Moto2 contender looks ahead to year two in the world championship.
After a convincing first season in the Moto2 World Championship that included a breakout podium on home soil at Phillip Island, 19-year-old Senna Agius approaches year two in the category looking to build on his lessons learned as a rookie. CycleOnline caught up with the New South Welshman while he’s at home in Australia during the current off-season for this Conversation interview.
Senna, take us through what you learned in your first season in the world championship and how important that knowledge is going to be as you head into year two…
First of all, heading into the season it was like a dream come true. Like, I was just waiting around that whole off-season feeling nervous because I was embarking on my first season in the world championship, but it quickly became pretty normal. Honestly, the year was so long on paper, but it went super-quickly. Twenty-something races sounded astronomical, but it was over before I knew it. A lot of emotions go into 20 weekends on the bike, so that was the biggest thing. We had some success, some tough times, and a first podium, I feel like I faced it all. So, heading into this year, I feel everything that I could face, maybe I’ve already been in that situation. Obviously, we didn’t get to the very point end and get a win, but other than that I feel like I’ve had a good introduction to it all and I’m ready to take the next step.
You touched on the nerves going into last year, so now heading into your second year, what’s the mindset like right now as we approach the 2025 season in just over a month?
There’s no real mindset, I just want to see how the bike is in pre-season, and how we go there will set the goals for the first few races of the season. I’d love to hit the ground running and I have expectations of what I think myself and my team are capable of, but we’ll analyse that just before the first race and see where we’re at.
For 2025, your team no longer has official Husqvarna backing. Does that have any effect on you or your deal for the season?
Yeah, it’s unfortunate. Having the factory status and how professional everything was with KTM, it was cool. But, as much as it’s not nice to see, fortunately for Moto2 it’s not a huge deal because obiously, KTM isn’t the manufacturer of the bike or anything. So for me, it’s doesn’t really change anything at all, which is a positive. We don’t really have to adjust anything within the team either, all staff and everything is the same, just the colours of the bike will be a little bit different.
Talk to us about living in Europe at such a young age. You’re only 19 years old and you spend the majority of the year living in Andorra. Take us through that dynamic, how does it all work?
It’s the new normal. As much as it doesn’t feel like home, it basically is now. I have a good base up in Andorra, a good group of guys to train with and my training is pretty locked in. Being home in Australia definitely feels more comfortable, I’ll definitely end up back here once I’m done racing – that’s one thing I’ve worked out as I’ve gotten older, Europe always kind of feels like a job. As much as it does feel like home, we are there for one reason, so it’s not until I get home to Australia that I feel like I can switch off. It’s unreal though, we are very fortunate to be doing what we’re doing and living away from home. It’s definitely a sacrifice, but it’s where I need to be.
You touched on your training partners there, give us a rundown of what that’s like and who you might link up with on a typical training day.
It’s pretty cool because all the dudes that I’m training with I’ve known who they are for ages. So, when I first met them, it was a bit like, ‘Holy shit’, but once you get to know them they’re just normal people, which is such a cool thing because the guys that I used to idolise and still do. I feel like I’m kind of one of them… We’re all just normal people and they’re just guys that work hard. Our group is super solid, we have guys from all different disciplines, like the Binder brothers, Sam Sunderland, Billy Bolt, Tarran Mackenzie, Jack Miller and Jonny Walker, and it’s not unusual to see a lot of professional cyclists out on the roads at times either.
What’s the goal for 2025? We know you obviously want to do your absolute best, and you said that once you’ve done your initial tests, that would help you see where you’re at, but where do you see yourself when the season ends?
I need to improve my bad days, because at the end of the day, if you can limit the damage on the bad days, the good days will come around more often. Look, I want to be on the podium a lot more, for sure. But, if I’m not on the podium, then I want to be in that top five more often than not. Obviously, I did what I did at Phillip Island, then the last race before I ran into some problems, I was looking at it again. So, the end of the year was solid and I want to be in that fight a lot more, but as I said, we have to see how testing goes first, but the intention in training is to do exactly that.