For new CDR Yamaha Off Road Team rider Tom McCormack, riding has always been about being in the bush. Ever since he started riding at the age of eight, the Byron Bay local has focused almost solely on the dodging trees and racing the clock.

After a break-out junior year in 2009 when he finished second to Ben Burrell, McCormack jumped up to the senior ranks in 2010 and immediately made his presence felt with a third in the Pro E1 championship.

“I really enjoyed stepping up to the pros,” Tom states. “I don’t think it’s as bad a jump as in motocross and you’re only racing against the clock and not each other. I wouldn’t say I have a huge amount of natural talent, but I’m a hard worker and I enjoy training.

“Living in Byron makes it pretty easy to get out for a run or cycle as it’s so nice here, there’re a lot of locals and we’ve gotsome unreal riding up here.”

After a great rookie year, 2011 and 2012 were riddled with crashes and injuries, including getting knocked out three times.

In 2013 he signed to ride for AJ Roberts’ Active8 Yamaha team. The pair worked hard on working with Tom’s raw speed and finetuning his style.

“That really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I’ve always worked hard, but as a privateer I didn’t really know what to work on, and hammering motos isn’t necessarily always the best thing to do. AJ taught me a lot and the results started to come for me.”

2013 saw a new-look McCormack return to the podium with an impressive third overall in the Pro E1 class in the AORC and he re-signed for 2014 with AJ’s Active8 team. The results speak for themselves, with Tom dominating every major E1 championship in 2014.

On top of that, he and his brother dabbled their toes in the GNCC scene in the US, which proved to be a real eye-opener.

“The tracks there, man, they’re that rough, the first lap is far worse than what we’d race on the last day of any special test,” he laughs. “We did Western Virginia and Tennessee, but I was using a practice bike at the first race and blew it up, then at Tennessee I was running fifth and snapped my rear brake pedal off.

“If I’d been anywhere else I probably would’ve pulled out, but I stuck with it and finished 10th. It was an awesome experience and I can see myself racing there in the future.”

Back in Australia, though, McCormack’s talents had attracted the attention of the CDR Yamaha Off Road Team, and the team’s heavy focus on off-road racing struck a chord with Tom.

“The team is strictly focused on off-road racing, which is a perfect fit for me,” he says. “I’m not really interested in desert racing such as Finke or the Condo 750; growing up I didn’t see myself as a desert racer, and AJ’s team’s focus is almost 50-50 between desert and off-road.

“I wasn’t ready to put 100 percent into the desert stuff and wanted to focus on the Aussie Four-Day, the AORC and the Six Days, so I jumped at the offer to join the CDR team.”

McCormack’s already enjoying the change and is more than impressed with the team’s professionalism and organisation.

“The team is very businesslike and doesn’t muck around, which I really like,” he explains. “The WR250F I’m riding this year is unbelievable and Craig Dack is unreal to work for. To be honest I was a bit worried about him at the start, but he has given me so much advice, encouragement and guidance. The team is the best at what they do and the mechanics are so dialed in.”

With his new team and aboard a WR250F instead of the YZ250F he’s used the past two years, Tom’s very clear about what he wants to achieve in 2015.

“Obviously I want to win the Off-Road championship and the Aussie Four-Day. They’re the main goals, but I’d like to challenge for Outright wins this year as well. My times are competitive enough that I can do that, and if I can avoid injuries and be consistently fast every round, I know I’ll be up front, especially on the rougher sand tracks, which are my strongest points.

“If I have a good year and the opportunity comes up to race overseas in 2016, I’ll seriously consider it, but otherwise I’ll be very happy to stay with CDR for another year.”