Australian international Tiger Wood has raced across the globe during the early stages of his young career, spending much of the past decade competing in North America. A Loretta Lynn’s amateur national champion, 18-year-old Wood enjoyed success in this year’s SMX Next series before signing with Honda Racing for a full AUSX SX2 campaign. MotoOnline catches up with the Queenslander in this edition of Five Questions.

Image: Foremost Media.

The opening night of AUSX in Redcliffe went really well for you and the second night was a little bit tougher – what were your takeaways from rounds one and two?

Yeah, it was a really good weekend. I wanted to prove to everyone that I could do it, and also prove to myself that I had the speed and ability to do it, and I feel like after the opening night, I was able to do that. Even night two in Redcliffe started well with the heat race holeshot and then P2, so all in all, I would say it was a good weekend.

You have limited supercross experience drawing just from your racing in SMX Next. Do you consider this your professional supercross debut?

I think this is for sure my pro debut. This is my first professional series of racing full-time, and yeah, I am treating it as if it is my pro debut. The plan for me is to make it a good one.

Being with such a decorated team in this country – they also have a presence in the US – what is your first impression working with Yarrive [Konsky] and the whole crew? It’s a big team.

I’m going to say that my first impression is that it is a big team, for sure. There are a lot of staff and a lot of riders, it’s an honour to be on such a big team. So, yeah, even the two rigs and the hospitality area are huge, and the team does a super-good job at providing for everyone, and giving a lot of people opportunities. It’s a cool program to be part of, and I am stoked to be here.

Image: Foremost Media.

And for next year, do you know what you are doing career-wise?

I don’t have a plan as yet, but I definitely want to finish this series off strong, and we’ll go from there. I think that if I can do well in this series, then I will be in a good spot for next year.

Lastly, for those who aren’t as familiar, you come from Australia and then spent a lot of time in the US as an amateur, as well as in Canada. Can you fill the audience in on how you arrived here in SX2?

Yeah, so I have kind of been all over the place, right? I grew up in Northern Queensland – in Townsville – and yeah, I did a lot of the local stuff, not taking it too seriously until I went to America for the first time. That started as a one-week thing – it was a family vacation and I just rode as well – and it spiralled from there. I then went there longer each time, and now I have been there for six or seven years. It’s been a wild journey. I then raced in Canada last year in their professional outdoor series, which was a good experience, and now I am doing the same here for supercross. But yeah, I have been all over. I climbed the amateur ranks in America, and now I’m switching to the pro ranks and just preparing myself.