GNCCRacing.com: Congrats on winning the WXC title this year! How does it feel?
Tayla Jones: It is an amazing feeling! I knew coming to America this year that this wouldn’t be easy, but I’ve trained really hard for this and it’s all paid off. I’m over the moon about it. 

You’ve had an incredible season. At what point were you pretty sure that you had this thing won?
I never really thought about the title and was just taking it race by race. I knew that if I won this last race [Unadilla] I could wrap it up, but that didn’t change anything. I still just raced the same way I would any other time. 

Obviously that was a successful strategy for you. We’ve seen you here at the GNCCs off and on over the last few years, but only for a race or two at a time. What factors came together to allow you to do the full series this time?
Yeah, I’ve been over here the last few years just testing the waters and trying to get my name out there. To be honest, I didn’t think that I was going to be here at all this year. Then I got a message from Frank Keegan, the owner of the KR4 team, asking if I wanted to ride for his team and it all just went from there.

How long can we expect to see you here?
I will definitely be back next year, but if all goes well I’d like to stay a lot longer.

Is the racing here really different from what goes on in Australia? And was it tough getting used to living in the States full time?
It is completely different. We do the same kind of format with the two-hour cross countries, but with the way it is set out and the fact that there are so many people over here, it’s really nothing alike. At home a big race would be 200 people total, so to come here and line up against 600 to 800 people is crazy. With all those people comes a bunch of challenges that aren’t so much of a problem at home, like lapping people and track conditions in general. As far as moving to America, it wasn’t too bad. I met a bunch of people early on and having the team there for me really helped me to get settled in. I still miss home but I’m enjoying my time here.

You’ve been very successful as an off-road racer, but that isn’t the type of racing that you did originally, is it?
No, I grew up racing motocross mainly but dipped into a few other disciplines including desert racing and flat track. When I turned 16 and stepped up to the senior ranks is when I really started with off-road, and it has been my main focus ever since. 

Since you have a motocross and desert background, have you ever considered trying out one of our Hare and Hound or WMX races?
For sure I have thought about it. It’s kind of hard to do a hare and hound since they are on the other coast, but who knows? Maybe one day I can make it over there. I did actually do a WMX a few years ago [Muddy Creek in 2014] when I came over. It was a lot of fun so hopefully I can do some more of them at some point. My schedule is already really busy, doing three different series plus the ISDE, but I love racing, so when I can fit in other races, I do. 

Going back even further, how did you actually get started riding in the first place?
When I was three, my parents bought both my brother and I pee wee 50s, and we started off doing flat track to learn how to ride. My dad had ridden bikes growing up, but nothing serious as far as racing goes. When my brother and I got into racing though, our dad also did it with us – it became like a family thing for us to do on the weekends. 

Now that you’ve won the title, do you plan on coming to the rest of the GNCCs?
Yeah, I will be at the last three rounds for sure. Like I said before, I love racing. So every chance I get I will be at a race somewhere.