Now in his second full season in the MXGP class, Kevin Horgmo is really starting to find his feet among the best in the world. The Norwegian talent has been showing impressive progress week by week. We caught up with Kevin to talk about his growing comfort on the 450cc, the improvements made over the off-season, working with Yves Demaria, and what it’s like going up against factory riders on a smaller-budget team. Horgmo’s determination to keep improving is clear, and with the results starting to follow, he’s certainly a rider to keep an eye on as the MXGP season unfolds.
GateDrop: Kevin, it’s your second season in the MXGP, but you seem to get better and better. I think it was your career best last weekend, and fifth there in the second moto. You must be really, really happy with your progress in the MXGP…
Horgmo: I think the combination of just being more familiar with the 450cc and also the program this winter was really good, and I know what I had in the south of France to adjust a little bit my training and what I needed to improve, like some strength and stuff. I think I made some huge steps and feel very confident with my bike. Also, suspension-wise, it’s good, and we make a very good step on the engine for the starts, because I was struggling a lot last year to be up there from the get-go. It’s nice that I can be there from the beginning, and it helps me a lot during the races.
GateDrop: And that second moto, it looked like you had a really nice flow going, and you were actually catching the guys ahead of you. You must have been happy with that…
Horgmo: Yeah, not the best start. I started around 12th, I think, but I made some quick passes, like the first two laps, and then I was just behind Vlaanderen, sort of catching him a bit, step by step, and then he crashed. And then also Coenen and Renaux crashed, so I was a little bit lucky there, but this weekend, in the qualifying moto and first moto, I didn’t have the luck, so I was happy I finally had the luck in that second moto. I finished in a nice 5th position, so I was happy with that.
GateDrop: Battling with factory bikes every week now, it must feel really good, because this team obviously doesn’t have the budget that the factories have…
Horgmo: Yeah, for sure. Of course, I’ve never tried a factory bike, so I don’t know the difference, but I feel really good on my bike. It’s a good chassis, and a standard bike is already so good, but last year I raced more or less a standard bike with the suspension, like the engine and stuff was almost standard. I think we did slight adjustments, but this year we made a good step, not crazy, but it gets me out of the gate a little bit better, and the Honda handling suits me really well. Also the coach, Yves Demaria, last year I think he also learned how I ride and how I like my bike, and this year he’s like, to the suspension guys, leading them in the direction the way I like the bike. That makes things a lot easier to work with the technical touch also. It’s a good setup for me.
GateDrop: You touched on how last year it was almost completely stock, is it a lot better than that this year?
Horgmo: Yeah, it gets me a little bit out of the gate better, and also more bottom power, so I can ride a bit more smooth. This winter I tried the new engine, and I was riding that one, and I came back to the standard, and I was like, oh yeah, actually the new engine is really good, but to go that step it wasn’t that huge of a difference, but then when I came back to the standard one, I was like, okay, we’ll make a good step here. Obviously in the beginning it was quite hard, like last year when I go on the 450cc, always arm pump and stuff, but now I’m asking a little bit more power, so that’s cool that I also improved my riding and stuff to suit the 450cc even better, even though I think I adapted quite quickly last year also. It’s cool to always improve a little bit.
GateDrop: And Riola, I think you said you’d only done three days sand riding since Arnhem, the Dutch GP the year before… I mean, do you miss sand? Do you feel like you want to ride it a little bit more, because you don’t want to completely lose that strength you have? But at the same time, I think Demaria wants you in France all the time.
Horgmo: Yeah, so I’m based in the south of France, and actually that’s what I need the most. I feel like sand comes quite natural to me, it always did, but obviously you get good at what you train at, so maybe I would be even better if I trained more in it. At the same time, I think my biggest disadvantage is more just bike setup. We came in there not knowing exactly how to put the bike, so I was struggling a little bit Saturday, and we finally got it right in Sunday’s second moto, then I felt the best that I did all the weekend with the bike. So yeah, it’s more that, that we didn’t do any testing. We had two days in Hossegor in January to try the new engine actually, and then I didn’t have the suspension ready, and we were more or less only testing the engine. Two days is not enough from Arnhem to be ready for Sardinia, but yeah, sand comes in a good way for me, and I like to take that rhythm, and physically I know it’s no problem. I work good on and off the bike, so I know I’m always strong, and yeah, I’m one of the guys that is more strong on the end of the moto, so I’m confident in my strengths there. I don’t think I need sand for building the base or anything, but it would be nice to have the bike setup more dialled before the weekend.
GateDrop: And Yves Demaria, you’ve been working with him for a full season now, what’s that going like? And you mentioned him earlier, does he also know your character a little bit better now? Maybe he knows when to leave you alone and when to shout at you sort of thing?
Horgmo: Yeah, but he doesn’t need to say so much to me, I’m quite flat in my response, even if it’s really good or really bad. I’m like more or less the same emotion, I’m quite an easy guy to work with for a trainer I think, so it’s more like I try to get suggestions from him, and also we work together on the bike, like what we can change, and then before the race, like lines and start position, so I don’t go questioning myself. I have Yves to always ask and we agree to some direction between us.
GateDrop: Over winter you’ve been riding a lot with Forato and Thibault, just on Thibault, does it help riding with him, because as we see, the intensity he has in MX2 is very good, so I’m sure riding with him during winter was very positive?
Horgmo: Yeah, for sure, and during the winter he was riding a lot on the 450cc, so actually all three of us rode on the 450cc, and we could really compare, so that was cool. Every training we went home, I was the fastest today, or he was fastest, and some days he put me two seconds, and I was questioning myself what I’m doing. But most of the days we were quite equal, I knew that I come into the season in a good way, when you have both Forato and also Benistant there, and that also made me confident only to do one pre-season race, because the second one was cancelled, and still do good in Argentina. I have this matching in training, so I don’t feel like it’s necessary to race so much.
GateDrop: And Forato, he’s quite the character, what’s it like spending a lot of time with him, and also with Thibault, there seems to be good vibes there?
Horgmo: Yeah, Forato I knew from before, because we were teammates in 2021, at SM-Action when I was riding the European Championship, so I knew him very well from before also. We hung out when we were in Indonesia and stuff like that, so I felt like I knew him well, and actually before signing with him, he called me to ask how it was, because he knew I would answer honestly. I can only say good things about them, and I said that to him also, they are super good people, so that made him confident to sign with them.
With Thibault I didn’t know at all, I think I never spoke to him actually, he’s a really fun guy, I didn’t know that, seeing from the outside, he looks quite different. But on training and stuff, we have a lot of fun, so the three of us together have a cool time, and when we travelled together to Argentina and stuff, we were playing cards with the mechanics, and I think everybody just relaxed then, and shoulders down, you have a good time together, and that’s nice.
GateDrop: As good as you have been doing with this team, surely you must have one eye on a factory ride if you can try and get one, obviously they’ve got a better budget, and you’ll probably be better paid, and you need to make a living from this, so I’m sure you have one eye on a factory ride, I think you can’t do much more…
Horgmo: Yeah sure, but I think the team boss, he’s pushing for the sponsor and everything to keep me, and I’m very happy where I’m at, so it needs to be a very good offer to go, but it’s too early to say also. It’s only the 5th GP in the year, and we have 20 GP’s, so it’s too early to say, but how I feel right now, I feel really at home here. I want to make a good year together, and then we’ll see after 12-13 GP’s what we’ll do and what spots are available and stuff. But at the moment I can see myself here for another year.
