Joel Kelso: "If you get told no, you have to prove them wrong"

A long way to make it to the Moto3 World Championship behind, a long way to achieve even more ahead. Joel Kelso is a great example of the steep path and huge sacrifice that an Australian rider has to run to get to the top level of motorcycle racing.

Born in 2003, Kelso lived his first experiences in this sport coming from Darwin, and then flew to Italy with Jake Skate and fellow rider Jack Mahaffy in 2018, to start their own team and race in CIV PreMoto3. A crazy adventure, that turned out into bigger and bigger opportunities for Kelso: CIV Moto3 with Leopard MTA Racing in 2019, two seasons in the JuniorGP with AGR Team, the first races in the world championship with CIP Green Power Team (as a replacement rider in 2021 and full-time entry in 2022). Then, the Aussie raced and achieved his first World Championship podium in 2023 with CFMoto-PruestelGP, scored many top-10 results in 2024 with BOE Motorsports and returned to MTA Team, now LEVELUP-MTA, for the 2025 campaign. So far in 2025, Kelso has scored three podium finishes, as he finished second in Austin and Le Mans and third in Jerez.

Palmen in Motorradsport had the chance to interview Joel Kelso to talk about 2025, his seasons in the Moto3 World Championship so far and his whole journey to get where he is now. And wow, what a journey it's been...

Joel, how is 2025 going for you?

So far it's been quite successful, with already a few podiums. I mean, 2025 is definitely our best year to date. Hopefully we can keep going like this for the rest of the season.

You have showed great speed and competitiveness also scoring several podiums. But did you expect to be at this level?

I definitely expected this. In 2024 I was fighting at the front as well, and in 2025 it was necessary to step up on the podium as many times as possible. And, like I said, we've already got a few. The plan is now to get a few more and to finish the season in the top 3 in the World Championship.

The final races of the first part of the season were difficult (without considering the injury that ruled him out of the Czech GP, ed). What happened exactly? And also how you're hoping also to bounce back to the front?

I think the last few races were not the easiest for the tracks that we've been going over. It just didn't worked for our base set-up on the bike, and then just haven't had the best feeling. However, we cannot really talk about bad results, since in the worst case I was still in the top 10. Of course it's better to fight at the very top, but I think you can't expect 22 podiums in 22 races . I think now we start to go back to tracks where my base set-up will work a bit better, and we can be fighting at the front.  

And now let's look a little bit at your stay in the World Championship, because you started with a few races in 2021, and then in 2022 you started your first full season here. What can you say about your first seasons on the world stage?

The first two seasons were rocky with just injuries coming back to back. It was not a very fun time, let's say, but since 2024 it's been quite enjoyable, and we've made some really big steps forward. Anyway, it's part of the game: you're going to go over both rough times and positive times. In 2022 and 2023 I was injured for like 10 to 12 races, I think. So yeah, I missed plenty of races.

What do you think has been the best race so far in the World Championship?

I think for sure either Le Mans or Jerez in 2025, both finished on the podium. Maybe Jerez. It's a track I just don't like, and  somehow that weekend we said: "OK, if we can get a podium here, we can really fight for the top 3 in the championship". And to make that happen, it was really a relief on my shoulders. And then, the second place I got at Le Mans is equal to the best result we've had, because we led every single lap of the race until we got pushed out of the last corner. But in the end, in my mind, we won that race. So it was like a first victory for me.

And compared to when you came to the World Championship in those first few races in 2021 (replacing injured Maximilian Kofler, ed) and now, how have you changed as a rider and as a person?

For sure, maturity was a massive thing. When I came here, I was 18 years old, so I didn't know what to do or what was the best way for me, or what works best for me in the lifestyle and then also in the racing. I can't even name one in particular, because so many things have changed. I think a lot of it just comes down to maturity and understanding what I needed to be able to get results like now.

Can you make a few examples of lessons that you learned during the seasons?

One lesson is that in the World Championship, you cannot have up-and-down moments like I did in 2025, when I started to struggle after getting back-to-back podiums. You can't go from such a high to such a low. You need to be there always, be consistent and just work on your goal, which is arrive to the podium again and finish the season strong. So, I think that's probably the biggest thing I've learned: trying to be more consistent throughout the whole year.

Now, Joel, let's go back a little bit to your career as a whole. Where does your passion for motorcycle racing come from, first of all? 

Passion comes from my mom, as she raced rally cars when she was younger. When I grew up, I saw that she was racing cars and my sister was already on a motorbike. So I thought: "OK, motorbikes is for me". I tried it and I fell in love with it ever since. I've been riding a bike since two or three years old. I started in the flat track and motocross scene and was riding with Husqvarna, but then the company was bought by KTM and they could not support me anymore in the flat track. So they gave me a road bike and asked me to try it. I did try it and I loved it, so I continued on that path.  

Were you already thinking of MotoGP at that stage?

I never really thought of arriving in MotoGP, to be honest with you. I didn't even start watching MotoGP until I was 14 years old. At 14, I went to the Moto3 class of the Australian Championship, and in that year I started watching MotoGP and getting into it. Then I won the title and said: "OK, what do I want to do with my life?". I was 15 years old and in that moment, I wondered whether to go to Europe and start to make a career out of it or not. So I decided to pack up and with my best friend from Australia, who was about 25 or 26 years old, we set up a team in Italy. Had a crack at 15, living not far from Rimini alone.

How was it, at the beginning, to live in Europe without your family?

For me it was OK, because already in Australia I had to move out when I was 13 or 14. My family's up in Darwin, the top of Australia, and during the season I had to move to Melbourne and live down there with my friend. I was already living pretty much alone, let's say, because he went to work for 10 hours a day. From the top of Australia to Melbourne is a four and a half hour plane trip, almost the whole size of Europe, so I was quite used to living away. Of course, it's not easy living and not seeing family, and in 2018 I didn't see my mum for about seven months, but I was living a dream. I was riding bikes around tracks like Mugello and Misano that I'd watched on TV in MotoGP. I was loving life and just going with the flow.

How does your family live your passion for motorcycle racing?

My mum loves it. I mentioned to her at 14 that I was thinking about taking it seriously. She started watching MotoGP with me and then she said: "Go do it!". She's supported me ever since financially and emotionally, letting me do what I wanted to do. She didn't come to Europe, not because she didn't support, but because she needed to stay at home and work and financially support it. At the end, it's a sport based on lots of money, and she doesn't come from a rich background. Therefore, she had to work and pay for the racing. She couldn't come over and watch as such, but every day she was there supporting me.

In 2021, when I raced in the JuniorGP and got the first wildcard offer in the World Championship, everything cost us a an extreme amount of money. My mum went into debt and she had to sell the cars she had, to be able to pay for it. She supported my career the whole way. All my family has been supportive, but especially my mum. My sister also supported me a lot, because obviously my mum couldn't give her everything she needed since it was going to me. My mum's side of the family also really supported me. To this day, my mom comes now to three or four races per year, because the financial burden is not as much.

In 2025 you are racing with the MTA Team, owned by Alessandro Tonucci, and you were in this team already in 2019 when you raced in Italian CIV Moto3 Championship. How did it feel for you to re-join them?

It's cool, because I have so much respect for Alessandro. I think a lot of the reason why I'm in World Championship is because of being in his team. At that time it was Leopard MTA in the Italian Championship and that actually turned into me going into the management of Leopard. That's how I financially got through Junior GP: Leopard was supporting me. Riding with Alessandro, we made some great results in the CIV and made some good waves in Italy. Since then, we had always been talking, even when I was in the Junior GP and first stepped to World Championship. When the time came that he could see I was ready to fight for a championship, he gave me a call. For 2025 it was the best option to come here, back with a team I already know and back with him.  

What have you found in this team, that maybe was missing a little bit in the previous teams you've been in World Championship?

I think a lot of it depends on the relationship I have with Alessandro. It definitely helps a lot having a good group around you, and having fun off track and on track. A good environment in the team is always important. In MTA, we have great support and a great atmosphere in the team.

Do you want to say thank you in particular to someone for the path you walked until the World Championship?

There are so many people I could thank. It's been massive support from everyone, even down to Alessandro when he gave me the call in the Italian Championship to ride for him. That was an opportunity and the first step. That was the first team I ever signed for, ever to ride for, because before that I had my own team in Italy with Jake Skate. I can't pinpoint one person, but I think everyone's made this happen to get to where we are today.

And that's how you have become a reference in your country, because you're one of the few Australians in the World Championship. How does it feel?

It's always a great feeling going back to Australia. I love to help the kids, and they love to watch me and see me as a reference now. I think that's really cool. I try to help as much as possible. I bring a few kids over to Europe when I can, and they sometimes stay with me in my apartment in Barcelona. I give them my training bikes if I can, if I'm not using them. I love to give back, especially to the Aussies, because I know how difficult it was for me to come over from Australia. I try to make it as easy as possible for those kids. Obviously, being busy full-time in the World Championship with so many races, it's not easy, but I try to give back as much as possible. It's cool to be the reference and see the support from Australia.

And what's the main piece of advice you would give to a young Aussie who would like to follow the same path as you?

Probably the most important is determination and never giving up. I know it's easy to say, but I think the reason I'm here is because of determination and persistence. When you get told no, normally you're going to get 100 no's before you get one yes. Be consistently persistent, try to achieve your goal, and be clear—your goal is to get to the World Championship. Keep knocking on doors, keep trying to perform and get results. Even in the hard moments, keep pushing through, because your goal is to get to the World Championship.

Maybe you get 20 no's before you get one yes. That happens. I remember it from when I tried to go to World Championship. It wasn't easy, even after winning four races in the JuniorGP, and it took a while to get one opportunity with CIP Green Power. Not always does it come the first time. You have to keep pushing. If you get told no, try to prove that person wrong.

Palmen in Motorradsport is grateful to Joel Kelso for his time and to Rebecca Pesando (LEVELUP-MTA Team Coordinator) for arranging and making the interview possible. Wishing both the rider and the team all the best for the upcoming races and seasons.