About 30 minutes after Nathan Parker left my house I posted something on Facebook along the lines of ‘just finished an interview with Nez—relieved he made it through without injuring himself…’

It was a joke—obviously—but, sure enough, somewhere out there was a keyboard warrior who didn’t see the funny side.

‘That’s cool, take the p*ss outta the people that are in theory keeping you in a job!’ was his response. It made me laugh—but not as much as the four-word comment that came next from Nez.

‘He’s not a surgeon!’

I’m sharing this for three reasons. Firstly, it’s funny. The second is to give you an idea what sort of person Nez is—basically, he’s got that all-too-rare ability to laugh at himself—and, finally (and much more seriously), that for a 25-year-old he’s spent far, far too much time in surgery.

If Nez had decided to be an actor instead of racer he’d be a regular in Casualty. As it is, he’s a regular character in, er, casualty. The bloke seems to have no luck at all which, for one of the sport’s good guys, sucks. He’s dedicated, talented and easy-going—all qualities that would stand him in good stead in pretty much any profession outside of professional motocross racing.

Unfortunately, as fast as he undoubtedly is, when he crashes he tends to break. And in motocross the fast guys nearly always crash.

“You can probably guess how I got on in my first year as a pro,” he grins. “I was just getting into it, then I got taken out at Brampton and did my ACL and it’s sort of been ever since then injury after injury.”

The interview took place a few weeks before returning from his latest injury— a shattered knuckle and dislocated finger sustained in March—at round four of the Maxxis series. But even with two months on the sidelines he came back with an MX1 first race 10th at Canada Heights, a rock-solid result considering the depth of talent in the class this year.

On his day Nez is capable of much better and his best result in a British championship race is a second at Foxhilll in 2011. But the seemingly non-stop stream of injuries has always stopped him from fulfilling his potential. Injuries are not something anyone wants to dwell on but seeing as they have had such an impact on his career it’s not something we can gloss over. So here goes…

“I’ve done my ACL twice, torn my LCL on the outside of my knee, done the PCL at the back of my knee and torn the cartilage a few times—I’ve had something like six operations on my right knee now. I’ve also torn my ACL in my other knee but that’s fine now—it’s all healed touch wood.

“There have been lots of other little things too like collarbones and fingers and toes—they are injuries but you don’t really class them as being too bad—and I’ve had lots of concussions. I can’t remember how many but the knee’s been the worst thing. It’s still not right and I doubt it ever will be.”

Injury stories over (for now), let’s rewind back to the days when a young Nez—who’s currently Chorley-based but Leyland-bred—with a fully-functioning right knee was whipping everyone as a youth in the North West Centre.

“I won lots of club championships as a schoolboy—Newton-le-Willows, Phoenix 580, things like that—and I was North West Centre champion from Autos all the way through to, I think, adults.”

“I didn’t win anything on a national level but I had some success. I was second in the Small-Wheels, fourth in the Big-Wheels and sixth or so in the 125s as it was back then.”

From there it as a natural progression to move into the big league and Nez’s first pro ride was for the Manchester-based One11 MX team. But after his injury at Brampton and with the UK economy in freefall the business was sold and Nez was then helped out by family friend Steve Turner who currently runs the Wilbo Forkrent KTM GP team.

“I went a bit tits-up and then Steve started helping me. At first he lent me a bike, then decided to start a team and I was with him for five years. I’ve known Steve since I was little and I’m good mates with his son Adam and race with him for years.

“My first British championship with Steve I came off a jump and landed awkwardly. They thought I’d just done my cartilage but when they were operating they realized I’d snapped my right ACL again so I went to see Doctor Cales in Belgium for another operation.

“Afte that I had two years when I was relatively injury free. I remember I was on black PROPPA.com Hondas with James Noble in 2010 and I had a pretty good season including a few podiums in the Red Bull Pro Nationals—the rounds at Silverstone stands out because I had good starts all weekend and in one race I caught and passed Brad [Anderson].

“Over the last five years I can’t remember when I haven’t been hurt a little bit so it’s been a constant battle. I had some good results at the end of last year—I had some top fives in the British—but I still wasn’t right.

“I came back three months after my knee op and it was probably too soon. I’d torn my cartilage and the doctor said give it three weeks but when I tried to ride bang on three weeks later my knee swelled up so badly I couldn’t bend it to get my foot on the footpeg. So I had to wait and wait and wait until it felt right but even then I think it was too early.

“If I hadn’t already done so much damange to the knee I think it would have healed in three weeks.”

And that’s the thing. Hurt your knee once and with a bit of luck you can expect full recovery. Hurt it again and it’s going to take longer. Hurt it again and again add the odds are stacking up against you—and it’s a situation that’s exacerbated by that natural racer’s desire to get back on a bike as soon as possible.

But with Nez the problem isn’t just physical…

“It’s not a case of coming back and not being fit—I think the problem is I try and ride at the speed I think I should be riding at before my reactions have had a chance to catch up. It’s a case of coming back too early and then trying to get to the level I know. I should be at without giving my reactions a chance to catch up after being off a bike for too long.”

In 2012 Nez teamed up with Matiss Karro for a full season of GPs on Steve Turner’s rebranded Boost Energy KTM team but what would be a dream for many young British riders turned into a nightmare.

“I hated GPs. Steve paid me a wage but because I wanted Emma [Nez’s fiancée] to come I had to sort my hotels out and all the wage was going on that. It was hard. I did get my first points at the second round in Bulgaria so that was a good thing and then I tore some ligaments in my ankle in Mexico so that set me back but came back in Czecho and scored in both races.

“Then, at the next round at Matterley Basin, I did my knee again so that was sort of game over. Out of the 16 rounds I think I did five. I didn’t have a good run at them and I didn’t enjoy them. It’s another level and I don’t think I was at that level.”

A ride did come along for 2013 with REVO Talon Kawasaki but with ongoing injury problems and a split between the team backers Nez yet again wasn’t in an ideal situation despite his good run of form at the end of the season. Luckily for him, Buildbase Honda boss Dave Thorpe—a man with a talent for spotting the stuff—came to his rescue.

“This year’s deal isn’t amazing although obviously the set-up and having Dave and Honda behind you is special—there’s no other team like it—but it’s not a footballer’s wage so even this year I had to think about it. It’s a struggle and my mum and dad are having to help me out but I thought I should give it one more year and if it goes well then hopefully I can get something better for next year and if it doesn’t then I’ll call it a day.”

For a rider as young as Nez—especially one with so much unrealized potential—to admit considering quitting is a shock but there are only so many times a man can get knocked down and get back up again.

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