2013 has been a breakthrough year for Queenslander Brock Winston. After several years running around the top 10 mark, sinking cash into the endless racing money-pit and debating whether to give up on the sport he loves, the 25-year-old has finally landed a ride with the Choice Motorsports KTM team for the second half of the season.

Throughout 2010, 2011 and 2012, the Sunshine Coaster knocked on the door of the top 10 in the MX2 class when he got behind the bars, but the financial burden of racing saw him quit for the majority of 2011.

“I was just over it and it was doing my head in,” explains Winston. “In 2010 I had a trainer and tried to do everything right and didn’t see any improvement. I spent all my money, so I decided to quit and start saving for a house. But even then I found myself in front of a computer every weekend watching the live results.”

The racing itch soon became too much and Winston again returned to the paddock. After another string of top 10 results last year, the concreter feels like everything has clicked in 2013.

“My whole approach has changed this year,” he explains. “I’m training less and feeling fitter than ever. I honestly think I’d been over-doing it for the past five years, but this year I’m pumped for every round instead of dreading it.

“I used to go to club days and be able to run the pace of the top guys, but couldn’t make it happen at the nationals. I made a big deal about it in my head and this year I’m trying to treat it as just another race. I think that’s the biggest difference; I’m 25 now, and I’ve got to start making it happen if I want to take my racing anywhere.”

2013 started with bang when he received a last-minute call-up from the Red Bull KTM team in New Zealand to race the New Zealand Motocross Nationals. Despite not having done any training, Winston took up the offer and rewarded the team with a race win at the opening round at Timaru, before riding solidly to second overall in the championship behind JCR Yamaha’s Scott Columb.

“Riding the NZ nationals was the best thing I’ve done. The racing was so intense and the tracks were amazing. It really got me in the zone for the MX Nationals opener.”

Opting to ride a near-stock KTM 250SX two-stroke (solely for financial reasons) for the 2013 Monster Energy MX Nationals, Winston rocketed to sixth overall at Raymond Terrace, all while working out of a van, cleaning his own bike and making any running repairs along the way.

Two weeks later he drove solo from Queensland to South Australia, then dropped jaws across the paddock with his first-ever MX2 podium performance.

“It was tough doing it all by myself,” Winston admits. “I’ve had to borrow money from people to race this year, which is something I’ve never had to do before. I came pretty close to not even racing this year, but stuck it out because people were telling me I was on the radar of a few teams.”

Winston’s craziest privateer moment came at Broadford where he grabbed a shocker of a start and clambered through the pack from dead last to finish fourth… but he had no idea what position he was in.

“I still didn’t have a mechanic or anyone showing me a pitboard letting me know my position. I thought I was around 10th, so I was really surprised to finish so high up on a track that was hard to pass on.”

The next day Anthony Giles from Choice Motorsports KTM called Winston and offered him his first-ever team ride. After ironing out the transition with his personal sponsors and supporters, Winston took up the offer.

Ironically, Winston had his worst result of the season at his first outing as a Choice Motorsports rider at Conondale, where he finished eighth overall. He rode his own bike but with some team bling and graphics, as there was no time to conduct testing before the race.

“I think I put a bit of pressure on myself again, like I used to,” Winston evaluates. “It was kinda fun doing my own thing and I wasn’t expecting to feel the pressure that I did. The track was tough on a two-stroke too – I crashed four times and broke my goggles in the first moto, but still finished 10th, then got a bad start in the second race and had to come through from 20th to eighth.

“I was pretty angry about my performance, but I only dropped one position in the points, so I think I salvaged a bad round fairly well.”

With the mid-season break now under way, Winston is driving to Victoria today to race the Swan Hill round of the Victorian titles this weekend, then do some testing with the team on Monday… something he’s completely unfamiliar with.

“I’ve never done any testing, so I don’t really know what to expect but am pretty excited for it. Luckily we have a really good starting point for the bike, but I’m going to do laps on both the 250SX and 250SXF and find out which I’m faster on. From there we’ll try a bunch of settings and get it dialed in, then come into the second half of the season strong with the aim of a top three championship finish.”