Paul Neale was just one of an enthusiastic full entry of riders for the first round of the Kawasaki Masters Championship held at Culham.
As part of our new “Riders Report” feature, we asked Paul about his career so far and his ambitions for the future. Here is what he said:
Paul, tell us about when you very first started out in MX
As part of our new “Riders Report” feature, we asked Paul about his career so far and his ambitions for the future. Here is what he said:
Paul, tell us about when you very first started out in MX
"I think I first rode a bike when I was 6 years old as my dad took me to a motocross meeting and I just wanted to have a go at it. I used to ride a PW50 around the garden for fun and then I got a Kawasaki KX60, which I had to get used to the clutch and gears in the garden also.
I decided to skip the auto class and at 6 years of age I found it really hard to get used to the geared bike, which I used to ride without a seat because I wasn’t tall enough! I then started racing with the Mid Wilts schoolboy club for enjoyment in about 1998."
So how did you fit this in with school work. Did you have an understanding school and how did your parents help with your education?
"I just fitted Motocross in with school by riding and racing at the weekends, which I still do now. I never really have had days off of school to go racing or practicing as you can just go in the holidays, as loads of tracks are now open on Wednesdays and Thursdays which is good. It’s pretty hard to keep up with the school work when doing a lot of two day events, but it hasn’t been that much of a problem since I started racing in 1997"
OK – now tell us about how you progressed. Did you do well right away or was it a lot of hard graft?
"Well when I started racing there was a lot of last placed finishes LOL. I suppose it took me a good couple of years to start finishing in the top 10 at local club meetings… and then a pretty long time until I started winning them.
There was always a group of us that used to go practising at a good track a couple of nights a week after school which had jumps, banked corners and other things which I think helped really well when trying to learn new skills on the bike. Because we had it to ourselves as well I think it helped a lot more as we could just practice certain sections and stuff.
I think I progressed the most when I moved up onto a Big Wheel KX85 as I started getting top 10 finishes at the Nationals, and managed to even win a moto at one of them, which was really good for me at that time."
I decided to skip the auto class and at 6 years of age I found it really hard to get used to the geared bike, which I used to ride without a seat because I wasn’t tall enough! I then started racing with the Mid Wilts schoolboy club for enjoyment in about 1998."
So how did you fit this in with school work. Did you have an understanding school and how did your parents help with your education?
"I just fitted Motocross in with school by riding and racing at the weekends, which I still do now. I never really have had days off of school to go racing or practicing as you can just go in the holidays, as loads of tracks are now open on Wednesdays and Thursdays which is good. It’s pretty hard to keep up with the school work when doing a lot of two day events, but it hasn’t been that much of a problem since I started racing in 1997"
OK – now tell us about how you progressed. Did you do well right away or was it a lot of hard graft?
"Well when I started racing there was a lot of last placed finishes LOL. I suppose it took me a good couple of years to start finishing in the top 10 at local club meetings… and then a pretty long time until I started winning them.
There was always a group of us that used to go practising at a good track a couple of nights a week after school which had jumps, banked corners and other things which I think helped really well when trying to learn new skills on the bike. Because we had it to ourselves as well I think it helped a lot more as we could just practice certain sections and stuff.
I think I progressed the most when I moved up onto a Big Wheel KX85 as I started getting top 10 finishes at the Nationals, and managed to even win a moto at one of them, which was really good for me at that time."
Now give a us a quick run down of the classes of racing and the clubs you have raced for...
"I have raced for a number of clubs series since I started riding and these include Mid Wilts schoolboy scramble club, Corsham SSC, Severn Valley SSC, and the BSMA Nationals. I then switched to the AMCA in 2007 with the Dursley club. I am currently in the Stroud and District club doing the AMCA championship and also the British Masters."
Tell us something about the support you get from your family Paul.
"None of my family have ever ridden or raced motocross before. I am the first, but they all give me loads of support. Both my parents come every weekend no matter what and also my brother and sister come to watch regularly. Also recently, my Brother in law has started racing, so he now comes with us to a lot of the races which is good."
"I have raced for a number of clubs series since I started riding and these include Mid Wilts schoolboy scramble club, Corsham SSC, Severn Valley SSC, and the BSMA Nationals. I then switched to the AMCA in 2007 with the Dursley club. I am currently in the Stroud and District club doing the AMCA championship and also the British Masters."
Tell us something about the support you get from your family Paul.
"None of my family have ever ridden or raced motocross before. I am the first, but they all give me loads of support. Both my parents come every weekend no matter what and also my brother and sister come to watch regularly. Also recently, my Brother in law has started racing, so he now comes with us to a lot of the races which is good."
What about your current sponsors, why they are with you, how did you get these sponsors?
"This year had been good for me as I have managed to receive a lot of help and support from many sponsors. These include Thornbury MX, SixSixOne, Proppa.com, Ultimate Windows and Jeremy Bingham Personal Training.
All of these companies and people help me out loads which I am grateful for as it helps in many ways throughout the season and also financially as motocross is an expensive sport.
If anyone would like to help me out in the future I would appreciate it loads and they can contact me on Neale_599@hotmail.com."
Finally let's talk about two more things:
"This year had been good for me as I have managed to receive a lot of help and support from many sponsors. These include Thornbury MX, SixSixOne, Proppa.com, Ultimate Windows and Jeremy Bingham Personal Training.
All of these companies and people help me out loads which I am grateful for as it helps in many ways throughout the season and also financially as motocross is an expensive sport.
If anyone would like to help me out in the future I would appreciate it loads and they can contact me on Neale_599@hotmail.com."
Finally let's talk about two more things:
- Firstly, talk us through your recent injury
"This was just a small thing that should have never of really happened. I went practicing in the school holidays just before the season was about to start and cased a double jump as the take off was a bit slippery and ended up braking both of my legs.
It wasn’t very pleasant at all but I still went and watched the races every weekend and found I learnt a lot of things when watching other riders. It also made me realise how much fun it is and when I started racing again I enjoyed it a lot more. At first I was trying a bit too hard and kept crashing but managed to ride pretty well as the season ended."
- Now give us a few words on your ambitions as a rider and a person. What do you want to achieve on and off the bike.
"My goals for this year are to win the Kawasaki Masters and do as well as I can in the AMCA championship, as it will be my first year doing it.
In the future I would like to be a top championship rider hopefully putting myself in a position where I can get picked for the Great Britain IMBA team. This would be a good experience for me and I think I could do this if I keep trying to improve all the time and I hope to keep riding for as long as possible as it’s the sport that I enjoy the most, by far!
Finally, I would just like to say a big thank you for everyone that has helped me out over the years and see you at the races!!!"
"This was just a small thing that should have never of really happened. I went practicing in the school holidays just before the season was about to start and cased a double jump as the take off was a bit slippery and ended up braking both of my legs.
It wasn’t very pleasant at all but I still went and watched the races every weekend and found I learnt a lot of things when watching other riders. It also made me realise how much fun it is and when I started racing again I enjoyed it a lot more. At first I was trying a bit too hard and kept crashing but managed to ride pretty well as the season ended."
- Now give us a few words on your ambitions as a rider and a person. What do you want to achieve on and off the bike.
"My goals for this year are to win the Kawasaki Masters and do as well as I can in the AMCA championship, as it will be my first year doing it.
In the future I would like to be a top championship rider hopefully putting myself in a position where I can get picked for the Great Britain IMBA team. This would be a good experience for me and I think I could do this if I keep trying to improve all the time and I hope to keep riding for as long as possible as it’s the sport that I enjoy the most, by far!
Finally, I would just like to say a big thank you for everyone that has helped me out over the years and see you at the races!!!"
