At only 15 years of age, Kayden Minear forms part of an expanded KTM Racing Team contesting the 2023 Penrite ProMX Championship, where he has stepped up to MX2 after winning the development category last season. MotoOnline tracked down the high-rated young Western Australian for this latest Fast Thoughts interview.

The chance to ride for KTM’s factory team…

I was quite surprised when I got the call to ride for the team, I was over the moon. It’s just such a great team and for me being on KTM my whole life, it was a dream come true. Since I was little I’ve always looked at KTM as the team I’ve wanted to be on. I can’t thank them enough.

Stepping up to MX2 while still being eligible for MX3…

Stepping up to MX2, that came about last year, we were having a conversation one day and I said I want to go MX2 next year even if I didn’t win MX3. I felt like I was holding myself back if I did that for another year and I really didn’t want to do that. I thought even if I didn’t get a ride, we’d give it all we got and go from there.

Initial impressions of competing in the professional ranks…

My first race was the AMX MX Open at Wonthaggi and that was really nerve-racking. I just remember pulling the holeshot in the first race and thinking ‘what the hell am I doing in the lead’. The nerves definitely got me, but being in MX2 now, there are definitely more mature riders and it’s a lot harder because they’re so consistent lap-to-lap.

Transitioning to the new generation 250 SX-F…

I’m loving the new bike, as soon as I got my hands on one I fell in love. I got one prior to the last round in 2022 and I was trying to convince my Dad into letting me race the stock 2023 I liked it that much, but he didn’t let me, we stuck with the 22 model. But yeah, these new bikes, my mechanic and team have built me a really good bike and I love it.

Ideal career path from this point…

My plan before this season kicked off was to have a learning year, but after a few races, how I feel on the bike and the incline we’re going at, we’re definitely going to stick to Australia for the next year. From there we’ll just look at what pathways open. I’d love to go to America, I’d really love to race Supercross and the motocross over there, plus I really love to race and America seems to be the place where they do the most racing, so that’s the goal for sure.