Sam Hill - HERE and now

Friday afternoon of the Bright National Championships, cleaned up after a day of wet runs, we manage a five minute sit down with Sam Hill.

Sat in the back of the cosy SRAM caravan talk immediately turns to the weekend’s race. Line choice is raised but no specifics given. Overall Hill says, ”It’s one of the best race tracks we’ve got in Australia”. Strong praise for the trail and the team behind it in the final year of hosting. He doesn’t talk of his chances, if only to say he is excited to be here. Steep tight and twisted as the track is, it’s not hard to see why.

Sam has just returned from Malaga in Spain after almost a week of testing. ‘Testing, new team kit, product testing and a little tapas’ he says putting it all down a little mildly. If anything he is actually underselling it, we’ll let the team video fill in the rest.

The team camp was unfortunately at the same time as Crankworx Rotorua, having raced last year I ask him if he missed the opportunity. He would have liked to have gone, he says although he would not have, given the arrival of a new born son just three weeks ago. As an interviewer I do not really want to delve into Sam’s family life, fortunately he is quite open about it.

There is no question that family life has had an effect on his racing career but not in the least has it been a negative. His racing life and home life are quite balanced “When I’m home, I’m home, not at a day job” he says astutely. “Chain Reaction are happy to fly me in and out when there is available time”, keeping him refreshed and focused when he returns to racing.

Sam Hill’s view of 2016

With this the chat turns to the future, Hill’s resolve for wins is the same as it’s ever been although the path to them has changed. Whilst he says in the past he would have chosen to go for the long goal of series champion. This year Sam is just looking to ride well, take each race as it comes and take home a few wins. If he is in a position to compete for series champion at the end, he will go for it. Whilst Sam did not single out any particular races when we asked, he did say that this year’s lineup looked very good. Lamenting that a few tracks offered more in the way of television coverage, than technicality and riding prowess.

Despite his numerous achievements, many of the sport’s fans have begun to doubt, with more questions thrown toward his riding than ever before. Those in doubt need only watch him on the mountain, not at how fast he goes but at how slow he can go. He is a master of bike control, line choice and turning it up right when he needs to. Whilst I’m sure this little insight has done little to dissuade his detractors, know Sam Hill is ready to attack at any given race. Sam Hill is once again the dark horse.

Sam Hill was 10th at Bright National Championships.