When we are not flogging down the most epic runs of our lives, we are chilling in the van on the road. I grabbed some lunch and hit Ramon up about his filming, truck development, race history and have been stoked to find out so much about the euro scene from him. I also asked him about Teolo and how it was to race there again, a track where he does really well at but hasn’t taken a win yet.

Sometimes on the road you just had to make ends meet

Rob: Did you think you would be able to beat James' new time when you saw it broken on Saturday (Ramon held the previous track record at Teolo until James Kelly set a new record on day one of qualifying). Ramon: Yes, james took the time riding very aggressively, he must have been pushing and drifting through corners, he predrifts a lot too and must have dialled it, but  I kew that if I just breaked a bit less and pumped a bit harder I could take it yes. Rob: Whats the benefits of pumping on this track. Ramon: I had semis with Dalua, when we got to the bottom he stopped to tell me he was unable to catch me out of the corners. He pushed 5 times out of the last corner and even with his huge powerful push he could not keep up. The thing with pumping is I don’t have to wait till im on a straight to begin accelerating, I pump right out of the corner and down the straight. Rob: How where the other rounds? Was it a difficult race? Ramon: The second round I had Batt (Christoph Batt - SWI), Nico (Nicolas Desmaris - CAN) and Zac (Zack Maytum - USA), all riders who have one world cup races before, its getting harder each race and rounds 1-3 are no longer a walk in the park. I had an accident with nico too, I was foot breaking into the left and he scubbed to much infront of me in his predrift, as we changed direction for the right we met in the middle (same thing happened to Rob with misho). Teolo is a bit sketch, so many different riding styles, all fast and all very different. I don’t think it matters as much as it does here than any other track. Rob: What wheels are best here? Ramon: I'm riding Pink (78a) Bigzigs Reflex formula. 2 years ago it was the limes (80a), then it got repaved and the road became a bit rougher and held more oil, now I have full grip. Rob: Do you enjoy this race? Ramon: It was so hot, I was thinking "Awesome I advance to the nect round" but "damn I havet to stay in this heat in my leathers" ( top temp 37degrees), its hot standing around but once in my tuck, the adrenaline takes it all away and I focus. Most people aren't amped on this track - its tech, its intense, but its slow. when your surrounded by good riders it makes it really interesting. I don’t think people expect this year to be so good but the riders performance makes it spectacular. The city comes alive for the race. Its a bit funny, its an extreme sports festival but held more like an atheletics carnaval. Theres girls handing you your water at the bottom, and the busses have air-con, your treated like a profetional here and I don’t think skaters are used to that. We get fed really well, it’s the only race in the tour that has prize money (10% of a Aussy world cup, yew ASRA) only race in Europe with a jumbo tron and if they just found a better track it could be the best race on the tour too. Rob: Cheers for that Ramon, sorry to see that bird just shat on your lunch, what can you do.  

a disappointed ramon ater a bird shat in his lunch