To be National Champ is amazing for me, all year I was looking forward to that race, I knew that it could be possible for me, but to get it done is a different thing. Lots of hard work went on, not just by me, but my parents and everyone else who helped me.

Becoming National Champ means that you are the fastest…it may not mean you’re the most consistent, but you’re the fastest on that day, which is a huge confidence boost. To know that you’ve got the Nat Champs jersey on just brings you to a new level. To me it also means that if you have won the champs then you should be winning everything else because you have just won the biggest race there is. I think looking at it like that helped me hugely for the rest of the season going in to the races with a more focused attitude knowing that I should be winning.

It was not easy, but nothing is easy. If you don’t work for it then you’re not going to get it…it took a lot of hard work. I got myself a trainer and everything last year. It was my first year of really focusing on DH and doing it properly. I think a lot of it was in my head too. At the start of the year I wasn’t doing the best, only getting third place in the first round of BDS and sixth with some crashes at Fort William in round 2, but we then did an iXS race where I managed to take the win, which was awesome, and from there I think it took off. Having the right attitude and being headstrong is a massive part of bike racing and luckily I had the right attitude that helped me take that title.

Becoming Nat Champ has changed my life massively, like knowing you’re representing that jersey is just a different thing and it’s a proud moment when you put it on. Not only that but I think it helped me get to where I am now. It definitely ‘backed me up’ and helped me to get a factory ride with GT/Atherton Racing this year. Hopefully I will be able to get a few more titles in the future.