And you guys made the A main for the first time in awhile?
Since nine years we didn’t make it. So, it was a big accomplishment.

That’s pretty good. So what is the plan for the off season?
I am flying back to Japan tomorrow to see my family. My family is here, but we are all going to go back, spend some time there and then right back at it.

Yeah, you got that cat in you.
You think that was cat in me today?

Until the end.
Then it faded.

[Jo likes to say that he doesn't have that dog in him. He says he has that cat in him!]

Ken Roczen | Germany | 18-12

Alright, Ken, not the day you wanted but you get a lot of passing points for the day.
Roczen: I have no idea what I ended up, I just tried to go as long as I can, but I’m not prepped good enough for that. The track was fricking sketchy in some areas, like really sketchy. That’s not an excuse, that’s just for me, I know that but I wanted to show up, it's going to help me anyways. It’s a good little dig. But yeah, just a disastrous day for Germany. I mean Simon [Langenfelder] got knocked out off the bat, then that first crash is on me, it just happened so fast. I came around the first turn, I had a really good start, I was second and third, Jett was right there, and he went to the inside rut. I knew there wasn’t a full-blown berm like how it was yesterday so I kind of just made myself light and stayed low, but they did water it and it was way slicker than I thought it was and just crashed.

The second moto you crashed ten feet earlier.
Yeah someone crashed in front of me, I couldn’t go and then kind of fell over. And then his footpeg was stuck on my brake line in the back so when he lifted it up I saw that it kinked a bit and I was like, “Shit, I hope my brakes are still there.” Which they worked so I don’t know if it damaged it but I saw it. Took me a little while to get going too, especially in the first one, I was so far back I was pissed.

Just eating rocks.
Oh god, the crossover, or sometimes the split second you get roosted it makes you so fricking mad internally dude, I am like “Oh god.”

Then at some point you were 38^th and Cairoli was 39^th and I was like, “Oh look at that two legends back there.”
Yeah, I went to work in the beginning but towards the end I was getting tired, just not ready for it. But it's always fun to kind of get slapped in the face a little bit, too.

I would say the highlight was yesterdays qualifying race where you got a great start and stuck with Jett.
The cards just fell a little bit unlucky for us you know what I mean? So then after Simon was out, I was like, “Well, there goes everything for pretty much.” Of course, I still want to go out there for myself too but even coming from behind I went as long as I could, I didn’t want to yard sale myself either. Because it did get really sketchy out there, I thought at least.

Some of the guys were saying whatever they did [track work] overnight didn’t really work?
Yeah, I struggled today overall, especially in the free practice today in the morning, it's hard to go cold turkey on a track that was actually quite a bit more beat up than the qualifying race. So, it just started off kind of odd right away, it was hard to get a flow and make the track come together. We did make some suspension changes too that I just ended up going back to what I knew, I feel like it was a safer bet. Made a couple of little tweaks after the first one which I feel like it improved a little bit so yeah. In the end I went as good as I could and it just didn’t… but like you said, yesterday was good for me.

It was just such a Kenny Roczen moment where you told us you barely rode and then you come out and get second behind Jett.
Yeah that was really cool and even just riding a little bit, you get a taste. I know that I still can [got fast] but it wasn’t like I had great days on Tuesday/Wednesday. I felt super awkward out there it was just weird. But you try to just throw that out and when you come here you try to turn it around and I did. So a lot of positives to take away, yeah.

You have been on the team before and then you didn’t ride for a few years, where are you at for riding for team Germany from year to year?
It's a tough one. I mean afterwards when you’re healthy, and now that I am standing here I am like, “It was a good dig” or whatever but it is questionable sometimes. It gets miserable out there, or at least I do. I knew that I wasn’t ready but I know how to go fast so it's just a matter of time until you have your tongue in your spokes. So it was what it was.

Antonio Cairoli | Italy | 25-13

Matthes: Okay Tony, you are too old for this shit, I heard you got landed on and hurt your arm or wrist, were you close to not riding the other moto or were you just going to go for it?
Cairoli: Yeah, I had quite a big, let’s say, happing, to my hands the first moto. I got landed on. But yeah it was tough. I had to take all of my experience to try to finish both races. First moto was terrible. I didn’t even know what I had on my hands, I thought it was worse. But in the end it was a fracture, a little one but I think I did my best. Second moto I arrive in front of my teammate, we improve last year’s results. Of course, my goal was to finish top five. Fifth was our realistic goal and we were short for one point to the top five. A bit of a pity but that’s racing.

Did you enjoy your experience overall though?
Yeah, I love it. Actually yesterday I thought was a better track than today. Today I think the guy from MXGP took over and prepared the track and you could see the track was a bit sketchy in a lot of places. So, I rather prefer when the local guys [AMA] prepare the track. I wasn’t too happy this morning with those things they make on the track. A lot of split lanes, it cuts off the rhythm and you couldn’t flow around the track so well. I think also a lot of riders agree with my opinion but in the end everybody has the same track.

At one point in the first moto you were 39^th and Roczen was 38^th, I was like “Look at these two guys.”
Yeah I said, “Okay lets follow Kenny” I know he’s fast but in the end we couldn’t come so much in the front. On my side I was really struggling with pain and I couldn’t hang on with my handlebar. Second moto, again we rode both races together for a little better spot. But still for sure was not what he aim for and what I expect.

So you have been a big part of the Ducati thing, how far has the bike come? Yeah, I think we improve, let’s say ten percent. Not too much. I expected to be more in front with the improving. Unfortunately, some things didn’t arrive on time, and some things get docked in the production. We rode with some updates but it's not enough, I can tell you also second moto I had a good start but when we got in the ripped section [of the start], we need more torque. I had a better reaction than Jett, I was in front of him the first two, three meters but then yeah. But of course, we are riding with not a factory bike. It's the same, we have a little improvement from what I had at Pro Motocross, let’s say, but it's still not enough. We need to push more.

Have you talked with the riders that will be riding here next year?
Yeah, I talk with [Justin] Barcia a couple of times, and I know his riding style is a bit tricky for this bike also because he is always wide open. Which can help a bit because this bike has a lot of RPM. So, I think he likes it but I think we need to still improve. Especially for supercross when you come out of the corners and you need to triple something. There’s some work to do but Ziggy [Factory Connection] is the man, and he will make it happen.