Late last week 2007 Australian Motocross Champion Daniel Reardon caught everyone off-guard when it was announced that he was emerging from retirement to race the 2015 MX Nationals and supercross with CDR Yamaha. With so many questions whirling through our heads and so much speculation on social media we decided to give the 29-year-old a call and get the answers straight from the horse’s mouth.

Dan, I’ll be honest mate, when I saw the news that you’d joined CDR Yamaha I actually checked the calendar to make sure it wasn’t April Fool’s Day…

A lot of people have been saying that to me! I kept it under wraps for quite some time and it was pretty fun to come out and surprise everyone with the news.

So what’s the deal? How did you come to the decision to return to motocross?

It kinda started when Brett Whale convinced me to do the North Brisbane Cup flat track race. I didn’t think much of it leading up to it, but I got such a buzz from it. Then a mate of mine loaned me a KX450F and I rode that a couple of times, then he started pushing for me to race the first round of the Sunny State Championships. At that stage I’d ridden twice and said ‘if you want me to do that, I’m going to have to steal this bike so I can practice’. I was loving being back riding and made a few calls, but I knew it was a weird time of year with all the team budgets set. At best I went with the expectation that I might be on the reserve list for if a rider got injured during the season. I even tried to get a bike through a shop deal, but no-one would help me out. I’d heard the industry was doing it tough, but I didn’t realise it was that tough. I was probably a week out from actually buying my own bike when the deal from CDR started to gain some traction.

Did you have much of a relationship with Craig Dack leading up to this?

Not really. Over the years I’d had offers to race for CDR and I knew they were a solid team, but after spending time with them testing, they’ve got to be the most professional team in the pits and have the best resources. Before this I’d say mine and Dacka’s relationship had been professional, but now that we’re together we get along really well.

Did you miss the sport at all while you were away?

To be honest, I didn’t miss it at all. I didn’t follow it and had nothing to do with it, so the past few weeks I’ve been playing catch-up on who won what while I was away. During my time off I was working hard out west putting high voltage cables in the ground, which got boring real quick. A lot of the guys out in the mines are fans of the sport and were blown away that I was out there putting cables in the ground, but as far as I was concerned I was done with racing. It sounds strange, but I didn’t realise how much I’d missed the competition and the battling until I was out there. At work there were no goals or motivation, so once I started riding again I realised how good it was and started having fun again.

Let’s take a step back for a minute. Can you explain why you quit in the first place?

For a lot of reasons, both personal and professional. The number one reason was I was burnt out and had had enough. I wasn’t having fun and I wasn’t in a good place personally, with the team, and a lot of things were happening in all different aspects in my life. It wasn’t a snap decision to stop – it was a process as I decided I didn’t want to do it any more and I needed to move onto something different.

And from there you got into personal training and started dabbling in car racing?

Exactly. When I stopped racing I did the whole gym and training thing as I was passionate about it and as that was going on I dabbled in cars a bit. Again, it was the competitive nature that drew me to it. Cars and bikes are so similar with set-up and testing and the same concepts apply, but man, car racing is way more expensive. It was fun but expensive, even though I was racing a discipline called Time Attack, which is effectively timed qualifying as an event and you set the car up for one or two laps. At the same time I spent some time at Paul Morris’ Holden Performance Centre and looked at ways to get involved in the V8 Supercars, but you need a decent wallet to get a start.

How has the reaction been from people when they either heard or read the news of your comeback?

The first reaction was shock as not many people knew I was even riding. Even up in Queensland I’d see Gibbsy and the guys out riding, but I just told them I had a day off work and wanted to go riding. I wasn’t lying, but I didn’t tell the full story either! Once the media grabbed hold of the news the majority of people have been positive about my return, but there are always some people who have something bad to say. That’s a reflection on them and not me and that’s part and parcel of life. But the vast majority of people have said they’re excited and can’t wait to see me back out there.

Considering the last time you raced was back in 2012 – pretty much two and a half years ago – do you think you’ve still got what it takes to race the top guys and be a contender?

100 percent. My mental attitude for the sport hasn’t changed and I wouldn’t jump in again if I didn’t want to give it my best shot. Time might be against me to be ready in time for the first round, but I’m not concerned about that and it doesn’t count me out. The main thing I’m going to be looking for is momentum – let’s get a couple of solid rides in initially and we’ll build from that. I might’ve lost my edge a little in respect to speed and bike skill, but after a month of solid practice I think I’ll have sharpened that edge again. Bike fitness is going to be the biggest thing. Riding 30-minute motos takes its toll on the body and you can’t rush the process of conditioning it properly. I think, though, that if I can be solid for 30 minutes every moto, everything else should flow along nicely.

And who’s going to be your mechanic this year?

Brad McAlpine. He was my mechanic back at JDR KTM and I had a great relationship with him when I came back from the US and rode for Honda. Brad’s a solid guy and believes in me. He helped put the whole CDR deal in motion and to work with him again is the perfect fit. I’ve found my love for riding and for the sport again and I’m just having a blast.

Well it’s great to have you back, bud. All the best for the pre-season testing and we’ll see you in a few weeks time.

Thanks mate. See you there.