With his freight train of podium finishes, eleven of which were back-to-back, Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Jeremy Van Horebeek was the surprise performer of the 2014 MXGP World Championship. After a successful transition from Kawasaki Racing Team to Yamaha Factory Racing, ‘The Jere’ solidified his spot on the podium and eventually wound out the year in second overall behind none other than the eight time FIM Motocross World Champion, Antonio Cairoli.
As 2014’s MXGP vice world champion, Jere was a rider expected to be in thick of the fight for the 2015 MXGP crown, but instead has had a rocky start to the season, which only got rockier when he broke his foot at MXGP of Trentino.
Today at a motocross circuit in Genk, Belgium, where his Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube teammate Romain Febvre was training, I caught up with him to chat about his injury and the season so far.
So what brings you out here today?
I’m home and I can’t do so much, so I’m bored and my buddy who lives like 2 minutes from my house called me and asked if I wanted to go, so I said yeah.
Tell me about your injury.
I broke a difficult bone in my foot. It is hard to explain, the bone is like the scaphoid in your hand, it’s the same bone kind of but in my foot. It’s a dangerous bone, if you are not looking after it properly, it will die, so I will definitely take the time I need.
Was it your crash entering the wave section at MXGP of Trentino that caused the injury?
Yeah, it’s not really from the crash, the crash wasn’t so hard, I was OK but then the bike hit my foot. It was so painful, such intense pain, I knew straight away something was wrong but I wasn’t sure if it was ligaments or muscles or what.
How long are you out for?
I am in plaster now for three weeks, it has already been one week. So, now two more weeks. On Monday after the MXGP of Spain I will go back to the hospital and they will tell me if I have to wait longer or if I am out of the plaster.
Does it not drive you nuts just watching?
Yeah it’s pretty difficult, but it’s life. Every year there is at least one rider who gets hurt. Last year it was Paulin, Desalle and Nagl, I guess this year it is my turn.
It’s just a bummer because after such a good season last year, I was definitely going for the title this year, but now that goal is definitely gone so I just want to focus on healing up and coming back healthy and strong and ride like last year. I don’t have the pressure anymore so I am sure everything will go the right way.
Did you watch MXGP of Europe in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands?
Yeah, I watched it! The track was so gnarly, but there are like 300 riders on the track so you can expect that.
Yeah, the track was definitely gnarly! Did you see the photos from Tim Gajser’s crash?
Yeah I saw them, that was so crazy. But that is a good point, you see what I mean when I say sometimes you can have such a big crash, and you are fine, you don’t get hurt and then you have a small crash like I did and the bike hit me in a strange way and I broke my foot.
It doesn't seem like you are the same rider we saw last year, how is the feeling in the team this year?
Yeah it’s still good. They are working really hard and even now they are working towards my comeback. The hardest thing for me this year is I kept getting bad starts. That is the only reason why my results haven’t been so good. My starts have been so bad, but I was still really fast, but even when you are one of the fastest guys when you have to come from 20th it’s not easy. You need good starts!
Which round of MXGP will be your come-back?
At the moment, if everything goes well, the MXGP of Great Britain in Matterley Basin. I will take my time, even if I can ride my bike after Spain I want to feel fit and strong, I don’t want to ride with pain.
Since you can’t win the championship anymore, who do you think will win?
Ooh, that’s a difficult question. Now Tony (Cairoli) is some points back but I think he can still do it. He will come back strong. He’s my buddy and I know him so well and Tony is the best example of a champion for all of us, so I still believe in him. If it’s not Tony, I will put my money on Clement (Desalle).
What do you make of Max Nagl’s performances this year?
He is riding really good. He is super fast and I think it is because he is back on bike like his old one and everything is going well, there is no pressure and he is the fastest guy in that team, but it will surprise me if he does it the whole year. Anyway, he is fast, but I am also fast, so it is not always about speed, you need to have a bit of luck and good starts too and you saw this really well when Paulin got a good start. He also didn’t have a good start to the season, but two good starts in Valkenswaard and he won.
Did you see Ryan Villopoto’s crash in Trentino?
Yes!
What did you think when you saw it?
You know what, I knew he would crash like that this year. There have been so many times when I am riding behind him and even on the down ramp of a jump he is always stretching it out and is right off the back of the bike with the front wheel up. It was definitely a rookie mistake but I spoke to him and he said it himself, it was a rookie mistake.
But this only happened because the class is so fast, everyone is riding on the limit and doing what they can to go as fast as possible.
Back to you, obviously you are not at your physical peak anymore, but how are you feeling mentally?
After Trentino I had a pretty difficult week. My championship is over but I feel good now, it’s time to re-group, the pressure is off. I am not a quitter, I know, and also a lot of the people around me know I have the ability to win, I am fast enough and I can do it. I did it last year. I am hurt now, but I will come back strong and 2016 will be a new year. I am still young, so I still have a long career ahead of me.
