Kyle Buckley Interview | Ride Rage Radio speak to Kyle Buckley
RRR: Kyle Buckley, congratulations first of all on the round win but congratulations second of all on a fantastic season of racing, it’s been such a pleasure to watch you and Brandon Demmery literally go elbow to elbow at every single round.
Kyle: “Yeah, thanks, it’s been for sure one of the closest seasons I’ve had in the racing so far and yeah, I’m really enjoying how it’s gone so far and I hope that the good racing continues into Eastern Creek in a couple of months’ time.”
RRR: You of course turned up at the first round as one of the riders in Kelvin Reilly’s BCperformance Moto Go Kawasaki Team and immediately made your intentions quite clear at that first round of the championship and it just seems to have got better and better for you and the team ever since then, Kyle.
Kyle: “Yeah, Kelvin invited me into the team at the start of the year and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the team’s turned out to be one of the best in the paddock and the team spirit is certainly there, as you can see, there’s no funny business going on or anything. It’s really enjoyable, they’re a great bunch of people to go racing with and yeah. I mean at the start of the year I wasn’t quite sure about the 300, I was a bit sort of sceptical about it, but getting on it I reckon I’ve learned more than I have in any other years and yeah, it’s definitely not easy to ride like you would think.”
RRR: Well, Sophie Lovett actually gave you credit in her post-race interview for saying you’re the first person she’s ever seen back at Ninja 300 into the corners consistently lap after lap, and you were doing it plenty of times on the weekend.
Kyle: “Yeah, I noticed I was going down a gear more than everyone else in that one corner and it was a bit hard to pull the thing up and keep it in line, so I guess what happened naturally was it was stepping out a bit on me, but it’s certainly enjoyable to back them in and ride them a bit like a 600 I guess.”
RRR: Well, I’m glad you mentioned that, because you mentioned that you had a little bit trepidation about going into that class, because I remember first watching you race, I think it was back in 2008, as a junior on a little 150 up there at Queensland Raceway and then watching you progress through the other Superstock and up to Supersport machines. But I think Supersport and racing the 600 just basically got far too expensive for you and your dad to try and finance, and the Ninja 300 Kawasaki Insurance Cup seemed like a perfect option.
Kyle: “Yeah, that’s exactly right. I mean me and my dad, we couldn’t really afford to go racing on the 600 again, by yourselves it’s just way too expensive. And the 300 Cup is a fairly low sort of budget racing and there’s certainly no lacking in the racing quality. So yeah, I’m glad that I’ve jumped on the 300 this year, I can learn a heap on it and hopefully can do well at the next round and try to get ahead.”
RRR: Well, it’s the, two points I think there is in the championship standings now heading into the last round so I guess there can’t really be any strategy, can there Kyle? They’re only short races and it will just be pin your ears back and go as fast as you can, because you know that there’s not only Brandon Demmery but there’s also a whole lot of other guys that will be up there challenging for the race win.
Kyle: “Yeah, that’s exactly right. I mean Eastern Creek being the fast sort of flowing track that it is, I reckon that it’s going to be a heap of us up the front and of course being the last round everyone’s going to be going hell for leather, so it will certainly be interesting, so like you said there won’t be many tactics, it will just be going out and going as hard as we can and trying to get the wins.”
RRR: Now Kyle obviously you’ve been racing for a long time. Apart from you and your dad, is there anyone that’s really got behind you and provided you with some ongoing sponsorship to get you through or is it simply just you and your dad working your bums off to try and finance your racing?
Kyle: “Obviously my parents at the moment, being young, are my two main sort of sponsors and I can’t thank them enough, but also my uncle Ian and auntie Jane, they’ve helped me out heaps from their company called Doyle Media Services and they supported me from 2012 in the Superstock through ‘til now and the support they’ve given me is phenomenal and I can’t thank them enough.”
RRR: Well, I can’t thank you enough for putting on some of the best racing that we’ve seen this year, Kyle, best of luck in the last round of the championship at Phillip Island. You go in there as we’ve said with a two point lead and congratulations at taking out the round win down there at Wakefield Park on the weekend, well done!
Kyle: “Yeah, thanks a lot, Phil. I’ll be going very hard down at Eastern Creek and hoping to bring home some good results.”
