Christophe Charlier interview

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Christophe Charlier is making slow progress in his 2016 assault on the MXGP championship. The Frenchman who is presently 13^th in the championship points with 72 points might not be among the contenders, but he is working hard to try and get into the top ten in the elite class.

Last weekend in Mexico, Charlier scored 17 points, but he is still working on improving his race fitness after am early season injury.

“I crashed in the qualifying race and had a bad gate pick for the final moto’s. I tried not to let that affect me and focused on consistently putting in fast laps. I’m still working on my physical condition but I can honestly say I’m getting closer to where I want to be in every race. We are now going back home in Belgium for a few weeks and my plan is to work as hard as I can for the following GP in Latvia. The feeling is good, I enjoy my time racing the FC 450 and I’m positive the results will soon start coming our way.”

The previous week in Argentina Charlier felt like he was making good progress, and his haul of 20 points proved that.

“Physically I was feeling a bit closer to where I want to be and the pain from my injuries was almost non-existent. For me the Grand Prix in Argentina was even tougher than the previous one in The Netherlands. The most important thing is that I now start enjoying myself again on the bike and I know this will slowly pay off in terms of results. My goal is to keep building on my physical conditioning so that I can be able to keep pushing until the end of each moto. But everything keeps getting better as the season goes on. I’m feeling super positive going to Mexico now. The track there is hard-packed and that suits my riding style a lot more.”

Despite his somewhat lack of being comfortable in sand, Charlier fought hard at Valkenswaard and was able to build on his opening two rounds in Qatar and Thailand.

“We had done a lot of work with the team since Thailand and it paid off. I also had the chance to do some races in the sand in preparation for this GP and it helped a lot. Sand is not my strongest point but I fought really hard today and I think the results prove we’ve made some steps in the right direction. I had a big crash in the first moto, which didn’t allow me to fight for a place inside the top 15. Then in the second moto I got a good start and rode to 10th at the finish. Another positive to take away from this round was that I managed to improve on my starts. I was inside the top 12 after the start in both moto’s. I’m really looking forward to the following rounds, and the hard-packed tracks so I can show what I’m capable of.”

Now onto Kegums in Latvia, for rounds six of the MXGP championship and a circuit where the Husqvarna factory rider hopes to improve his championship position.