Interview – The Change! Danny McCanney on moving to Honda RedMoto
Since 1990, teams and riders spend every winter eagerly awaiting the beginning of the FIM Enduro World Championship.
Interview and Images by EnduroGP
The champions prepare to defend their title; the opponents try to close the – sometimes tiny – gap that prevented them from climbing the highest step of the podium at the end of the last season.
Danny McCanney is one of them. He took a clear decision: a new category and a new team. The rider from the Isle of Man is going to go for the Enduro2 title and, obviously, the overall standings on a Four-Stroke for the Honda Racing RedMoto World Enduro Team.
Being a professional motorbike rider is not for everyone.
It’s a lot of work and all the responsibility to accomplish a goal set by months, if not years, of meticulous, hard work by an entire team.
In fact, the riders are those who simply love what they are doing and couldn’t live without their bike, the races, and the audience that welcomes them at every event.
Precisely this passion for the sport, motorcycles, and competition led Danny to take this decision.
“My main reason for my move is the bike, I’ve always liked the bigger four-stroke machines but never had the opportunity to ride one. When Matteo from Honda RedMoto approached me with a deal I came to test the bike straight away and was really impressed with the bike and the whole team.”
Switching motorbike is anything but trivial. EnduroGP bikes are highly competitive machines and a change is not necessarily something positive once a rider has gotten used to a certain riding style. The English rider’s desire to try something new was also vital in impressing the Team Manager Matteo Boffelli.
“What really struck me about Danny was his style and the way in which he rides our bike. Additionally, I really appreciate his professionalism and the conviction with which he takes decisions, whether these are purely technical or more general.”
McCanney, on the other hand, was immediately astounded by the agility and manoeuvrability of the CRF 450RX, that didn’t even make him notice the change from a two- to a four-stroke much.
“I’ve only had the bike since the start of December and the team invited me to start testing straight away which was great. The main difference obviously is jumping from the two-stroke engine to the four-stroke but the handling and the engine on the Honda are so good.”
Even if the first impressions are positive, only the training sessions and tests will tell whether rider and team will actually be able to play all their cards and battle against the other riders who will be giving each other a very hard time from the first metres of the first special test.
It’s obvious that the 2019 World Champion is the opponent to beat for everyone wanting to snatch the title away from him.
“Brad (Freeman, ed.) is going to be the main rider to beat this season, he’s young and already proved himself last season with his results but I’m excited to get some more good results this year and see what happens.”
Danny got on his Honda for the first time in December and he has intense months together with his team ahead of him. During this time, he will want to learn every single detail about the bike from the mechanics and also try to create a perfect team.
“I think testing and training together with the team as much as possible is the most important, you learn a lot more with the mechanics and all the members of the team. It helps set you up for the season to learn about them as well as the bike.”
They’re essential months that need to be planned down to every decision.
Once the championship has started it’s very difficult and risky to change the setup of your bike as this could upset a very delicate equilibrium. This is precisely why the team not only has to make the right decisions but also needs to make sure that those actually work.
“I think it’s fundamental to alternate between days in which you do targeted tests with well-defined objectives, and phases of training in which you confirm that the choices are correct”, Boffelli adds. He also remembers the human aspect that any good Team Manager must always keep in mind: “Our philosophy is to make him feel at home. First and foremost, we are one big family.”
However, everyone involved in the world of EnduroGP is always focussed on the races: they are the reason why you make sacrifices and work so hard to be the best.
Looking back on 2019, Danny knows very well that he needs to give it all he’s got in order to be even stronger. He will work hard to be faster in the Cross Tests, one of his weak points according to him. At the same time, he is confident, especially when he recalls his first victory in EnduroGP at Rovetta.
“In 2019 my favourite race was the Italian rounds. Normally I don’t like this style of typical Italian tests, but something clicked and even with bad luck during the day with my chain falling off and losing 20 seconds and crashing on the final test I still managed to win my first ever EnduroGP. It will always be one of my best memories.”
The Honda Racing RedMoto World Enduro Team does not hide itself.
“We are aiming for a World Champion Title and we want to win it as soon as possible. We are young, dynamic, and we always try to look a bit further into the future.”
Danny fully shares these objectives, even if he only just joined the team.
“Following my results from the 2019 season I’m hoping to improve on them again so I’m fully focused on my goal I’ve set.”
Said by a Vice World Champion, this sentence does not leave room for any doubt.
We thank the Honda Racing RedMoto World Enduro Team and Daniel McCanney for their availability.
