Seventeen-year-old British rider Danny Kent is one of the hottest prospects in the MotoGP 125 World Championship. We caught up with him.
Following a brief series of guest appearances for Lambretta last season after his second place in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, for 2011 Danny has landed a ride at the Red Bull Ajo Motorsport outfit who delivered Marc Márquez his 125 title last year, and in just his second race for the team at Jerez, Danny sealed fourth place.
After a spot of Thai curry with Danny at a restaurant close to London’s Tower Bridge (“I’ve been to Japan, but I’ve never used chopsticks before,” he says), we dodge back once more through some unpredictable pavement-based fountains in unseasonably warm April sunshine and sit down with Danny back at Red Bull HQ to ask him a few questions about his burgeoning career…
How did your 2010 British GP wildcard and the experience with Lambretta at the end of last season prepare you for a full campaign in 125 this year?
To be honest, for the Silverstone GP last year, we only really went there to qualify. They [the Aztec Grand Prix Honda team] built the engine themselves, so even in the BSB [British Superbikes] paddock, the bike was still 10mph slower than the other bikes. But the last five rounds with the Lambretta did me some good. Seven riders had ridden that bike, got off it at the end and said it wasn’t good enough, and left the team. Once I’d finished second in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, they offered me the last five rounds, and in the last round I’d managed to get up to P10 and then the engine seized! But I think those five rounds opened people’s eyes, especially when I finished third in the wet session at Phillip Island in Australia.
'Next year, Moto3 will be a level playing field'
What do you want to have achieved at the end of this season?
Throughout the year, I just want to be really consistent, keep on progressing and keep on finishing in the points. It’s my first full year, so there’s no pressure on me. There a still a few more tracks I’ve got to learn. I just need to go out there and keep progressing, I think that’s what most people are looking for, then we’ll see where we go from there.
You say on your website that your hobbies are ‘training and working’. How difficult is it balancing the life of a pro racer with your home life?
Yeah, maybe my website needs updating a bit! [Laughs] To be honest, when I’m at home, I’m always concentrating on training so I’m in the best physical shape possible for the racing, but I also have a social life, so I can hang out with my friends now and then.
You obviously get on well with your team-mate Jonas Folger from your Rookies Cup days, but are you friendly with any of the other riders in the series?
To be honest, I’m friends with quite a few people – if I named them all, it would probably be quite a long list! There’s [fellow Brits] Taylor McKenzie and Harry Stafford from the Rookies last year, and quite a few other people I talk to around the paddock.
Aki Ajo obviously has big ambitions for the future, will you be racing in Moto3 for an Ajo Motorsport team next year?
I’ve already signed a contract to stay with Aki for next year, for Moto3. Next year should be a really good year for me. I’m not on the best material at the moment – I can go out and get podiums, yeah, but I’m not on the newest Aprilia. But next year, it’ll be a level playing field and it’ll be new to everyone [Moto3 will be a 250cc category]. So I think there will be a bit more pressure on me next year.
GEPA Pictures/Gold & Goose
How do you relax after a race?
After a race, especially when I’ve had a long-haul flight, I have a couple days’ relaxing to let the muscles heal before I start training hard again. But in the evenings, after training, I’ll watch TV – I like watching 90210 as the girls in it are nice – play Xbox or go and see some friends.
Where do you see yourself career-wise in five years’ time?
Hopefully I’ll be in MotoGP and at the top. That’s my ambition.
Who’s your motorsport hero?
I’ve always got on well with James Toseland. I’ve known James, really, from when I started in minimotos, and I wanted to be like him.
How did you first get into minimoto racing?
Well, we went to our local go-kart track, as we wanted to go on the go-karts, but then, seeing the minimotos, I had a go on one and loved it. My dad bought me one for Christmas and then someone saw me on the inside track and said I should try some racing outdoors. I won my first outdoor minimoto race. I started learning from there, worked my way up and I’ve joined the World Championship this year.
'As they jumped over they had some guns pointed at them'
One of your sponsors is your local Tetbury Audi dealer. Have they offered you a car now you’re 17?
[Laughs] There was some talk about that, but at the moment they’re just paying me a little bit of sponsorship.
Do you get recognised in your home town or do you maintain a low profile?
Yeah, I get recognised a lot, as where I live is not a very big town [Danny lives in Tetbury, a market town on the edge of the Cotswolds in the west of England]. The population’s quite small, so I can be walking down to the gym and someone will strike up a conversation and ask how the racing’s going. I’m quite well-known.
Heir to the British throne (and soon to be proud father at a royal wedding) Prince Charles’s estate at Highgrove is near Tetbury, isn’t it?
If you look out of my parents’ bedroom window, you can see Prince Charles’s house, yeah. I know a few people who went out one night and jumped over a wall at Highgrove, and as they jumped over they had some guns pointed at them! [Laughs] That sort of scared them a bit…
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