Due to a major arm injury Rasmus Jorgensen might not have done what he hoped for in his own career, but a move to the powerful Husqvarna MX2 Factory team as riding coach has given him something to look forward to.
At just 25 years old himself, and with 19-year-old Thomas Kjer Olsen, 20-year-old Thomas Covington (turns 21 next week), and 17-year-old Conrad Mewse under his wing, the likeable Dane is getting a lot of pleasure from his new role.
“It all started with me working with Thomas Kjer Olsen,” Jorgensen said. “Training and being with him all the time, also helping him get a ride for last year. When I started he pretty much had nothing, we had to find him a ride for 2016, but it all worked out in the end and he got a factory ride with Husqvarna. I have a pretty good relationship with Robert Jonass, so that helped. Through Robert and getting the deal done with Thomas, they asked me if I liked to be part of the team as riding coach. To be somebody who is always there, and the riders can trust, going cycling with them, going running with them, going to the gym with them, going on the track with them. Just to coach them as much as possible.
For Olsen, the development of his relationship with Jorgensen has given him some great opportunities in his young career.
“Yes, for sure, it’s been a great relationship so far,” Olsen said. “It started out with Rasmus not riding anymore, and he started coaching a little bit. I was kind of struggling at that time and I knew I needed to make a change and I needed a coach, and when I had the opportunity with Rasmus, it was like I knew I had to do it. It was either keep riding the way I was riding, or make a chance, and he really helped me with my training program and everything, and we get along really good. We haven’t had any bad moments and we have been together a lot, so it’s going really good.”
When you see other rider like Tim Gajser or Romain Febvre, who also won titles in the EMX, it appears if you can get an EMX title it really shows your talent and helps get to the next level. For Olsen who won the 2016 EMX 250 championship the chance to move up to MX2 was an obvious one and it needed to be done quickly.
“It isn’t like you are good in the euros and it just happens in the MX2 or MXGP. You still have to put in the work, and you see it with those guys mentioned, they put in a lot of work. I am on the right track, but I need to keep working hard and keep doing what I am doing. Sometimes I do look back, and I had the same team as Febvre, with Bodo Schmidt, and now I am with Husqvarna, so I am on the same road as him, but I am trying to keep my head down, and in this sport, it can go wrong so easily. I am just trying to follow my training and do the best I can.”
British rider Conrad Mewse is more than happy to be in such a young team, and knows it will only help him as all three try and boost their careers. Having his first full MX2 season means he needs to learn a lot, and he is ready for that.
“I have some really good guys to go training with every week. Coming into the team as the youngest, you have the least expectations and takes a bit of the pressure off me, so it’s good like that. I am riding with two really top guys and they are both riding great and I didn’t expect anything else really. Thomas Olsen is European champion and he will be fast and Thomas Covington has some experience in the class and he will be up there. It’s really good practicing with these guys, because they are two of the top guys in the class. We all push each other and I hope it shows in the first few rounds.”
Now onto Qatar where the three young Husqvarna riders will do their best to put the blue and white machines on the podium.
