Part of the Wilson Coolair Motul Suzuki team, and one of the most likeable characters in the pits, Luke Wilson is gearing up for yet another season contesting the premier class with the factory-backed Suzuki squad. For this latest edition of Fast Thoughts, MotoOnline.com.au checked in with the Queensland-based rider to quiz him on a selection of topics including his 2016 season, becoming a father and more.

Your 2016 season…

It was pretty average, I did a few things that I was happy with, but pretty much all season I was injured. During motocross I had a back injury from round one and that just kept playing up for the rest of the year, so motocross was pretty average and I wasn’t happy with it at all. But like I said, I had a few good motos that I was happy with. Supercross started off pretty well, but then I had an injury straight after round one in my neck, so I didn’t really get any time on the bike for the rest of the series. It could have been a lot better, but it was my first year back on the 450, so I was sort of happy enough to get a few top 10s and build on that for this year.

Riding with a factory team…

It’s awesome, but for me it’s still just myself and Dad, that’s the way I look at it, and everyone else around us is just helping us, which I am thankful for. But I just try to keep it as a myself and Dad thing to keep all of the pressure off. My bike was pretty good last year and we’ve already got it better for this year, we’ve got Luke Jones working with us now and my bike is a lot better than last year.

Becoming a father…

It has changed a whole lot of things for me. It has just brought a whole new aspect to life and it’s changed my way of thinking when it comes to riding, I’m actually in a better place. A lot of people say when you have a baby you’re done, but it sort of opened my eyes to life in all different aspects and riding is one of the opportunities I have. I’m going to grab onto it and have a real good go this year.

Teaming up with Kyle Peters…

I’m actually pretty pumped with Kyle. A lot of people go on about bringing American people over, but in the end it’s just trying to get the bike up the front. Kyle’s a good kid, we’ve worked with him before and I’m looking forward to it because I know everything will be happy with him. He’s from the same kind of family background as us and I’m looking forward to it, I feel it will be a good year with Kyle. I enjoyed the year with Todd [Waters] last year as well, having that experience around me, it’s really good. Any questions I have to ask, it’s definitely good to have their knowledge at the truck to help me out.

The future for Luke Wilson…

I think a lot of people made rumours up at I wasn’t going to be back this year, but I’m definitely coming back and as I said, having a baby has only motivated me even more for some reason. I’m just pumped with life and the opportunities that I have, so I’m here to stay and I’m looking forward to have a really good year this year. I’m setting my goals short, I’m not looking too far into the future, I just really want to be successful this year and go from there.