Catching Up with...Aron Harvey

May 25 2009 - 12:32pm - Steve Matthes

Last season there were a few "Huh's?" when Blackfoot Yamaha announced that they were hiring Aron Harvey to ride the MX2 class for them. Not much was known about the Carson City, Nevada native but the motocross fans soon saw that Aron was here to stay and be a factor. After a rough adjustment, the 21 year old found his groove and won three nationals last year, as a matter of fact the Harvey express was coming on strong with four moto wins in a row before a broken leg at Riverglade haulted his charge.
He's back on Blackfoot for 2009 and is one of the favorites for the MX2 title. DMX caught up with the friendly, confident Nevada kid for his take on the upcoming season.

DMX:What’s your outlook coming into the season? I know last year you were really coming on before you broke your leg.

Aron Harvey: Yeah, I feel a lot better this year. I wasn’t really that healthy coming into last year you know, so as far as that goes I’m in a better position this year already. So it should be good.

How is your bike and body compared to last year? Are you coming in better prepared, healthy and ready?

Yeah, I’m coming in a lot better for sure. I mean, I’ve been preparing more than I ever have before so I feel a lot better so it should be good.

How’s your teammate Dusty Klatt been riding?

Good. We rode together a lot and just being with him I’ve seen him improve a lot and it was fun being with him. We got along pretty good and pushed each other so it was good.

Harvey is looking to keep the MX2 title down south
in '09. Don't bet against him.

How much did you know about the Canadian series before you came up last year?

I watched it on TV the previous years because it was on down here. I knew Jimmy Nelson was doing it and he was kind of a local so I kinda followed him a little bit.

Even though it ended kind of poorly with your injury. What was your take on racing in Canada? What was the whole experience like for you?

It was cool, I mean, coming up I thought it was going to be just racing in Canada but when I went up there different because all the Canadians want the Canadians to do good. So that’s kind of different but it was alright. I think I earned people’s respect. I wasn’t cocky or anything.

So going up there was a positive step in your career you feel?

Yeah, it was good. Racing different tracks and racing different people. It’s definitely good to get out of my comfort zone. I enjoyed it.

What’s up with Jimmy Nelson? What was his deal last year and what’s he been up to now?

I don’t know. He got sick I guess and I don’t really talk to him too much. I guess he’s working and stuff and he’s racing a little bit here and there.

That kid—he’s fast. Legitimately he’s got a lot of talent.

Oh yeah. If it wasn’t for Jimmy I wouldn’t have been able to try out Blackfoot. I’m really thankful that he put a word in for me you know.

Aron rocking his new number 18 for Lissimore's lens in Cario, Georgia.

What’s your contract situation like? Do you have another year with Blackfoot or is this your last year?

I just go one year deals. So I don’t know what’s going to happen next year. The ultimate goal for me is to come down to America down here where I live and be on a team. Blackfoot has definitely helped me out and you know if I continued racing up there that’s great too. I’ve got a lot of big time goals, not only to win the Canadian series but if I don’t do that it’s not the end of the world. I want to do a lot of things in my career.

In one sense its great riding for Blackfoot because they’re one of the best teams and handle everything for you but the flip side is they don’t want you to race down here and you can understand their thinking but maybe it hurts a guy like you.

Yeah, I probably ruined it for everyone. They let me race supercross last year and then I got hurt and then I wasn’t fully prepared for last year. So it was perfectly understandable. On the down-side, we train so hard only for nine races.

Is there a race you’re most looking forward to in Canada?

I pretty much look forward to all of them. I mean I like pretty much all the tracks that we did last year. There will be a few new ones this year. I’m definitely looking forward to Calgary. It looks really fun you know the city’s right there and everything. So that should be fun.

Who are you looking at to be your main threat in the MX2 class?

I never really look at anyone. I just concentrate on myself and as long as I can do that then that’s my goal, but there’s a lot of fast guys. It’s a long series and you have to put a lot of good motos in and that’s what I’m going to try and do.