Tuesday Conversation: Martin Cardenas

One of the most impressive performances in all of AMA Pro Road Racing this year came from Team M4 Suzuki Daytona SportBike rider Martin Cardenas. Inarguably one of the most talented riders racing in America today, Martin was tied with eventual championship winner Danny Eslick when he crashed in a V.I.R. practice session, sustaining a compound fracture in his throttle hand. We caught up with Cardenas in Miami to see how he felt about the season, and what his future plans might be.

Martin Cardenas - Brian J. Nelson photo

RRX: How’s your hand healing?
Cardenas: Oh, my hand is pretty good. The scar has a part that is not completely healed, but it doesn’t hurt, and feels okay.

If you hadn’t been injured, do you think you would have won the Daytona SportBike championship?
I don’t know. I think it is very difficult to say whether I could have won or not, but I think I would have had a pretty good chance to win it.

What were your impressions of the two tracks added to the calendar this year, New Jersey Motorsports Park and Heartland Park Topeka?
I think that they are pretty good. New Jersey, I like it a lot. I didn’t have a chance to ride it for all the weekend, but the layout is pretty good, a lot of people were there to watch the races, and I think that was very nice.

Even though it didn’t end the way you wanted it to, you were really impressive throughout the ’09 season. Do you think it was an important one for you in terms of getting your name out?
Yeah, I think it was a pretty good season. Unfortunately, I had the injury at the end, but I think I did a good job on most of the races, and, yes, I think it was a very important season for me.

Do you see any room for improvement for next season?
Yeah, we’ll have to wait and see what class I am going to ride, and what team and brand and everything, but yeah, I think that every year I try to improve a little bit in all the areas that I know I am not quite right. I hope that next year I will improve a little bit more, and that the season will go the same as this one or a little bit better.

Any solid plans for next year yet, and do you have any interest in the American Superbike class?
Yeah, I think that is the goal, to race superbikes next season, but I am still waiting on the decisions on some things, and I don’t know. Hopefully by the end of this month I will know what class and team and everything.

How will you  train and stay fit during the off-season?
I am going to train at home; we have one track that is in Bogotá, and I will go out there as many weekends as I can to keep in shape. Also, riding the bicycle, and a little bit in the gym, I think.

In interviews, you’ve said you’d like another chance at the GP paddock. Are you interested in transitioning to the new Moto2 class overseas?
Yeah, I would be interested, but I haven’t spoken with anybody in that paddock, no one has contacted me or anything, so I think that it is very difficult for me to go there next season. But maybe  in 2011…. We’ll see how 2010 goes.