With the Christmas festive season put to bed for another year, it’s time to focus on the encroaching season ahead. For many, the New Year usually brings change – new bikes and new colours, along with a fresh outlook and determination to improve upon the 12-months gone past. Having spent the majority of his racing life competing for TM UK, Stuart Edmonds is undergoing these changes as he gets settled into his new team with the TYCO by TAS Suzuki. Rolling out onto the sands of Magilligan in Northern Ireland offered Edmonds an opportunity to ease himself into his fresh surroundings and burn of a bit of Christmas pudding.
New Look: It's all change for Stuart Edmonds in 2012
“It’s been good to get back out on track after the Christmas break,” smiled a tired but happy Stuart. “I took a break from riding bikes after the Belfast Supercross so this is really just the start of getting back into the swing of things. Overall I’m really happy with how we’ve got on so far. The Suzuki RM-Z 250 felt good, it pulled strong in the sand and this was only the practice bike from the team’s 2011 setup. Already I feel we’re on the right track with things so I’m looking forward to getting more track time done and building my pace up towards the beginning of the season.”
“I picked up a bit of the flu over the winter so I didn’t expect to get too many sessions in but once I got into the flow of it I didn’t really want to stop. Today’s been a lot of fun and I’m feeling good about what this year can bring. I also got to break in my new riding kit so I’d like to thank Alpinestars, Troy Lee Designs and Rip ‘n’ Roll for my new wardrobe!”
We’ll catch back up with Stuart before his season begins…
Photo: (c) Colin Mcilhagger