Jago Geerts is now into his second season in the MXGP class, and while it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, the Belgian talent is steadily finding his footing in the highly competitive premier class. We caught up with Geerts on Friday before Arco to discuss his progress so far, the challenges of adapting to the new 450cc bike, setup changes, and his goals for the rest of the season. Here’s what he had to say…
GateDrop: This is your second MXGP season. Compared to last year, well at least you’re still at the races, and you’re building each GP it looks like…
Geerts: Yeah, that’s true. The first GP in Argentina went actually quite well, I finished 8th overall, and then I had two difficult GPs. Yeah, bad starts, some crashes, and start crashes and stuff, so it was quite difficult. But then last weekend (in Riola) was good again, and I finished 10th overall, so I’m getting better and better each time I step on the bike.
GateDrop: I have to ask you about France, I mean that didn’t look like Jago Geerts on the bike at all and you have good memories of that track, and your bars seemed very high. What was going on with the bike there that weekend?
Geerts: Yeah, we tried a few different things. I didn’t ride good on Saturday, didn’t have a good feeling. Then Sunday was a lot better, but the results didn’t show it. In the second race I was actually almost last in the start, and I came back to, I was already in 12th after 20 minutes, and then I missed the gear and crashed on the jump, so that was a bit of a shame because the riding was going much better again.
GateDrop: You’re also on the new frame, how does that feel compared to the old frame? Do you feel okay on it, or still improvements to be made?
Geerts: Yeah, now I’m feeling good on the bike, it was just quite difficult to set up in the beginning, because it’s a completely different bike than the 250cc, so you need to be really precise with everything. It’s a bit more difficult to get everything set up in the good direction like you want to ride.
GateDrop: Obviously at RedBud MXoN, that was your first 450cc race, you were unbelievable that weekend. How different is the bike that you’re racing now compared to that bike, because you looked unbelievably comfortable that weekend?
Geerts: Yeah, that was a bit easier because we had the same frame on the 250cc as on the 450cc, so actually it was just the engine that was different. The rest was quite similar, so that was more easy and I felt comfortable immediately on that bike. We had to search a bit in the beginning to get everything set up, because it was a new bike for me also, and now everything is fine and I’m looking forward to the races again.
GateDrop: Before the Dutch Masters, I think you went back to a stock bike pretty much, but you seemed to have a good weekend in the Dutch Masters, so maybe going back to basics helped a little bit?
Geerts: Yeah, I didn’t go to a stock bike, but we changed a lot on the bike and it was much better. It felt really good there, it was fun to ride again at the Dutch Masters and get a good feeling again on the tracks that I know really well from a lot of years ago.
GateDrop: Have you changed the bike much from the Dutch Masters, or were you happy with it and kept it from the Dutch Masters?
Geerts: Yeah, now we kept it the same actually, just some small changes, but like you do for every race.
GateDrop: Riola was a step in the right direction, especially in timed practice, it was nice to see you at the top of the timesheet, so that must have given you a lot of confidence?
Geerts: Yeah, for sure, the timed practice went really well and I had the speed already for a few laps, but it was difficult to keep it the whole moto, so that’s what we are now trying to build and get more confidence on.
GateDrop: Obviously you’re very fast on sand, how’s the hardpack prep been going since you changed setup for the Dutch Masters? Do you feel more comfortable on the hardpack now as well?
Geerts: Yeah, we did the training here in Italy last week and I felt also really comfortable on the bike, so we will see this weekend, it should be okay.
GateDrop: Over the winter, just after the Nations, you announced that you were going to be working with Joel Roelants, how did that all go? I believe you’re not working with him anymore?
Geerts: No, not anymore. It was quite good working together, but I felt that it was not really 100% the same vision, so now I’m working again with Steve Ramon.
GateDrop: Yeah, I was going to ask about Steve Ramon actually, when did you stop working with him? I think it was after your last year in MX2 and you’re back working with him, so what’s that like? You’re kind of similar, even when he was a racer, you’re quite similar styles and quite similar mindset… Do you like having somebody similar to bounce off?
Geerts: Yeah, it’s really good. I think we were together almost 7 years with Steve before and now again, so we know each other really well and he knows also what I want with the bike and what my style is like. Immediately I had a good feeling again to work together with him and since then it’s going really well.
GateDrop: Goals for the rest of the season, is there anything specific you’d like to achieve or is it just one GP at a time and stay injury free unlike last year?
Geerts: Yeah, just one GP at a time and keep improving every race. I think there’s still a lot of racing left and I’m feeling more comfortable every time I go on the track, so I think we can keep building and get better at it together.
GateDrop: Obviously last year you didn’t race that many GPs and you were nowhere near 100%, so you probably couldn’t comment too much on the level. How do you find the level of MXGP now that you’ve got your feet wet?
Geerts: It’s quite high out there. Yeah, for sure the level is high. It’s different in MX2, you need to really have a good start if you want to compete with the top guys. The top is really fast, so we have a lot of good riders that can finish in the top 5.
GateDrop: I feel like starts maybe haven’t been your strongest area this year. Is that something you’re working on? Because if you can get away in the top 5 and follow the guys in front of you, you should be able to learn and pick things up from there.
Geerts: Yeah, I went and we did some testing this weekend and today also on the start break, so it feels quite okay and we’ll see tomorrow.
