GNCCRacing.com: Jack! Welcome back to GNCC, looking forward to having you back for 2022. Thanks for joining me today. To get us started, let’s go way back. What got you started riding and eventually racing?  

Jack Edmonson: Ever since I was a baby, I’ve been around dirt bikes. When i was born my dad was in the middle of his career racing the World Enduro Championship and GNCC. So, he was the one who influenced me to get myself on a bike as soon as i could. 

This is your first season of GNCC since 2017 where you competed in the FMF XC3 125 class. You were a heavy favorite to win the class until an injury derailed your season. Opening up with four straight wins. Tell us a little bit about that year.

Yeah 2017 was a great year, even though I got injured I started the season with four straight wins and also ended the year with a couple wins too. Before I got injured every race that year I was improving and adapting to the cross country racing. My highlight of that whole year was round four where I grabbed a top 10 overall on my 125.

What have you been up to since 2017? 

So since 2017 I’ve spent the last 4 years back racing in the World Enduro Championship as a junior and then into the premier class with the Sherco factory racing team. It’s been full of up and downs but was a great experience. We won a few titles back home also in the British Sprint & Enduro Championships. 

We welcome you back to the GNCC ranks in 2022 with a new team, Magna1 Motorsports racing in the XC2. How did you get hooked up with Chris Landers and the Magna1 team?

Yeah, it’s great to be back! I first met Chris back in 2017 and I’ve always wanted to end up back here one day. I was talking to a good buddy of mine Alex Teagarden last year about what I was going to be doing in 2022 and to be honest I didn’t really have anything lined up. That’s when he put me in touch with Chris Landers and the Magna1 Motorsports team. We were able to come to an agreement rather quickly which was nice.  After the success I saw they had in 2021 I was over the moon to be able to join this team!

Saw on social media you were hitting the links with teammate, Jordan Ashburn. Who won?

Haha, At the end of the day Jordan came out with the win. It’s been getting rather competitive between us when we aren’t training but Jordan comes out on top a lot of the time.

I have a feeling you’re not one to sit back and just feel things out. What are the expectations for yourself in the XC2 this year? It’s a stacked class!

No, for sure I’m taking this opportunity with both hands and have high expectations of what I want to achieve in the XC2 class. I want to be a podium guy every race and be consistent all year. I think with a stacked class like this, that’s what its gonna take to be up front by the end of the year. 

What’s training looked like for you this winter prior to the year? 

I started off riding in the UK, my dad set me up with everything I needed to get going before i came to the USA a few weeks ago. Right now I’m down in Florida with Jordan Ashburn. He and him go riding together most days along with a lot of cycling and gym work. It’s been great to be with such a strong XC1 guy to pace myself off and learn from him as much as I can.