Honda’s Valentin Guillod has missed the last seven rounds of MXGP due to a complicated hand injury and finds his saddle at the Honda Motor Europe-supported Assomotor team under threat from the raft of riders currently searching for 2018 contracts. The 24 year old is currently not due to return until the Grand Prix season closer at Villars sous Ecot in France.
“He has a one year deal direct with Assomotor,” confirmed HME Off-Road Manager Gordon Crockard. “There is never a good time for an injury but he had one at a bad moment because I felt he was getting to a point where he was about to produce results that we all expected he was capable.”
Guillod ‘s best moto finish this year was a 12th position in Germany. “Valentin throughout the year has been disappointed with himself,” revealed former GP winner Crockard. “I’d be pleased with some of his performances but when I speak with him about the same performance he talks negatively about how he has ridden. I think he expected a lot more from himself and it’s been a frustration for him. He was proactive in finding his own way to deal with that and his preparation, which was good.”
The Swiss’ injury was sustained in a first turn crash at the Grand Prix of Russia (oddly the third metacarpal injury in MXGP this season after similar problems for Jeffrey Herlings and Shaun Simpson). Guillod should have been back for the Czech round at Loket but re-broke the hand after attempting a Swiss national meeting. “It must have been a miscalculation from the surgeon of the thickness and strength of that plate…it was a shame and ruled him out of the Czech Grand Prix and he had surgery again,” Crockard says.
The Irishman was also able talk about the objectives for Honda Motor Europe in a shrinking MXGP paddock and the worry outlook for riders. “There are riders out there that would meet the requirements and objectives that Honda Europe have,” he outlined. “HRC push for race wins and championships, which means we can have slightly different objectives and it comes down to budget. I cannot go shopping for Cairolis’, Herlings’ or Febvres’; that’s HRC’s market. We are here to promote the CRF brand and show that the product is very able to finish immediately after the factory bikes; anything ahead of that is fantastic and strengthens our effort.”
“There is good choice and it is a very difficult class also,” he said of the options open to the likes of Assomotor and 24MX Honda. “Riders outside of grand prix and in national championship dream of coming here but I try to explain to them that to get inside the top twelve is really tough and they don’t appreciate it. The gap is narrow and in 450cc four-stroke racing now the distance between the third placed and tenth placed guy is very small.”
“There is a lot more science, technology and professionalism in the sport now and it is constantly being increased,” he adds. “You have a smaller gap between the good guys and really good guys. People boil it down to just the moto start – and it is a little bit true because one week you’ll see Desalle win a race and the next week he is down in ninth and there are many guys who are frustrated on the edge of the top ten, like Max Nagl. It comes down to lap-times being so close.”
Honda Motor Europe could consider contracting Evgeny Bobryshev for continuity on the CRF450R after the Russian was recently told his place in the HRC team would no longer be available for 2018.
Photos by Ray Archer
