Catch-up with Luke Burkhart

Time has been flying by this year and its been over six months since the Nationals finished. There has been a lot going on in that time for me and seeing as i am now back in the moto game for summer its a good time to fill you all in.

Basically straight after the Nationals finished we jumped straight into winter crayfishing season. When the fishing gets fully into gear its pretty much a case of drop everything on your schedule and fish/eat/sleep seven days a week, weather permitting. The positive side to this is the super physical nature of our job means you build up a really solid base fitness over the course of the season. Thankfully we had a strong season on the boats so it felt like we were back out of the water before we knew it.

I have been contemplating removing the plates and screws out of my left wrist I hurt in 2008 for a while now. It gave me a lot of trouble early in the year with riding and fishing so I decided to commit to the surgery and get it done on September 1st. I also have a plate in each of my collarbones so I opted to get the older of the two plates removed at the same time. The surgery went smoothly so I now only have one plate left in my body which is a positive!

I took my health pretty serious in the build up to the surgery to try and boost my healing as much as possible. It seemed to pay off as I was back running within two weeks and on the rowing machine a week later. After realising I wasn't going to be able to get myself ready enough for the Labour Weekend race in Taupo I then shifted my focus to Auckland Champs on November 20th.

After having only ridden once in the past six months there was no shortage of motivation to get back on the bike. The CMR KTM Team got me hooked up with a fresh 2012 KTM250F a few weeks before the race. I managed to get about five good days on the bike before the race. Because I had worked hard on my base fitness before i started riding it made the transition pretty smooth. By the time the race weekend rolled around I was gettin pretty anxious to get behind the gate again.

It was awesome to catch up with Cannon, Martin and the team after my long layoff. They watered the track pretty decent so practice was pretty slick and sketchy.


Moto 1 - the holeshot. Image - Alan Henderson.

Moto 1: I pulled a holeshot but lost the lead out of the first turn. I followed Blake Gillard for a lap then got into the lead. I felt like I rode pretty tense but managed to stay settled and get the win. Winning my first moto back felt epic and I was keen to build on it and settle down a bit for the next two races.



Right hander leading down into the Supercross Section. Image - Alan Henderson.

Moto 2: I got a similar start and was in second for a few corners before I pushed into the lead. I felt like I rode a lot better in that moto and felt consistent and smooth. I got some pressure late in the race from Darryl King but knew I had enough to get it done, another win!

Moto 3: After winning the first two races it took a lot of pressure of me for the last race, although it was on my mind to go out and pull all three wins. I got an average start in the final moto but managed to ride super aggressive in the first few turns and push up to second. I block passed into the lead a few turns later. I felt the best I had all day and managed to pull out a comfy little margin. Once again I got some pressure from King late in the race. I knew what I needed to do so I was never phased by him being behind me.


DK was trying hard to reel Burga in and at the line it was just 0.163 of second between them. Image - Alan Henderson.

I have definitely got more in the tank for the rest of the upcoming races so you could say I wasn't showing all my cards just yet. None-the-less I got it done and pulled the clean sweep in my first race back. Definitely a good feeling and something I plan on replicating as much as possible over the summer.

Huge thanks to the team for all the support over that weekend.

The plan for me from here is to keep ticking over and get my speed and fitness better before Whakatane Summercross on December 27th. From there it will be a mix of fishing and training through January in preparation for the Woodville GP and the Nationals kicking off in February.

I have definitely got a new found motivation these last few months and with more preparation and a healthy body I know I can do the business this season. Time will tell.

I hope everyone is well and looking forward to a quality summer ahead.

Cheers
Luke Burkhart