The motocross world is buzzing with the news that Jeffrey Herlings will join HRC Honda for the upcoming season, and few people know the story behind this deal better than Giacomo Gariboldi. Having managed championship-winning teams and worked with some of the sport’s top talent, Gariboldi has been pursuing a partnership with Herlings for years.
We caught up with Gariboldi as he opens up about the long road to signing the Dutch superstar, what makes Herlings such a formidable competitor, and how HRC Honda plans to support him as he aims for more titles. From reminiscing about his first offer to Herlings in 2009 to sharing insights on the team’s strategy and the challenges ahead, Gariboldi offers a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a top-level MXGP operation.
GateDrop: Jeffrey Herlings has just been announced as an HRC Honda rider. When did talks first take place and how did the deal all come together?
Gariboldi: With Jeffrey it has been a long story of talks since 2017 but we never materialized a contract, and at the 2024 MXON in Ernée we again talked about the possibility to work together but only in August 2025 we could find a satisfactory agreement for both parts.
GateDrop: I believe you made an offer for Herlings many years ago – how does it feel to finally get him in red? A long time coming!
Gariboldi: The first offer I made to Jeffrey was back in 2009 when our team won the EMX2 with Christophe Charlier and Jeffrey finished second (we also had Klemen Gercar in third place!), so at the end of the championship I offered him a place to join our team in 2010 and he was very interested but at the very end of the season KTM came back to him offering a bike in MX2 and deciding to line up 3 riders so we lost that opportunity.
GateDrop: How do you see Herlings’ riding style meshing with the Honda CRF450R right away? He hasn’t got too long to prep for round one!
Gariboldi: It’s hard to say because it’s very early times, but for what I’ve seen with all our current and past riders everybody has been adapting very very fast to the CRF as it’s the easiest bike of the pack. Then when we will go into the fine tuning and setting for the first GP we will see how Jeffrey will like his new mount but honestly I’m not concerned at all.
GateDrop: He hasn’t been able to ride the bike but has he spent much time with the team and his new crew – I believe he was with you in Paris Supercross?
Gariboldi: Unfortunately he could jump on our bike just on the first of January and we didn’t see him a lot as he has been training hard in the south of Spain all the time and he just came to say hello in Paris at the Supercross event where we had Tom Vialle racing.
GateDrop: Herlings is known for intensity and extreme work ethic – how will the team adapt to support that?
Gariboldi: We know that Jeffrey is probably training twice of the time than any other rider and we prepared the team to this new challenge and to be able to support him for anything he needs to reach his goals.
GateDrop: It’s funny because you’ve spent most of your time running a team trying to beat Herlings and now you’ll want him to win – when your team was competing against him, what did you see as his biggest qualities?
Gariboldi: Yes in fact he has been really hard to beat in the past ten years and at the beginning of each season, we knew that if he wasn’t injured he was practically impossible to beat over 20 races series. Even when he came back from injuries after just one or two GP he was ready again to strike win after win. He is such a fighter and the biggest difference I see comparing him to other riders is that when he sees a bike in front he sets it in his sights and in a couple of laps at most he passes, while many times you see riders joining the bike in front and just sitting there for many many laps, this never happens with Jeffrey. He is so hungry that he doesn’t want to lose time and wants to go always for the win. I’d like to see more this fighting spirit in young riders, they should learn a lot from him. I’ve always been a great fan of Jeffrey and it’s just a dream to have him on our CRF for the next few seasons.
GateDrop: Who will be mechanic for Jeffrey in 2026 – I believe his practice mechanic is following him from KTM? Is anybody else following him?
Gariboldi: The race mechanic will be Simone Furlotti who was a top rider himself and he has been with us for several seasons now and has my full trust. Having been a rider himself he knows how to handle all the different situations arising during a weekend, he is really top. The training mechanic will be again David Needham who has been with him in his previous team and he also worked for us a couple of seasons a few years ago so we know him and trust him very well.
GateDrop: What are the first areas you expect Herlings to focus on when testing the Honda?
Gariboldi: I believe the setting of the suspensions will be the first turning point of the testing, he needs to understand well how our bike works and which is the best setting for him. Then I think we will focus on adapting the engine to his riding style, we have a couple of months of hard work but we will be ready for Argentina.
GateDrop: Given his experience on KTM machinery for so long, what do you think will be the biggest adaptation challenge?
Gariboldi: I think it’s more difficult to adapt to steel frame machinery than the reverse, normally it’s an easy process to jump on a Honda. He will just need to put riding hours under his belt to know how to reach the limits of the bike.
GateDrop: Herlings has had injury-heavy seasons. How much does rider health management factor into your plan? He’s usually not far away if he can stay injury free!
Gariboldi: In this sport we have experienced so many injuries in the past seasons and not only Jeffrey but many top riders went through it and it’s tough to go through an injury free season but we know that luck can change and when Jeffrey is healthy he is the only one to beat.
GateDrop: What internal goals have you set as a team for year one with Jeffrey?
Gariboldi: As I said before Jeffrey is a winner, this is the only thing he wants which meets with our goals and of course to win his sixth title he has in front only two or three seasons so I believe he wants to go for it now.
GateDrop: Jeffrey last won a world title in 2021 – do you think he has what it takes to win another title before he retires?
Gariboldi: Hey, this is the man holding the record for the most wins in the history of Motocross(!), 112 if I’m not wrong, and you ask me if he can win another title? Last year after coming back from injury again, he was the one to beat, he won almost all the GP’s toward the end of the season and if he wasn’t winning he was second, so yes Jeffrey has everything to go for another title.
GateDrop: You’ve worked with champions before – how do you personally plan to build trust and communication with Herlings? He’s known to keep his circle small!
Gariboldi: I’ve been communicating regularly with Jeffrey since we signed the contract and we immediately got on very well, like old friends. He is such a nice guy and it has been a pleasure to know him better these last few months, I will do my best to support him making this transition in his career the easiest. Imagine that I’ve spent with him and my family and his family the New Year’s Eve, this says a lot about our relationship.
GateDrop: How do you expect this signing to shift the landscape of MXGP and the battle at the front? We’ve got Jeffrey and Tim changing brands, plenty of fast rookies and Lucas Coenen – it’s going to be exciting!
Gariboldi: For sure, it will be the most exciting season over the past decade, we definitely needed some big changes to bring more appeal to the series, four or five guys will be battling for the podiums and for the wins but only the one who really wants to win this title will achieve his goal. Many factors will be decisive, experience will count a lot for the absolute result, only pure speed won’t be enough, luck will be part also of the winning circle, so you will need a mix of the 3 factors to be successful at the end.
GateDrop: There are strong rumours that Jeffrey will race the British Championship in 2026, is that something you can confirm?
Gariboldi: Yes, this is in his plans, but I think just a few races not all the championship, but it will be up to him.
GateDrop: Will Tom Vialle and Ruben Fernandez be putting in the laps with Jeffrey often or will he do his own thing? It would be great for the others to regularly ride with him!
Gariboldi: For sure a rider like Jeffrey is pulling all the others in just one direction, the win and this is what we needed at HRC, a rider focused on the win and Tom and Ruben will be very motivated to join him at the party at every GP. They know that they can also win races and this will be an extra motivation for all the team. I think this is the very best line up we ever had in MXGP, 3 top riders who could go for the podium at every race.
GateDrop: Giacomo, let’s finish with Tim Gajser. You shared some magical moments together. Was it a tough decision to make it’s the right time to move on?
Gariboldi: For sure it wasn’t easy to decide to finish with Gajser but as you know all good fairy tales have an ending and, after 12 seasons, it was quite natural for both to find new motivations elsewhere. We had a great success story with him and we thank him for the titles won and for the many GP wins, but it’s time for HRC to move on and go for the next challenge which has never been more exciting.
