MXGP #96 AUGUST 2021 by MXGP MAG

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TCH A C CING A R P. 16

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NTH .8 O P M T HE SHO T L F O CO ER OINGS D I R P.42 REY HERL JEFF

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MXGP MAG Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: MXGP INFRONT MOTO RACING MEDIA World Trade Center II Rte de Pré-Bois 29 1215 Geneva 15 Airport Switzerland MXGP Mag #96 August 2021

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AME F F O ND

The articles published in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of Infront Moto Racing.

L A I R O T I D E

David Luongo CEO of Infront Moto Racing

Dear MXGP Friends, We have just finished our trip in Kegums for the 7th Grand Prix of the season after the deep sand of Lommel. What a fantastic beginning of season we have had so far. As we are now passing the first quarter of the championship, the MXGP class is more open than ever. During the first 7 GP’s, we had 5 different winners, Gajser, Cairoli, Herlings, Prado and Febvre. Jeremy Seewer, 6th in the overall classification counts only 64 points difference with the actual leader, Gajser. The racing has been very exciting to watch with very fair battles.

THE RIDERS COMPETING IN MXGP ARE EXAMPLES OF DETERMINATION AND PROFESSIONALISM FOR ALL OF US! Benistant and Beaton seem to be the main contenders for the final victory. The comeback of Vialle in Loket also added competition to this group where the gap between the leaders remains close!

A couple of weeks ago, we published an updated calendar, I also have special thoughts for with the postponing of the MXGP Jeffrey Herlings who once again of Finland to 2022 and the adding proved to the world his amazing mentality to fight the pain and what a of a second Grand Prix in Turkey. champion he is! During the MXGP of Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic is still affecting all of us The Netherlands in Oss, despite the and the championship. We have fact that he got injured after the first to adapt ourselves to the situation corner, he managed to win the race. Then, after one GP off for recovering, that continue to evolve every week, country per country. Thanks he managed to win the first heat to the great collaboration with in Lommel for his comeback and the organizers and the different then win a race again in Latvia. Motocross is a very demanding sport national federations, we were able to host public during all the Grand and the riders competing in MXGP Prix. are examples of determination and professionalism for all of us! The Monster Energy Motocross The MX2 class is also very interesting of Nations is in less that 2 months. Mantova has started the this year with a new generation of talented riders. Renaux, Guadagnini, preparations to host the most popular Off-Road event of the Fernandez, Geerts, Boisrame,

year. I want to confirm that we will keep the classical format of the competition this year. It is important to mention that for 2 years and the beginning of the pandemic, all the MXGP World has been united to go through this challenging moment. We are putting all our efforts as promotor to guarantee a great World Championship and to maintain the jobs related to this sport. The manufacturers, the teams and all our partners are playing the same game. In this regard, we had the confirmation that the best riders will be present to defend their country. We cannot wait to be in September for the comeback of the MXoN! I would also like to congratulate the Junior World Champions, Haakon Osterhagen in 125cc, Mattia Barbieri in 85cc and Aaron Katona in 65cc that won the 2021 JWC in Greece – Megalopolis. I wish them all the best and to see them very soon in the MXGP Paddock! Finally, I would like to thank the FIM, the FIM Europe and all the partners of MXGP for their support to our favorite sport! Don’t forget that you can follow the whole MXGP season on MXGP-TV. com! See you in Turkey!

S T O H S L COO

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FOX HOLESHOT: THE EXTRA ADVANTAGE 18

THE FOX HOLESHOT CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF THE FIERCEST COMPETITIONS – THE WORLD TILES ASIDE, OF COURSE – OF THE SEASON AS TEAMS AND RIDERS SEARCH FOR EVERY SMALL, OR BIG ADVANTAGE OVER THEIR OPPONENTS AND GETTING AHEAD IN THE START IS ALWAYS A BIG ADVANTAGE!

During the MXGP of the Netherlands we once again saw four different riders dominate the starts to each received the Fox Holeshot plate. From what we’ve seen over the last seven rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship, it’s clear that the level of competition is high as both MXGP and MX2 categories remain extremely tight and that’s when advantages, such as the Fox Holeshot begin to play a vital role. The Fox Holeshot competition so far… In the previous issue of MXGP Mag, we discussed the first three rounds of the season but now it’s time to see what has happened recently. MXGP of the Netherlands – Oss

In MXGP, it was Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre, who claimed the first Fox Holeshot of the day, which was the start of a very intense and dramatic race for the Frenchman who finished fourth after a couple of crashes which ultimately cost him the race win. In MXGP race two, it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado who took the lead early doors thanks to his flying start on his way to a top three finish, while it was Antonio Cairoli who stole the race victory from Tim Gajser on the final laps. Meanwhile in MX2, Diga Procross GasGas Factory Racing’s Simon Längenfelder added another Fox

Holeshot plate to his name as he led the early stages of the opening race to eventually finish 11th, while Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jago Geerts won the race. Geerts then got his own Fox Holeshot with a great start in race two as he led the heat from start to finish and went on to take the overall victory in Oss, ahead of Jed Beaton and Kay De Wolf. MXGP of Czech Republic – Loket The series then travelled to Loket in Czech Republic where Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing rule the starts. Jorge Prado was strong in Loket as he took two Fox Holeshots and went on to win the opening race, while he finished third in the second. A 1-3 score gave the Spaniard the overall win, his first of the season! 19

In MX2, the starts were won by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini and Thibault Benistant of Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing with the pair going on to win a race each thanks to their strong starts! As a result, Guadagnini celebrated his second Grand Prix victory of the season, while Benistant commemorated his first podium in MX2! MXGP of Flanders – Lommel At the MXGP of Flanders, it was Monster Energy Kawasaki Racing Team’s Romain Febvre and Ivo Monticelli who dominated the starts in both MXGP races, though it was Febvre who led both races and finished the day with a 2-1 result to take his first overall Grand Prix victory in Lommel! In MX2, it was Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle who was the first recipient of the Fox Holeshot as he very briefly led race one, meanwhile in the second race, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Kay De Wolf was unmatched from the start to finish as he grabbed the second Fox Holeshot and dominated the race until the chequered flag despite immense pressure from home rider Jago Geerts who was the Belgian Grand Prix overall winner. MXGP of Latvia – Kegums We then concluded our four-week stint in Kegums for the MXGP of Latvia! The Latvian Grand Prix delivered some exciting races, but once again Kegums was another one of those circuits where the start was more important than ever. Jeffrey Herlings continued his shock return to racing with a Fox Holeshot in the first MXGP race, as he was able to withstand the pressure of Tim Gajser and take the race victory. In the second MXGP race, it was Romain Febvre who received the Fox Holeshot. Febvre led the race ahead of Prado and Herlings, though crashed out on the third lap which handed the advantage to Prado who managed to keep it on two wheels and bag himself a podium! Herlings missed 20

out on the overall victory due to his crash on the final lap of the race but still stood on the third step of the podium as Gajser took the overall victory! Meanwhile in MX2, the Fox Holeshot was won in both races by Mattia Guadagnini who made the perfect comeback after a tough Grand Prix in Lommel to go 2-3 for third overall. Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Maxime Renaux also had some strong starts and went on to secure his first ever 1-1 result to win the Latvian Grand Prix. As it stands, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jorge Prado and Romain Febvre are tied on five points in the Fox Holeshot Award standings, while in MX2 Mattia Guadagnini edges out with three points thanks to his starts in Kegums this past weekend. 2021 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship – Megalopolis, Greece: The Fox Holeshot competition also took place at the 2021 FIM Junior Motocross World Championship in Megalopolis, Greece where the fastest youngsters competed to become this year’s champions and getting a good start was key to their success.

Three classes raced in Megalopolis, which meant there were six Fox Holeshot’s up for grabs! In the 125cc category it was Bence Pergel who won the start in race two, while in the second heat it was Fantic Factory Racing Maddii’s Haakon Osterhagen, who got ahead from the beginning and went on to win the race once again to claim this year’s 125cc World title! In the 85cc class, Latvian Janis Martin Reusulis was quick out of the gate in race one, while in the second race it was last year’s 65cc World Cup Winner, Marek Vitezslav, who grabbed the Fox Holeshot and came close to a race win, though ultimately missed out on the title as Italian Mattia Barbieri was declared the title winner. And then there were also the 65cc youngsters who competed for the World Cup. Andrea Uccellini dominated both starts though it was Aaron Katona of Hungary who won both races and won the 65cc World Cup this time around! Now we’ve got a few weeks off and then the MXGP action will resume, as the series will head to Turkey for a special doubleheader Grand Prix

WATCH THE VIDEO

MX2 TABLE Matti Guadagnini

Jago Geer

Simon Längenfelder

Thibault Benistant

Tom Vialle

Rene Hofer

MXGP TABLE Jorge Prado

Romain Febvre

Jeffrey Herlings

Glenn Coldenhoff

P U G H N ATC I C A C R

N I R U FO

W O R A 25

MXGP of the Netherlands – Oss

SINCE THE LAST ISSUE OF THE MXGP MAGAZINE, THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HAS BEEN BUSY. WITH FOUR CONSECUTIVE GRAND PRIX WEEKENDS ON THE CALENDAR, THE LAST MONTH HAS BEEN PRETTY INTENSE AND THESE LAST FOUR GP’S HAVE DELIVERED ON SOME EXCEPTIONAL ACTION AND SOME BIG SURPRISES – SO LET’S RE-CAP WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS AND HAVE OURSELVES A RACING CATCH-UP!

WATCH THE VIDEO

Let’s start things off with Oss. Oss is not entirely new to the MXGP calendar as it had previously hosted GP’s in 1989 and 1998 which were dominated by American Mike Healey and Italian Alessio Chiodi. Now 23 years later the Dutch venue made its comeback to the FIM Motocross World Championship. The MXGP of the Netherlands action was kicked off with a special parade, as past racing legends took a lap of Oss in front of an enthusiastic Dutch crowd. A total of 13 titles were on track for the lap, as the parade tour featured the likes of Harry Everts, Joel Smets, John van den Berk, Marnicq Bervoets, Jacky Martens and others!

There were more than just motocross legends joining us for the Dutch Grand Prix as football stars Wesley Sneijder and Andy Van Der Meijde were there to hand out trophies to the MXGP and MX2 podium finishers, while Dutch social media personalities ‘Dutch Performante’ and ‘Mobicep’ enjoyed the MXGP action, too! In terms of the racing, the MXGP of the Netherlands was looking like it would be a battle of the Dutchies with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings heading home after his first Grand Prix victory of the season in Maggiora and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Glenn Coldenhoff finishing on the exact same number of points but having to settle for second overall the same weekend, too. Things were looking great for the pair who were set to impress at their home round – but *spoiler alert* things didn’t quite go the way the pair would have hoped for.

Herlings and Coldenhoff went 1-2 in Time Practice with it all looking good for the races. As the gate dropped for the first race of the day, Herlings was the first to be dealt a blow as Ivo Monticelli landed on his shoulder which, as we all know now, resulted in a broken shoulder blade. In true Herlings style, the Bullet continued with the race and went on to win the heat after Romain Febvre crashed out and Glenn Coldenhoff could not hold off the hard charging Herlings. Nobody was aware of the severity of Herlings’ injury until he stepped off the bike after the race and the pain that he was in was clear which put the championship in question once again. The factory KTM rider wasted no time to get himself checked out by the doctors and did not line-up for the second race which left the door open for Coldenhoff to go after the overall victory. Coldenhoff was born and raised in Oss, so a victory would have been very special for the Yamaha rider and that’s what he had set out to do in race two. But as the gate dropped

for the second heat, the first corner saw many of the front runners down, which included Coldenhoff and his teammate Jeremy Seewer. After Coldenhoff finally picked himself up, he was already way down on the rest of the field so getting some solid points was always going to be a mission. Unfortunately, the home hero only managed to get himself up to 22nd by the end of the race, so with no points scored in race two the podium was gone. A rider who was no doubt hoping and pushing hard for a podium, and more importantly the overall victory, was Monster Energy Kawasaki racing Team’s Romain Febvre. In both races it was clear that the Frenchman was pushing on a whole new level, but the problem was keeping upright and staying on two wheels. Several crashes in both races cost Febvre potential race victories, but two solid fourth place results were enough to get him on the podium with the Frenchman placing third overall. The MXGP of the Netherlands saw Antonio Cairoli continue his podium streak with a third consecutive podium as he finished second 27

overall after stealing the race win from Tim Gajser in the final stages of the second heat. And despite not winning any races during the GP in Oss, it was Gajser who stood on the top step of the podium to continue his title defence. Meanwhile Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Arminas Jasikonis also got in on the action in Oss. His day started with fifth in Time Practice which he then followed up with some nice battles inside the top 10 to finish 10th overall. No doubt this was the positive result that the Lithuanian was looking for as he continued his comeback. In MX2 things were just as interesting! Entering the weekend all eyes were going to be on the sand riders and one young-gun in particular, that is Kay De Wolf. For De Wolf it was his first ‘official’ home Grand Prix as an MX2 rider. Since the beginning of the season the Dutch rider had been building with some nice rides well inside the top 10, alongside his teammate Jed Beaton. Both riders were impressive in Oss, with Beaton challenging Jago Geerts for the race win in the opening heat and then De Wolf doing the same in the second race. The pair were no match for Geerts who dominated with a 1-1 result to stand on the top step of the podium, while Beaton’s second and third place finishes put him second overall, as De Wolf celebrated his first pro podium with third overall. Concerning the championship, at the Dutch Grand Prix we saw another new championship leader as Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Maxime Renaux took over the series lead from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Mattia Guadagnini, who struggled all day to finish 10th overall, while Renaux was fourth.

has become a tradition over the years every time that the Grand Prix races take place in the Czech region. The MXGP of Czech Republic also saw the much-awaited return of the MXGP of Academy, as the upcoming youngguns learn more about the world of MXGP and what it takes to become the best! Following his performance in Oss, expectations were pretty big for Romain Febvre, who had previously won in Loket back in 2019. Podium finishers Tim Gajser and Jeremy Seewer were among the list of favourites to win in Loket but in true MXGP style this season, things unfolded a little different. Despite having that extra little bit of confidence thanks to his previously win in Czech Republic, Febvre struggled to put together two consistent rides that would put him on the podium. The Frenchman fought his way to third in the opening race, but it was race two that cost him the most points. After a bad start, Febvre was left fighting outside the top 20 and managed to comeback to 10th which was not enough for a podium spot. Then there was the misfortune of Tim Gajser who had showed his dominance on the hardpack this season. The Team HRC rider was chasing another overall victory after his success in Oss and after finishing the opening race behind Jorge Prado, an overall victory was still looking possible as race two began. Gajser was chasing Coldenhoff for fourth place on the first lap when he got it completely wrong and hit the deck. Despite picking himself up very quickly, Gajser struggled when his clutch lever was stuck in his hand guard. The Slovenian managed to ride back to pitlane, to get the problem fixed, but as a result lost a load of time and could only manage

MXGP of Czech Republic – Loket Then we moved on to Loket for the MXGP of Czech Republic as the World Championship returned to the old-school track after missing out on a GP in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And what a welcome back it was with the typical fireworks display on Saturday evening, which

15th place after a hard fight to get as many championship points as possible. Gajser’s crash made thing’s a lot more interesting in terms of the overall, as Jorge Prado celebrated his first Grand Prix win of the 2021 season, as Antonio Cairoli added a

fourth consecutive podium to carry on with his consistent form. While Jeremy Seewer made his long-awaited return to the podium after a hard start to the season. Seewer had struggled in the races this season so far but had revealed at the press conference in Loket that he tested positive for COVID-19 before the start of the year and was struggling with it since. Meanwhile in MX2, Mattia Guadagnini and Thibault Benistant celebrated race wins on their way to podium finishes, as Guadagnini added a second overall victory on what has been a very successful rookie season so far, while Benistant made his first ever MX2 podium appearance! The pair were joined by Maxime Renaux who became the first rider, this season, to hold on to the red plate for more than one Grand Prix, as he maintained the championship lead. The races in Loket also finally saw the return of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle, who had struggled in the first few rounds as he struggled with injury. The MXGP of Czech Republic finally saw Vialle line-up for both races and the first race it looked like the Frenchman was back to challenging at the top end of the field as he challenged Guadagnini for the race to finish second. The second race Vialle got caught up with a couple of crashes and as a result did not finish the race. The MXGP of Czech Republic also saw the opening round of the Women’s Motocross World Championship with defending world champion, Courtney Duncan dominating the field to go 1-1 and the first overall of the season. Shana Van Der Vlist celebrated a career second podium, as she stood on the second step of the podium, while Larissa Papenmeier managed third. MXGP of Flanders – Lommel After the hard pack of Loket the series headed to the deep sand of Lommel as the riders geared up for what was going to be another exciting race. The Belgian Grand Prix also saw the second round of the Women’s Motocross World Championship and it was the first time that the ladies had the opportunity to race a WMX round in 30

Lommel – this was a test for the fastest ladies in the world and they took on the challenge with ease! It was an exciting WMX podium, as Shana Van Der Vlist celebrated her second podium of the season as she took a race win and the overall, while Kiara Fontanesi made her return to the podium after a tough weekend in Loket the previous week, while Lynn Valk celebrated her first ever podium as she finished third overall, thanks to her win in the first race! Van Der Vlist had a lot to celebrate, because while she was busy revelling in her overall victory, she also had a red plate to applaud as she took over the championship lead from Courtney Duncan. One of the biggest shocks of the weekend was the announcement that just 14 days after breaking his shoulder, Jeffrey Herlings would line-up for the toughest sand race of the season. The biggest question on everyone’s mind was how would the Bullet manage with the pain and by then end of Sunday’s races, we were all asking ourselves ‘is he even human?’ Is he? Who knows! Because his incredible race win in the first heat speaks for itself, as Herlings was able to bite his time and stay patient to take the lead from Febvre in the closing stages of the race. The second heat was very different as the KTM rider got caught up in a crash with Coldenhoff and had to start the race from the very back. He eventually came back to fifth which was enough for second overall with some vital championship points in his back pocket. For Romain Febvre the Belgian Grand Prix was a memorable one, as the Frenchman took his first ever Grand Prix win in Lommel. This victory didn’t come so easy though. Febvre led the first before Herlings passed him, but to make matters worse, the Kawasaki rider then crashed. He repeated the same mistake in the second race as he went down on the second lap but was able to re-group and come back to pass Jonass in the final five laps to win the race and secure his win in Lommel! Pauls Jonass had his best result of the season in Lommel, as he along with the Standing Construct GasGas Factory Team celebrated his first 33

podium of the season as he finished third overall. With Febvre, Herlings and Jonass on the podium, this left Gajser and Cairoli disappointed as the pair had a tough weekend each. For Gajser sixth overall was not the result he was hoping for after numerous crashes in the races. This cost the Honda rider vital championship points which worked in the favour of Febvre who edged closer to the championship leader. While Gajser struggled to get himself on the podium, so did Antonio Cairoli as he finally broke his podium streak. A third and a fourth place and a seventh in the races put Cairoli fifth overall, with a lot to make up for in Latvia. In MX2, Jago Geerts made up for his lost chances during his home round during the Belgian triple-header in 2020, as he finally got himself on the top of the box this time around. Geerts won the opening heat after Renaux crashed halfway through the race, while in the second race the Belgian could not match the speed of the hard-charging Kay De Wolf who impressed many with his first MX2 race victory. De Wolf was impressive all day. He started the day with the fastest lap time in time practice and followed that up with a hard fought first race as he came back from outside the top 10 to third, while in the second heat he led from lap 1 to lap 15 and celebrated yet another MX2 podium. While Renaux could not hold onto the race win in the first heat, he did manage two solid results of 2-3 to make it his fourth podium appearance of the season and continue his championship lead over Guadagnini who had a tough weekend and managed only 14-10 in the races after a big crash in the start of race one – with the entire weekend costing him vital championship points as Geerts climbed to third and began to close in on the Italian. MXGP of Latvia – Kegums To finish off the four in a row was Kegums! The Latvian Grand Prix was the perfect opportunity for redemption for the likes of Gajser, Cairoli and Guadagnini, who struggled in Lommel.

Gajser delivered on his promise for a better weekend with two very consistent rides of 2-2 which handed him the overall. Towards the later stages of the second race it looked like Herlings had the Grand Prix win in the bag, but a last lap crash while chasing Prado cost him the chance to fight for the top spot, while Prado went on to claim the race win and stand second on the box for his second podium of 2021. Herlings did recover to finish fourth in the second race and thanks to his race one win was enough to get him third overall – not a result he was hoping for, but given his circumstances it was still a celebration as he continued to fight through the pain to stay in the battle for the title this year. For Gajser the overall victory was a much-needed boost, which he will for sure carry into the four-week break and the Turkish double-header. For Febvre the Latvian Grand Prix didn’t deliver the results he would have wanted after his GP win in Lommel and his podium in Kegums last season. The Kawasaki rider once again was troubled by crashes which cost him the win in race two as he grabbed the holeshot and led Prado and Herlings in the first two laps. In MX2, Maxime Renaux showcased a dominant force as he went on to win both races, for the first time in his racing career. Renaux passed Guadagnini on the very same lap (5) of both races. Guadagnini couldn’t quite hold on to the win in the races, but what was more important was the fact that he picked up some solid points for the championship. Geerts finished the weekend second overall ahead of Guadagnini and that was the championship top three all on one podium! Now there’s about a month until the next event in Turkey as we’ll see our first double header with the MXGP of Turkey and MXGP of Afyon. Catch-up on all the moments you may have missed from the last four MXGP’s on our YouTube channel, with our news highlights, best action moments and more!

FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

RESULTS MXGP CHAMP. STANDINGS 1. T. Gajser (SLO, HON) 2. R. Febvre (FRA, KAW) 3. J. Prado (SPA, KTM 4. A. Cairoli (ITA, KTM) ) 5. J. Herlings (NED, KTM) 6. J. Seewer (SUI, YAM) 7. P. Jonass (LAT,GAS) 8. G. Coldenhoff (NED,YAM) 9. A. Lupino (ITA, KTM) 10. B. Watson (GBR, YAM)

MX2 CHAMP. STANDINGS 270 p. 257 p. 255 p. 252 p. 227 p. 206 p. 180 p. 174 p. 134 p. 130 p.

1. M. Renaux (FRA, YAM) 2. M. Guadagnini (ITA, KTM) 3. J. Geerts (BEL, YAM 4. R. Fernandez (SPA, HON) 5. T. Benisitant /FRA, YAM) ) 6. J. Beaton (AUS, HUS) 7. M. Boisrame (FRA, KAW) 8. K. DeWolf (NED, HUS) 9. R. Hofer (AUT, KTM) ) 10. S. Laengenfelder (GER, GAS)

MXGP MANUFACTURERS

MX2 MANUFACTURERS

1. KTM 2. Honda 3. Kawasaki 4. Yamaha 5. Gas Gas 6. Husqvarna

1. Yamaha 2. KTM 3. Kawasaki 4. Husqvarna 5. Honda 6. Gas Gas

329 p. 271 p. 262 p. 237 p. 201 p. 128 p.

MXGP & MX2 STANDINGS

271 p. 237 p. 235 p. 214 p. 204 p. 197 p. 192 p. 184 p. 184 p. 137 p.

312 p. 292 p. 227 p. 226 p. 214 p. 163 p.

Views: 17.5 Watch Time (Hours): 1.6M Subscribers: +41.1K in 2020 Lifetime Subscribers: 250K Lifetime Views: 113.9M

L A I C O S P G X M

@marceldean10 @tiga243 🔥 #timgajser #243 #happyrider

Jeremy Van Horebeek remebers Loket 2014 | MXGP of Czech Republic 2021: #ThrowbackThursday as Jeremy Van Horebeek relives the epic 2014 MXGP of Czech Republic in Loket where he secured his first MXGP overall victory after an awesome battle with Antonio Cairoli!

@tynaa1 Happy to be back!!! Thank you Latvia and @mxgp for having us!!! Where next?

@ondrej__maly Mxgp Loket 2021 #motocross #mxgp #furtplnej #summer

Riding Secrets by Dunlop: Take a look at Episode 1 of ‘Riding Secrets by Dunlop’ in which we hear from MXGP riders Pauls Jonas and Jordi Tixier to learn more about the perfect riding position out of the gate, why teams such as Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory MXGP choose to use Dunlop’s mousse tyre range, as well as other useful tips and tricks!

@dannyrelouw MXGP LOMMEL 🇧🇪📷

@mridegreen RIDE GREEN CUP is a fun way to show our young riders 🙋‍♂️🙋‍♀️ the importance of incorporating sustainable♻️ practices

@natasjapoels Wat een heerlijk motorcross weekend hebben we beleefd samen @mxgp_oss

@emmagourgaud MXGP Oss 🇳🇱 Proud of my boy 💪🏼❤️

@mxgpstore_official Flashback to the highlight of MXGP of Lativia 2020 🇱🇻 Who’s ready for the action at Kegums?

@tommy_van_grinsven Small boys big dreams

GoPro Lap |MXGP of Flanders-Belgium 2021: Jump on board with Jago Geerts and his Yamaha machine and take a closer look of the Lommel track!

P G X M # D OF ORL W E H IN T

@artforpetrolheads MXGP Champion Tim Gajser I’m loving this new print..

R E S T L S R I N G MO

H T N RE MO E D I RF TH O

Photo: Yamaha Racing

O H S L U B C A B

E H T S A D E S R I E F C N S U OT T IB O E L T T E LL CK

The first shoulder injury …

WHEN JEFFREY HERLINGS VACATED THE 2020 SEASON IN FAENZA AFTER HIS HORRIFIC PRACTICE CRASH, MANY WONDERED HOW THE NATURE OF HIS INJURIES WOULD AFFECT THE FOUR-TIME WORLD CHAMPION PSYCHOLOGICALLY, IF INDEED AT ALL. WORSE STILL, WOULD WE EVEN SEE HIM RETURN TO RACING EVER AGAIN? SIX WEEKS LATER, THE BULLET WAS BACK ON A BIKE SPINNING LAPS, AND AS HE PLANNED HIS COMEBACK, THERE WAS ONLY ONE THING ON HIS MIND: WINNING! THIS MONTH IN MXGP MAGAZINE WE ANALYSE THE FREAK OF RACING NATURE THAT IS JEFFREY HERLINGS.

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Injuries! Nobody wants them, everybody hates them and for Jeffrey Herlings, it’s fair to say he’s had his fair share, but if there’s one thing that JH84 is good at, apart from winning, then it’s riding injured. The first time we really saw this was back in 2013. He’d just clinched his second MX2 title in Loket with three GP’s remaining but at the following round in Bastogne, Belgium, a shoulder injury in the qualifying race should have ruled him out for the rest of the season. However, with the final round scheduled for Lierop, the ‘84’ did not want to pass up the opportunity to race in front of his home fans, and after testing the injury during training less

than 24 hours before the GP, Herlings was confirmed as a late entry. He may have won both races, but the pain he suffered afterwards ruled him out of the MXoN in Germany and kept him side lined for a considerable amount of time afterwards. The femur … The following year, and the record books will show that he narrowly missed the 2014 world title by 4 points to his teammate Jordi Tixier. In an ‘Instagram versus Reality’ scenario, history will also show us that with four rounds remaining, Jeffrey was 145 points clear of his closest rival and that 6 points at the following round in Czech Republic would have guaranteed him his third title. But then a freak accident whilst racing at a charity event in Belgium left him with a broken

femur, something that would certainly rule him out for months, effectively ending his title hopes, right? WRONG! Less than two months later, JH84 showed up in Mexico for the final round believing he could still be world champion, even if he was only riding with one leg. As he limped his way to his bike, the world could see the agony etched all over his pale face, but undaunted, the Dutchman rode through the obvious pain of a still broken femur, held loosely together by an iron rod; unfortunately, it was all in vain, but it almost wasn’t! To even contemplate flying halfway across the world in his condition, told us all we needed to know about Jeffrey Herlings. Not winning is never an option. The first collarbone, mangled finger and hip dislocation … In 2015, a broken collarbone sustained in Germany on the

opening lap of race one ruled him out for just the one GP, and two weeks later he arrived in Sweden with it plated, ready to race again. But, after winning the first race, Herlings fell at the start of race two and severely damaged his little finger on his left hand, to the point that it was so mangled, there needed to be a ‘Certificate 18’ rated warning before viewing the damaged pinkie on his IG post. This time however, it looked like common sense had prevailed and he reluctantly sat-out the GP in Latvia to allow it to heal without the risk of infection, but when he returned a week later in Loket, a crash in the qualifying race saw him landed on by Jordi Tixier, which resulted in a badly dislocated hip. There was no coming back from that one, not even for Jeffrey Herlings. The hand injury … After a trouble-free 2016 where he secured that elusive third world title, Herlings’ focus shifted to MXGP, but at the start of 2017 during a pre-season 49

race, The Bullet was left with a broken right hand. The timing of that injury could not have been any worse as it was a few days out from the opening GP in Qatar, but believing any points would be better than none, yep, you guessed it, the ‘84’ showed up once again, in no fit-state to ride in his quest to be world champion in MXGP. The struggle was real, and for the first half a dozen rounds it was clear he was far from his best, but once again, his effort did not go un-noticed, but another title had gone begging. In 2018, we witnessed a Jeffrey Herlings at the very top of his game as he decimated the opposition on his way to a fourth world title, picking up 33 race wins and 17 GP victories. He even broke another collarbone on his way to the title as well. No pain, no gain, or so the saying goes. The foot and ankle set back … Speaking of which, there was more pain inflicted on Herlings during pre-season training in Spain as he prepared for his title defence in 2019. A badly broken foot ruled him out of action once again and he would miss the first seven rounds as a result. Riding at 80% capacity, Jeffrey battled to 4th overall with a 4-7 scorecard on his return to action in Russia, but a week later in Latvia we witnessed another jaw dropping moment when he crashed on the sighting lap ahead of race one. MXGP’s TV cameras caught the incident on film, and as he was picking himself up, we saw Arminas Jasikonis clip the ankle of the 84 but despite that, Herlings lined up, raced and won. Unfortunately, he would not line up for race two as a scan in the medical centre between races revealed a broken bone in his ankle. Once again though, we witnessed JH84 ignoring the pain to pull off the unthinkable. To help underline how bad this injury was, Herlings was forced to miss the next six GP’s, returning only for the last three 50

rounds; and the reason he came back? He needed to race himself back to some kind of fitness for the chance to be included in The Netherlands team for the Monster Energy MXoN which was taking place at Assen in his native Holland, and whilst he may not have won any of the races that day, his efforts helped Team NL to a historic maiden win in the events’ history. When MXGP arrived in Great Britain for the season opener in 2020, the pre-event press conference heralded the arrival of a different Jeffrey Herlings, and one who said things like ‘I don’t need to win every race, or every GP, the season is long, blah, blah, blah!’ In the past, it was all about winning at all costs, so where would this much wiser, more mature Jeffrey stack up in 2020? After a solid start, The Bullet led the series after the first two rounds before the series was interrupted due to the covid pandemic. When he returned for round three in Latvia 154 days later, it was clear he was not his usual self. A concussion three weeks before the re-start meant more time off the bike, but by Faenza 2, he was already 60 points clear of Tony Cairoli before injury struck again. This one was big and sent shockwaves through the MXGP paddock. Whilst he may not have returned to racing due the close proximity of the new race schedule, Herlings was back on a bike around six weeks later, much to everyone’s surprise, but it later transpired that there were further complications with his original foot injury from 2019. In order to preserve his chances of winning another title, JH84 opted to for more surgery to hopefully put it right in readiness for his 2021 campaign. He was once again thinking of the bigger picture; the wiser, more mature Jeffrey was back. A Pain in the Oss … After posting two podiums at the opening two rounds of this season

with 2nd and 3rd, Herlings bounced back at the Italian GP at Maggiora, which also included his first race win of the campaign. More importantly, he was very much back in the title race going into round four, his home GP at Oss. But then, another jaw-dropping moment and one that left Herlings suffering the consequences once more. By now you will have all seen the incident where he was landed on by another rider on the opening lap of race one, and whilst it was a miracle that Herlings was able to remain upright and in the race, it was even more miraculous that he was able to eventually catch the lead group ahead of him and pass them before going on to win the race. We knew he was in some discomfort by the way he was constantly gesticulating to his team that he had a shoulder problem. Hardly surprising really, when close to 200 kilos of man and machine decides to use his shoulder blade as a landing zone! But, perhaps the most telling part was his post-race interview after he’d won the race. There were no smiles, no thanking the fans for their support, no mention of the fantastic atmosphere. The tone was downbeat and whilst he might have just won, he seemed defeated. The last time we saw him like that was Latvia 2019 after he’d just won with what we now know was with a broken ankle. At that moment in Oss, we realised that lightening really does strike twice. Between the two races in Holland, the medical team had confirmed a broken shoulder blade. There would be no more heroics for The Bullet today, and from a championship standpoint, it looked like his title aspirations would have to wait for another year, for something that wasn’t even his fault, something completely beyond his control. His race win left him just one point off the lead, and he was

the only rider up to that point to land on the podium at every round. It might not have been vintage Jeffrey, but at least he was consistent and that’s what wins you championships. At that stage, it seemed strange to believe, but once again it looked like his consistency was about to deny him another world title. With Herlings getting hurt at the second in a run of four GP’s in a row, it was clear that there was no room for error, and certainly no room for injury, and by the time the MXGP of Czech Republic was done and dusted, by not riding, Herlings suddenly found himself demoted to 6th in the standings and 51 points adrift of the series leader, Tim Gajser. And then the bombshell! Yes, another one. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s that wherever JH84 goes, there is usually some kind of drama and once again, this proved to be no exception. After riding on Saturday, the day before the FlandersBelgian GP, it was announced that the greatest sand racer on earth was once again confirmed as a late entry, but not even he would be competitive around here, would he? A healing but still broken left shoulder blade would bring tears to anyone’s eyes, wouldn’t it? Surely the aim was just to ride around to salvage some points, any points in order to offer a little bit light at the end of the tunnel, right? Wrong again! Look who’s back … What happened next was beyond comprehension as ‘the fastest sand rider in the world’ romped to his third race win of the season; not only that, his win margin was a mere 28 seconds! With so much effort going into that first race, we were left wondering if that kind of exertion would

prove too much, and that there was a chance that we may not see him line up for race two, but there was no way he was going to pass up the opportunity to score more championship points. Had he not fallen on the first lap whilst inside the top five, we may well have witnessed one of the most impressive rides of all time, but in the end, his hard charge through the field could only net him 5th, for 2nd overall; his lack of race fitness got the better of him. Either way, it was still pretty impressive. One-week later, Herlings was just as impressive in Latvia. A first race win set him on 56

course for another shot at a GP victory, but after a late charge on Jorge Prado in race two, The Bullet made an unusual error when he blew through a sand berm, which left him on the ground less than a handful of corners from the finish line. Had he not fallen, it would have been GP win #92 but his effort was only rewarded with 3rd overall after tying on points with Prado for 2nd. So, as we head into the summer break, we find ourselves asking: what is it that makes Jeffrey Herlings tick? The simple truth is that he is wired differently to everyone else. He is a natural born winner, and winners have to win at all costs, because losing is not an option. That’s not to say that he is the only rider that will

race with an injury; far from it, because in motocross, racing with injuries is the norm. Instead, it’s how he deals with injury compared to everybody else, and where someone else might go into self-preservation mode and race to only pick up points, JH84’s mindset is to go out and win. It’s almost as if his ‘inner chimp’ tells him there is no pain, there is no injury, you can still win this race, and quite simply he believes him as well. His belief in himself, even when his back is against the wall is unrivalled, and that is probably what sets him apart from his rivals when the chips are down. Of course, none of us know what really makes him tick, but what we do know is this: Jeffrey Herlings is not normal; he is a freak of racing nature, plain and simple!

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G JU W

: E C E E R S G S O N I ! R P N C I E O H D T S L N O O O G IOR M MPI A N H U LD C R O W

GREEK SUNSHINE + THE FASTEST YOUNGSTERS IN THE WORLD + A COOL LOCATION AND YOU END UP WITH ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING EVENTS OF THE SEASON OR AS WE KNOW IT, THE FIM JUNIOR MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!

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A few weeks ago, 113 riders from 23 various nations made their way to Megalopolis, Greece, for the biggest youth competition of the year in the 65cc, 85cc and 125cc disciplines, which at the end saw two new Junior World Champions and World Cup Winner of 2021. Fantic Factory Team Maddii’s Haakon Osterhagen became this year’s 125cc Junior World Champion, while Mattia Barbieri was crowned the 85cc Junior World Champion and Aaron Katona the 65cc World Cup Winner. Meanwhile in the Nations standings, Team Italy were victorious for the second year in a row after winning the competition back in 2019. Megalopolis was this year’s host of the FIM Junior World Championship, located in southern Greece in the same site as the ancient Megalopolis, which was founded in 371 BC with the biggest amphitheatre in the entire Greece. Megalopolis has long hosted national and international events of great significance and it was not the first time that a motocross world championship stage was held at the Greek circuit. In 1998 and 1999 the 250cc editions of the FIM Motocross World Championship took place, with Sebastien Tortelli and David Vuillemin victorious consecutively. More recent events included the 2010 MX3 World Championship and EMX2 Championship stages, as well as the 2011 MX3 and WMX World Championship rounds. And now 10 years later, the world championship returned to Greece as Megalopolis had the honour of hosting the future motocross stars of the world!

city of Megalopolis to showcase their national teams that will be representing each flag over the two-day event! The opening ceremony was a special celebration, with attendance by the Mayor of Megalopolis Mr Thanassis Christogianopulos, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affair in Greece Konstantinos Vlassis, the Governor of Peloponnese Region Panagiotis Nikas, among other important figures both in Greece and motocross. FIM RIDE GREEN CUP “To be a real Champion you must respect the planet”. Alongside the Junior World Championship, FIM and Infront Moto Racing continued the FIM Ride Green Cup once again in 2021 as part of FIM’s Ride Green mission. The campaign has been running for several years now with a very important goal; to communicate, motivate and encourage teams and riders to comply with the current environmental regulations and do their best to protect the planet! Every year, at the Junior World Championship the Ride Green Cup is awarded to the national team that demonstrates a high degree of environmental awareness through compliance with environmental regulations, creativity and teamwork. The Ride Green Cup is a fun way of showing the young riders the importance of incorporating sustainable practices into their sport and giving them all-round training on how to do it. Athletes are the ideal people for setting an example and raising awareness thanks to their popularity and performance.

GO TIME! The weekend’s festivities kickstarted with the traditional opening ceremony which featured all the riders from the 23 countries that made the trip over to Greece for the occasion. The attendees gather in the open air of the historic 60

This season, the FIM and Infront Moto Racing announced the first MXGP representative for the Ride Green Initiative with Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jeremy Seewer joining a panel of athletes from all motorcycling disciplines to do their part in

raising awareness and spreading the message of protecting the environment. Over the two days of racing, the teams and riders took part in many activities that encouraged them to live healthier and sustainably, through simple tasks like recycling, to more hands-on activities like planting trees! In 2021, Team Estonia’s Joosep Parn, Sebastian Leok and Enriko Peilman were awarded the FIM Ride Green Cup for demonstrating their care and awareness for the planet. THE CHAMPIONS WERE DECIDED… Like always, the action began on Saturday with the qualifying sessions which decided the gate pick for the all-important Sunday races. In the 125cc class, current EMX125 Championship leader, Haakon Osterhagen of Fantic Factory Team Maddii was the fastest rider in the qualifying session as he set a time of 2:00.340 ahead of Latvian Alberts Karlis Reisulis, who was just 0.630 seconds behind. Third was Spaniard Raul Sanchez. Last year’s 85cc World Champion, Valerio Lata placed fifth. The fastest 85cc rider was Latvian Martins Janis Reisulis who clocked a lap time of 1:58.645 ahead of Italian Mattia Barbieri, who put in a time of 1:58.680. The third fastest rider in the group was last year’s 65cc Junior World Cup winner, Vitezslav Marek. Meanwhile, in the 65cc category, Hungarian Aaron Katona was the fastest rider in the group with a lap time of 2:09.374, while Dutch rider Dean Gregoire was second with a time of 2:10.642. Third was Bulgarian Dani Tsankov. With the gate line-up decided the focus then shifted to the main day, the day where positions meant championship points! In the first 125cc race it was Bence Pergel, who took the Fox Holeshot, though it was Osterhagen who took the lead in the first lap and then led the rest of the race until the chequered flag. Raul Sanchez made contact with

a lapped rider in front of pitlane, while Gorgios Vagenas almost crashed but managed to stay in the game, though it cost him second position. Last year’s 85cc World Champion Valerio Lata of MRT Racing Team KTM finished the race second after making the most of the opportunity handed to him thanks to the mistake of Sanchez, who finished the race third. In the second race it was Osterhagen who took the second Fox Holeshot that time around and then got his head down and controlled the rest of the race to go 1-1 and become this year’s 125cc Junior World Champion. While Osterhagen led, there was a nice battle between Kay Karssemakers and Lata for second, with the pair wheel-to-wheel for the entire race. Eventually though it was Lata who finished second with Karssemakers third. The perfect race score handed Osterhagen the golden plate as he became World Champion, while two solid second place finishes put Lata second on the podium with Karssemakers placing third with a 7th and 3rd in the races. “I won basically everything except one holeshot in the first race. After the first race, where I ran out of energy due to the heat, I decided to be ready for what would come and I did my best. This is very great success for me and for my country. I would like to thank my family, my sponsors and everybody who supported me” shared Osterhagen after his victory. In the 85cc category, Latvian Janis Martins Reisulis took the first Fox Holeshot of the day, as a couple of riders were involved in a crash out of the start. Reisulis led the whole race while coming under immense pressure from last year’s 65cc World Cup Winner, Marek Vitezslav who was pushing from behind. Unfortunately, on the very last lap Reisulis had a bike problem which gifted Vitezslav the victory with Noel Zanocz finishing second, ahead of Mattia Barbieri. The second heat saw Vitezslav take the Fox Holeshot that time around 64

as he led the race while coming under pressure from Simone Mancini. Vitezslav eventually dropped a couple of positions as Barbieri made a risky move to pass both Mancini and Vitezslav to claim the race victory! With a 3-1 result, Barbieri was declared the 85cc World Champion as he tied on points with Vitezslav, who had a 1-3 result and therefore missed out on the title this time around. Third was Zanocz who finished 2-5 in the races. “I’m happy to be here on the podium. It was a very good battle with the Czech rider. I want to express my thanks to the whole Italian team, my sponsors and my family,” shared Barbieri after his win. Last but certainly not least were the 65cc riders who fought hard for the 2021 World Cup. The opening 65cc race saw Team Italy’s Andrea Uccellini take the Fox Holeshot, he was looking comfortable in the lead as he controlled the race. Though with just two laps to go, the young Italian was passed by Aaron Katona, who was the race winner. Uccellini crossed the line second and Sleny Goyer was third. In the second race Uccellini took the Fox Holeshot once again, though the second race unfolded much like the first as it was Katona who took the win, with Goyer second and Uccellini dropping to third. With two race wins, Katona got the perfect score to that 65cc title, while Goyer finished second and Uccellini third. “I feel very happy about my standings today. I feel just proud,” explained Katona. NATIONS CLASSIFICATIONS What makes the Junior Motocross World Championship is not only the fact that we see the upcoming stars of motocross go head-to-head for their shot at the world title, but the riders also compete as part of a team for their Nation, meaning it’s not just an event for the individual rider, but their results also reflect the classification of the team!

Just like the points system works at the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations – it was calculated the same for the teams and the junior event. Meaning that the team scoring the least number of points was declared the winner! (This means that for a race win the team would score 1 point and so on, for every position). In the nation’s classifications, it was Team Italy who were victorious and defended their 2019 title as they finished the weekend with six points thanks to the great results of their riders Valerio Lata, Mattia Barbieri and Andrea Uccellini, while placing second with 10 points was Team Hungary with strong results from Bence Pergel, Noel Zanocz and Aaron

Katona. Finishing third were Team Netherlands on 20 points with Kay Karssemakers, Lotte Van Drunen and Dex Van Den Broek. SPECIAL PRIZES Just like every year, the Junior World Champions and World Cup Winner were awarded with special prizes as the event wrapped up at the podium ceremony. SCOTT Sports, worldwide leader in offroad apparel, goggles, bicycles, and sporting goods, has once again teamed up with the 2021 FIM Junior World Championship to present the winners with some amazing SCOTT goodies and care packages to celebrate their achievements.

Following the podium ceremony on Sunday, 125cc Junior World Champion Haakon Osterhagen of Fantic Factory Team Maddii, 85cc Junior World Champion Mattia Barbieri and 65cc World Cup Winner Aaron Katona were awarded with the special SCOTT goggle kit and accessories care package. WHAT’S NEXT? With the Junior Motocross World Championship over for another year, there’s no time for rest as we start working on the 2022 edition that is set to take place in Finland! In the meanwhile, you can re-live the amazing weekend in Greece with our 44-minute behind-thegate special which you can watch on MXGP-TV.com HERE!

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TALLON ‘LONE WOLF’ VOHLAND IN THE 90’S A FEW AMERICAN RIDERS TRIED TO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF DANNY LAPORTE AND BRAD LACKEY, WHO BOTH BECAME WORLD CHAMPIONS IN 1982. Tallon Vohland was one of those talents who travelled to Europe to try to rebound his pro career; he never won any titles, but with four GP wins and two podiums in the 250cc World Championship during his seven seasons racing GP’s, he didn’t loose his time here and left his mark in the history of our sport. Born on 2nd April 1972 in Sacramento, a famous Californian location for motocross fans, this sport has always been in the life of Tallon, who was only four years old when he did his first race! Member of the famous Kawasaki Team Green amateur program and winner of a title at Loretta Lynn’s in 1987, he raced the Supercross series as a privateer in 1989 and got a significant fourth position in the East Coast. He turned Pro the following season, won the Tampa Supercross and finished the 125cc Supercross championship in fourth position, but also got good results in Motocross with podiums, including a second position at High Point right behind Jean Michel Bayle. After signing for Suzuki he won again a Supercross in

1991 (Houston), finished fourth in the season, but contracted a shoulder injury which cost him a factory ride for the following season. As his brother Tyson was racing in Europe, Tallon jumped on a plane to go to Europe and race the famous ‘Fast cross’ in Arsago Seprio (Italy) at the end of 1991. Fighting in that race with riders such as Alex Puzar or Ricky Johnson, he got a podium result and straight away had an offer from the Carpi team to race the GP’s in 1992. It was another start for him as he had to discover European tracks, new rivals and Italian life, but in his first attempt he won the GP of Guatemala and finished 8th in the 125cc World Championship. Moving to the 250cc class in 1993 he missed two rounds due to injuries, but also finished twice second in a 71

race behind Donny Schmit in Hungary and Greg Albertijn in Great Britain. 1994 was similar with another eighth position in the standings, two race podiums but also two GP missed due to injuries. But Tallon showed enough potential to join Kawasaki and Jan De Groot for the following seasons, where he got his best results. Twice third in the series in 1995 and 1996, he also won three GP’s in green but couldn’t reach his dream to become World Champion.

1982:

4th in the 125 AMA Supercross Championship, East Coast (Kawasaki)

1990:

5th in the 125 AMA Supercross Championship, East Coast (Kawasaki)

1991:

4th in the 125 AMA Supercross Championship, East Coast (Suzuki)

Moving to the Yamaha Rinaldi squad in 1997, Tallon started the season perfectly as he was leading the series tight in the points with Stefan Everts after the third Grand Prix at Valkenswaard. However, due to an injury he missed the following five rounds and couldn’t finish higher than sixth. In 1998 he again struggled with injuries, and after he finished sixth in the series, he decided to go back to the US when his friend Bobby Moore called him and offered him a deal to race again in the US.

1992:

8th in the 125 FIM Motocross World Championship (Suzuki). Winner of 1 GP

Back in the 125cc class but injured during the Supercross series, he saved his season in the outdoors when he beat Ricky Carmichael at Glen Helen! It was the high point of his season, and after that performance he signed with team Kawasaki Pro Circuit for the following two years. Having up and down, with a third in motocross (2000) and a fifth in Supercross (2001), he returned to Europe in 2002 but never got any significant result in the 125cc class. But the name of Vohland never disappeared from the sport, as his son Max is now racing the US Supercross.

2000: 3rd in the 125 AMA Motocross Championship (Kawasaki)

Text & Photos: Pascal Haudiquert

1993: 8th in the 250 FIM Motocross World Championship (Suzuki) 1994: 8th in the 250 FIM Motocross World Championship (Honda) 1995:

3rd in the 250 FIM Motocross World Championship (Kawasaki). Winner of 1 GP

1996:

3rd in the 250 FIM Motocross World Championship (Kawasaki). Winner of 1 GP

1997:

6th in the 250 FIM Motocross World Championship (Yamaha). Winner of 1 GP

1998: 6th in the 250 FIM Motocross World Championship (Yamaha) 1999:

3rd in the 125 AMA Motocross Championship (Honda)

2001: 5th in the 125 AMA Motocross Championship (Kawasaki)

S K L A T K C O D PAD

Special guests joined us at the MXGP of the Netherlands in Oss. Dutch social media personality ‘Dutch Performante’ with fellow influencer ‘Mobicep’ along with former football players Wesley Sneijder and Andy Van Der Meijde enjoyed the races!

2 Oss hosted a special parade lap which featured former legends such as Harry Everts, John van den Berk, Joel Smets, Marnicq Bervoets and more! 3 Factory Yamaha rally rider Adrien Van Beveren pictured with Romain Febvre before the start of MXGP race in Lommel! 4 Lisa Leyland pictured interviewing Yamaha rally rider Andrew Short during the MXGP of Flanders-Belgium.

5 Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing Team Manager Antti Pyrhonen showed us around the teams impressive base in Lommel during the special Team Report which you can watch on YouTube and MXGP-TV.com!

6 Team France revealed their line-up for the 2021 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations! 7 Maxime Renaux took his first ever 1-1 result to win the MXGP of Latvia and continues to lead the MX2 championship with a 34-point advantage over Mattia Guadagnini. 8 MXGP Academy in full swing during the MXGP of Latvia! 9 Haakon Osterhagen was crowned the 2021 125cc Junior World Champion on Greece! 10 Junior World Championship participants took part in a special tree planting activity as part of FIM’s Ride Green campaign for a more sustainable future!

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JOHN VAN DEN BERK 1987 YAMAHA YZ125M 78

DUTCH LEGEND JOHN VAN DEN BERK IS A TWOTIME MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPION AND ONE OF JUST SEVEN RIDERS WHO HAVE WON BACK-TO-BACK TITLES IN DIFFERENT CLASSES AFTER CLAIMING THE 125CC TITLE IN 1987, FOLLOWED BY THE 250CC TITLE IN 1988. HIS FIRST YEAR RACING THE 125CC CLASS WAS 1984 WHERE HE PLACED 16TH, FOLLOWED BY 5TH AND 2ND IN THE FOLLOWING TWO SEASONS, AND BY 1987 HE WAS READY TO FIGHT FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, AND IT’S HIS 1987 YAMAHA YZ125M THAT WE WILL FEATURE IN THIS ISSUE OF MXGP MAGAZINE.

because that was the most difficult to make the 50cc go fast.’ After placing 16th in his first season of grand prix racing riding a production bike, John van den Berk was already getting noticed on the GP scene. By 1986 he was receiving support from Yamaha Europe, ‘not much, only some parts …’ but the biggest part of his success was the team of people he had already built up around him. ‘We started with a private tuner, an engineer who made engines for road race; his name was Theo van Geffen and at that moment he was one of the main tuners, like Jan Witteveen, coming from the scooter class. The 50cc scooter class was a very popular class in the past, so all the good tuners came from this area

By 1986, this group of people, which also included his mechanic Harry Nolte, was working non-stop to produce the kind of engine required to challenge for the world championship and even though factory parts were then available for John to use, he never really used them as the engine that Theo and Harry had produced was already very fast. Even though they opted out of the factory parts, the support from Yamaha allowed them to continue developing their own engine, which was developed in-house with modifications to the cylinder and cylinder head: ‘There was a lot of power and so the factory parts … we didn’t

really use the factory parts, and so from ’87 this project was finished, the engine was good and for me it was possible to compete with the Cagiva guys because they were a full factory team; everything factory, with a lot of riders. We were like a small team, but we got full support from Yamaha to pay for the tuning and to do the development, so that was really good.’ Another area where van den Berk was allowed to have a bit of free reign was his suspension. Officially he should have used factory Kayaba (KYB) but as he recalls, ‘we used WP which was from Holland, but this was more like a private thing because we had factory Kayaba at that time and it didn’t work out so good. With Kayaba, I had to use the new upside-down forks. That was the main thing; I put in my contract that I wanted to have conventional forks because I didn’t like the new 79

upside-down system, because in the beginning it was not so good. Even though we did a lot of testing with it, I changed my contract because it was not better for me; later on, yes, but on that point, it was a big issue. But, yeah, in ‘87 we had a good bike, good team, we worked six years together in total with the same people to build up and then finally we created a good thing.’ With the project finally coming to fruition, the biggest benefit of John’s bike was that he had a bike that only suited him. He ran the larger size ‘110’ tyre at the rear as opposed to the standard ‘90’ recommended for the 125cc. Basically, it was a heavier tyre with a wider, bigger profile and the engine itself had no bottom end power; instead, it was all mid-top which when he first rode it, left him more than a little concerned: ‘My bike was more like a bike that nobody else could ride, but me; it had completely zero bottom end power. Nothing. And to use the 110 tyre on the back, the tyre that Kees van der Ven used in the Le Touquet on the 500? Usually for a 125cc we should use a 90, but we used 110 from Michelin. The problem was, there was so much power middle-top, it never ended. The first time I rode this bike I said to the tuner ‘the engine is gonna explode, for sure!’ He said ‘it’s not gonna explode; just go full gas!’ Nothing on the bottom, everything on the clutch, big tyre, the starts – I always pulled a holeshot because there was so much power; it was a difficult bike to ride, but it was fitting to me. Even my teammates couldn’t ride this bike.’ Perhaps one of the biggest developments for John though was his ability to recognise what was previously holding him back, and what he needed to do to address that situation, in order to give himself the best opportunity at winning the world title; and

Photo: it started with him and his attitude to racing: ‘It wasn’t any big thing; it was more myself, because I had a little problem with the pressure in the beginning because it was always the two same riders (me and Dave Strijbos) going for the first place. Two riders from the same village, who went to the same school, the same gym, fighting for the same title. I didn’t handle it good. I took the risk in the wrong moments; I should stay calmer, and to be satisfied with 2nd if that was the best I could do at that time. And that was my main problem, but in ’87, I was like … okay, when he has a better day than me, let him go and I’ll take 2nd when 82

I need to. In the end, it was he who made the mistakes, even though he was maybe faster than me, but it was also a little bit of everything; the bike, me and believing in myself.’ When John van den Berk clinched the 125cc world championship in the final race of the season in Austria, he became Yamaha’s first world champion in the 125cc division since the class was introduced in 1975. The Mechanic - Harry Nolte: The bike was not a factory bike. Theo van Geffen and I did the tuning together, and apart from the cylinder head, the bike was pretty much stock, nothing really special. The exhaust was SPES at that time, suspension was WP with a conventional

front fork and I remember we went testing in Beaucaire, France, and John thought he was doing the same lap times with the USD forks, but the reality was he was 3 seconds quicker with the conventional ones. The carburettor was standard Keihin but we ran a different reed block and the ignition was also stock, because at that time there was not anything else like there is now. We had a different fuel tank made from aluminium; it was made in Holland by a Japanese guy and made with holes in the front so that air could pass to the filter box. The air box cover was also different to allow the air from the tank to flow out again. The chassis was standard which we needed to replace after every GP, because it was stretching like hell. We also had bigger radiators. Photos: Pascal Haudiquert

S N R O O I T T I S E ED E U QO TH T ❝

How can I watch live the European Championship races on Saturday? Bill:

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Hi Bill: , indeed you can watch the European Championship races on our platform https:// www.mxgp-tv.com/subscribe by choosing the GP Pass of your choice, all for only 10,99€ Best Regards MXGP

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I’m trying to find a picture for my phone wallpaper, where can I find this? Jean-Yves:

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Hi Jean-Yves: , you can find the pictures of the different previous Grand Prix on https://www.mxgp. com/photos?year_filter=2021 Regards MXGP

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I have a company in the automotive field, I invited my suppliers to the GP of Maggiora, how can I book VIP tickets for the GP of Trentino on October 31?r? Nordin

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Dear Nordin , we are glad to know that you enjoyed the GP of Italy in Maggiora. The VIP tickets are available on the website https:// italy.motocross-viptickets.com/ en/2366-italy-motocross-vip/ and you can now book your tickets for the GP of Trentino. Best Regards MXGP

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Where can I follow all the updates of the MXGP and MX2 championships? Oliver

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Hello Oliver Yes Thanks for getting in touch! For all the latest in the world of MXGP you can follow our social media pages @mxgp (on twitter and Instagram), meanwhile during the race weekends you can enjoy the races LIVE on www.MXGP-TV.com Thanks MXGP

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What languages can I listen to the MXGP highlights? Jacques

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Hi Jacques Hi Jacques, thanks for the message, the comments are available in Indonesian, Italian and Spanish on YouTube after each race. Thanks MXGP

MXGP #96 AUGUST 2021

Articles inside

HALL OF FAME

RACING CATCH UP

MONSTER GIRLS