite the achievement after such a severe injury.
I would regard it as my most rewarding win—coming back from that and doing so well after it was thought I’d never ride again.
Are you still competing in freestyle events?
I’m currently riding with the Nitro Circus Tour, which I joined in 2010, just travelling the world and still having fun. I’m planning to put a travelling show together with Blake Williams to gather some riders together and tour Australia. We’ve already done a two-hour show in Tasmania and want to expand on that and go on a national tour. My kids are starting to race now, so I take them to races, and I still ride in vets motocross events just to keep bike fit and have a bit of fun, but if I get a holeshot, it can get real serious, real fast.
