It`s already here! The MXGP of Argentina in the marvelous track of Villa La Angostura is waiting patiently to receive the best riders of the paddock to kick off the season… finally. On the other side, On the other hand, riders are not exactly patient as they expressed their desire to be behind the gate this weekend.
Here is a list of some of the best MXGP and MX2 riders including Jeffrey Herlings, Jorge Prado, Romain Febvre, Maxime Renaux, Kay de Wolf, Andrea Adamo, Jago Geerts and more!
Jeffrey Herlings: For me, the year 2022 was a year to forget in a sporting sense. But I also learned a lot from this, so I am now fully focused towards 2023. I can’t wait to get back to racing. It’s been way too long. 2022 was a tough year for me, but once we made the decision to recover from the injuries and focus on 2023, I had a date and target ahead of me and it’s getting close now. I realize that I will need some track time and my plan is to build up the season, also because it will be a ‘normal’ long championship for me again after three years. I want to try to get back to my best level. The team around me has changed quite a bit, but the goals in racing always remain the same.
Jorge Prado: I hope that I can be on the podium at every single round this year and get as many wins as possible. For sure, the main goal is to get the title. I think I am capable of doing that. It is already my fourth year fighting for it, so hopefully I can do the same this year. If you see my last years, I got injured pretty much every year, 2021 twice and that is way too many injuries to be able to ride with a clear head. I think too many times this year (2022), I don’t want to take any risk and sometimes that pulls me a little bit back. I am not racing at my fastest speed then. Step by step I need to ride more relaxed and think less.
Ruben Fernandez: I achieved all the goals I had for 2022 so now I need to step up a little bit. I had two podiums this year so I want to make sure I am fighting more often for podiums and of course I am going to be looking to get my first win and my aim is to shoot for top three in the championship. Now I need to put in the work to try and make that happen and we will see how things turn out.
Romain Febvre: I’m nearly at 100% now, and the season will be really long. I love that track in Argentina, and the goal will be to score as many points as possible at each round. I know that in 2021 I was missing some speed compared to Herlings at times, and that’s a point we have worked on with Kevin Strijbos. If I regularly take good starts, like in the first moto at Hawkstone, I know what we are capable of this season. Let’s go.
Maxime Renaux: I definitely feel ready for the season to start. The winter was good. We did a lot of testing and training, so I am ready for it. The goal for the first round is to relax, give my best and look to build my season from there. I really like the track in Argentina. Obviously, I have some great memories from there last year after taking my first race win in the MXGP class during my rookie season after some good battles. There are also a lot of fans, and they always create an amazing atmosphere, and this is something I love.
Glenn Coldenhoff: I mean, the first one is always a bit weird, and you can’t say anything after round one. Like I said, I feel good, I don’t put pressure on myself and I go there to enjoy it and if I ride like I have been the last months and ride like I can, then I will definitely not be far from a top five result. I think to start with a top five in the championship, I will take that.
Mattia Guadganini: Yes, I tried to grow on this but keeping the fun aspect. Obviously the category is different, experience is needed, but instead of being more serious about everything, I went back, trying to appreciate everything I have, putting my all into it as it should be. The third year that you work in a team like this, maybe you give less value to what you have, so I returned to appreciating more what I have. I made a debrief on the past years, I remembered where I was 5 years ago and understanding where I’ve arrived in such a short time and this makes me aware that I have achieved something important, even if it didn’t go as I hoped. I’m trying to find the fun side in everything I do, because then I do my stuff so much better and so much easier. It’s not easy but I’m trying to enjoy my 20 years and my chance, making the best out of it, living it as best as I can.”
Kevin Horgmo: The winter preparation went really well. I have enjoyed my time on the bike and we have improved a lot. The pre-season race didn’t really show that but I think that’s what these races are for and I have learnt a lot. Compared to last year I would like to be more consistent and don’t have any silly crashes. I was in a good position many times and let the result slip away. My mission is to improve and be even faster. All the hard work from the winter will pay off during the season. I’m looking forward to Argentina.’
David Braceras:We did a lot of good training on proper tracks during the winter and I started to feel comfortable on the bike. We have done a lot of work with the bike and the suspension and other aspects are going really well. My goals for the first race in Argentina are see where I am and improve on that in the following races. I’m really enthusiastic to go to Argentina as the people there are also speaking Spanish. The track looks also really nice and I think I will adapt well to the type of sand of the track. It’s really fast and I think it will be a good track for me.
Kay de Wolf: I am really happy at the moment. The off-season has been great – I have had a lot of time on my FC 250 and I feel great. I cannot wait to start racing and have another solid season with the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing team. It will be good to implement everything that I have learned through the winter.
Roan van de Moosdijk: It feels great to work with the Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing crew for the second season in a row! I am really happy with the improvements that we have made during the off-season and I cannot wait for the gate to drop again. Seeing as this is my final year in MX2, the team and I will do everything to get the maximum out of it.
Lucas Coenen: I am looking forward to the new season. I was in EMX250 last season, so this is a massive change and I am very excited. I will get to do a lot more races and learn as much as possible. My FC 250 is really, really good. I am counting down to the first race in Patagonia-Argentina and cannot wait to start my MX2 career with Nestaan Husqvarna Factory Racing.
Jago Geerts: I started the off-season strong with everything going well, but I had a small set-back in January when I got sick and could not train exactly how I wanted to. Since then, I have done all that I can to recover strong, and I’m feeling pretty good now. Going into Argentina. I am looking forward to it. I won a race there last year, so it’s a track I like. My goal is to have a solid GP and build from there.
Thibault Benistant: My winter was good. I started riding a bit late, but had it was still enough time. I feel good on the bike, we did some testing and made a few small setting changes, and this has worked well. I did some pre-season races that were good, I enjoyed it a lot. I feel ready. My goal for the first race in Argentina is not necessarily to win, but to make a good start and fight for the podium to put good points on the board.
Rick Elzinga: The off-season felt long. I had two viruses last year, so I had to take two months off at the end of last season to recover properly. When I could resume training, it was obvious to me that I was quite far behind in terms of physical fitness compared to training partners, Thibault (Benistant), Maxime (Renaux) and Glenn (Coldenhoff). But I feel fortunate to have had Yamaha and the team behind me, pushing me hard to get to where I should be. Setting up the YZ250FM was easy. I had a good base set up really quick, so I felt good on the bike basically straight away. This weekend, I just want to start the season strong and use the time to adjust to the new format where I need to be solid for six sessions on track in a weekend. I’ll keep these things in mind, but I also want to get a good start and run with the top guys. I’ve only seen Argentina from the couch, so I can’t wait to ride here for the first time!
