There will be twenty-three riders in the MXGP gate in 2017 with experience of what it takes to life a trophy at the highest level. Of that clutch around half a dozen can be considered viable contenders for the FIM Motocross World Championship. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Jeremy Van Horebeek is hoping to cement his name into that collective and as the 27 year old Belgian readies for his fourth term on the works YZ450FM then he insists the motivation is there to excel.
Since his breakthrough season in 2014 where he finished second in the world and took his maiden GP victory in the Czech Republic, ‘JVH’ has battled to reach the same peak and get anywhere near the 12 podiums he posted that campaign. The impact of teammate Romain Febvre in 2015 also disrupted his momentum. After results of 5th and 6th in the last two years Van Horebeek can now cite a settled personal life and some advanced work with the Yamaha (his starts were a handicap in 2016) that could turn the tide.
‘It is nice to be top-three, top-five all the time because it means you are always ‘there’ and have a good career but the hunger is there to win and I will approach the season like I did at the [2016] Nations where I went there only to win,’ #89 said. ‘I know it is not easy in the GPs to win all the time and we have a big group of good riders but definitely the goal is not to be top five anymore; it is way higher. I want to do myself and the people around me proud. That is all I care about.’
Jeremy is a smooth and fast racer renowned for not pushing the limits throughout a Grand Prix season that has now reached a point where MXGP athletes will face nineteen events and thirty-eight moto starts. One key element in his switch from front-runner to race leader could be the set-up of the YZ450FM; a machine he substantially converted for his 2014 ‘standout’.
‘The main thing was that we tested during the second half of 2016 for the new year, so by the end of the season I had the engine I wanted,’ he reveals. ‘We didn’t have so much to do [in 2017].’
‘I have the bike like I want and I have to thank the team so much for that,’ he added. ‘Finally it is like a complete package for starts and whether we need a sand or hard-pack setting. We don’t have to worry any more about it being too strong or not strong enough and then having to find a solution. This is what I needed. I also had to make a step physically and I found that. There are some also little things that have changed in my life like meeting a new girlfriend and we’ve living together. Since the Nations people could see I was a new guy and I have the same focus from that time.’
Van Horebeek wrapped up second place in the Italian Championship last Sunday and one of the last active weekends before teams and riders think firmly on Losail and the opening Grand Prix in Qatar. Unlike in 2015 where he was visually nervous and feeling the pressure of being a labelled contender for the MXGP crown, Jeremy is now resolute and carrying a different kind of intensity to the job in hand. ‘I know I am a lot better than last year and the year before; I’m really going for it in 2017,’ he claims. ‘I know I have done everything I had to and worked on the parts I missed. I’m pretty sure I am in the best shape of my life and I’m not stressed about Qatar. I’m not at 100% yet but I feel great.’
Photos by Monster Energy/Milagro
