It was another strong season for Valentin Guillod despite not being a full factory rider he was able to battle with the best in the world and ended up ninth in the MXGP World Championship for the second year in a row.
We caught up with Guillod at the MXoN to discuss his season, future and more which you can read, listen or watch below…
GateDrop: Valentin, overall a really good MXGP World Championship season for you, just when you look back and reflect on the season, how would you sum it up? It maybe started a little bit slow, but certainly by the end you were a consistent top 10 guy on a private team, so you must be happy with that?
Guillod: Yeah, you know, I say a lot of time that I’m proud to be able to fight with the factory guys, because, you know, we are an independent team, we have not a big budget, and we’re sure that we can do some great results. My best race finish is fourth, fifth overall of the GP, so it’s great, and also it’s great that my teammate finished eighth and me ninth of the championship, so that’s really great.
The season was quite tough for me, because I had one moment I was quite tired, I had a lot of struggle to recover from the race, but yeah, let’s say I finished well in Spain with the top six overall, so quite happy with the season.
GateDrop: The vibes in the team, it seems really good this year, I mean, you’ve got a really good team mate and obviously he beat you by one position, but you know, you seemed to get on really well, and it wasn’t like, oh, I’m just out to beat him, I don’t really care about him… it actually seems like you took him under your wing a little bit, which was quite good…
Guillod: Yeah, so to be honest, I wish it was me on the eighth place and he was ninth, but yeah, it’s part of the racing. No, it was great, since November last year we trained together, he moved to the south of France, so we trained physically the same, riding the bike the same with Yves Demaria so it was great, we had a really good time, and for sure sometimes it’s a little bit tension, you know, it’s normal, but then after the race we put this on the side and then we have a good time. We were travelling together and stuff like this, so it was a good season.
GateDrop: As a Swiss man living in France, you’ve been in France for quite a long time now, what’s that feel like, does it feel a little bit like home, and do you like France, or like they say, no place like home?
Guillod: No, so to be honest, south of France, it’s a really beautiful area where we are staying, it’s four hours thirty minutes from my home with the car, so it’s quite easy to go, you know, many times on Friday afternoon I’m leaving, I’m driving to Switzerland. I’m spending the weekend in Switzerland, and then at five in the evening, on Sunday evening, I’m driving back home to south, so at 10 o’clock I’m there, so it’s quite easy, you know, so yeah, it’s like my second house there, so really good, and also, you know, the weather is great.
GateDrop: The fact that you’re able to go back to Switzerland quite a bit, I guess that’s good in a way, because a lot of riders are stuck in a country for certain amount of time, I think it’s probably good for you to get back home now and again, see friends and family at least…
Guillod: Yeah, for sure, you know, I say always like south of France, it’s where I’m training, working, and then I try to go a bit in Switzerland, but not too long, just two, three days, and it’s a bit my holiday, having a good time with friends, I’m living next to a lake, so I can go on the boat, and yeah, enjoying also to go a bit bicycle there around, and that’s it.
GateDrop: Spain last weekend, I feel like that was one of your best GPs of the year, very hard packed, rocky track, which suits you down to the ground, how was that GP, and was the track as bad as it looked, and what Jeffrey said?
Guillod: Yeah, I really, really didn’t like the track.
GateDrop: Well… you done well!
Guillod: Yeah, I did well, but yeah, it was like nothing, it was really strange, you know, it was difficult to overtake the guys, and the start was really important, but to be honest, on Friday, when I did the track hold, I was like, it will be horrible, then for the race, it was okay actually. It was okay with the wattering, they ripped the track, so it was okay, but yeah, it was not, I’m more happy to be this weekend here in UK, in Matterley Basin to race.
GateDrop: It sounds like next year, you won’t be with the SR Honda team, what can you tell me about that, and if you’re allowed to tell me.. To be honest, I’m a bit surprised when I heard the news myself, because you’ve done a great job with the team…
Guillod: Yeah, we did two great years, 2023 and 2024, we did two times, we finished two times 9th overall, so we did some top 5 overall, 4th the best moto, some holeshots, I think the result we did was great. It was a nice story with them, unfortunately it had to come to an end, we are scared to do a third year, and that is season too much, you know. So we prefer to finish on a good terms, I don’t know how to say, still friends with manager Josse and the trainer Yves, and yeah, it’s a bit sad. You know, to finish 9th overall, and to have no contract for next year, now okay, this week after Spain I got one proposal, and now I wish I will have some more contact, and yeah, so that’s a bit sad, but okay, let’s say maybe I should work a bit this, a bit earlier… I really don’t like, I mean, if people want to work with me, they contact me and they work with me, yeah, my job is to race, to ride a bike, and not to do that stuff, but yeah, let’s say it was two great seasons, nice results, great atmosphere with team manager, with the mechanic, with the trainer, with my teammate, and every good things have to have an end.
GateDrop: How motivated are you to stay in MXGP, outside the factory rides, there’s not that much, maybe compared to the past, but how motivated are you to stay in this paddock and do the full 20 rounds, not even just the European rounds, and do you think that’ll happen?
Guillod: You know, when you do two times ninth overall, and some top five overall, or top six in Spain, it showed that I still have the potential to do some stuff, and to be honest, I’m still believing in myself to do some better results than that. It’s why, you know, this season, I’m a bit sad, because if I compare to last year, it’s exactly the same season, with the same result, I didn’t really improve, so I still have a lot of things that I can improve, so I’m sure I can do better by the end of the season.
GatDrop: I think the last step for you is probably to go to Belgium for a winter, and work, because we know you’re good in hard pack, and the rocky tracks, but sand sometimes, I’d say this year you were maybe a little bit better than previous years, but I still think if you went and spent a full winter in Lommel, or somewhere like that, I think if you could get that riding up to the same that you are in hard pack, it’d be very very good…
Guillod: Yeah, you know, it’s really my goal to spend one winter in the sand, to don’t have any regrets, you know, I said now I go for one winter in sand, like everyone told me to do that, so, and then if it’s working, it’s working… If it’s not working, that’s not the problem, it’s not that, but I believe that, yeah, I will improve, I will improve in the sand riding, physically, and also in the hard pack, so I think it’s a win-win, and yeah, my goal is that in three or four years when I stop racing in the GP, that I don’t have any regrets.
GateDrop: Perfect, thank you very much for your time, well done, and good luck for the future.
