Jonathan Barragan interview - Struggling in 2012

By Geoff Meyer | 14 Aug 2012

Spanish rider Jonathan Barragan has not had the 2012 season he had hoped for. Once a GP winner and contender for the MX1 Championship this year has seen him drop out of the top ten and a Grand Prix victory is a long way off.

We caught up with Barragan and asked him about his season and the last few rounds of the FIM World Motocross Championship.

Q: Jonathan, it's not been a great season for you. How do you feel about it?

Barragan: I am now 13 in the Championship and I want to finish inside the top ten. It's not what I wanted at the start of the season. My goal at the start of the season was top five or top six, being 12th isn't that important to anyone.

Q: What does it take to change your situation?

Barragan: It's so important to start good and not make any mistakes. There are 13 or 14 riders who are good. My body is ok; I don't have any injuries, so at least that helps.

Q: How did you feel in Loket?

Barragan: Things didn’t go well and I didn’t feel good on the track. I’m not feeling confident and this also affecting my motivation. When you’re not happy with your riding it’s even harder to fight for every point. I had some bad luck in the first moto when the bike broke down in the last few laps and I couldn’t finish. For one reason or another, whether for crashes, bad starts or a bad feeling I’m not getting the results and I feel the pressure. I’m riding tense and need to get through this and find some confidence. We we’ll keep on pushing together with the team.

Q: You have struggled for a while now with your starts and the results in the last month really don't look anything like your previous form. What happened in Sweden, Latvia and Russia?

Barragan: Sweden and Latvia were not good for me and I crashed in the first laps and that cost me many places. I wanted to be in the top ten, but I couldn't do that. In Russia I was 8-10 and that was okay, but it's really difficult in this class, the MX1 class you need to make starts, if you don't do that then your results will not be good. It's not like it used to be where you come from 20th to fifth place, this class is too strong now to do that.

Q: Are you looking forward to the Monster Energy Motocross of Nations?

Barragan: The Spanish team usually go to the Motocross of Nations; we might have it tough, with the deep sand in Lommel.

Q: And next year, do you know where you will go, are you talking to many teams?

Barragan: I have options for 2013; I need to look what is possible for next year. For now I need to improve this year and then hope something comes up for 2013 that I feel comfortable with.