As the 2026 MXGP season begins to build momentum, few stories are more compelling than the resurgence of Yamaha’s factory effort under the guidance of Hans Corvers. After a challenging 2025 campaign, the team has come out swinging this year, with Tim Gajser already securing his first race win in blue and showing clear signs that both he and the bike are starting to gel. Add in the grit shown by Maxime Renaux—who battled through illness in Riola—and there’s a growing sense that the hard work behind the scenes is beginning to pay off.
We caught up with team owner Has Corvers as he opens up about Gajser’s emotional breakthrough victory, the physical struggles both riders have had to overcome, and the significant changes made within the team over the winter. From rebuilding internal structures to restoring confidence on track, the Belgian team boss gives a candid insight into a project that is starting to find its rhythm—and could yet become a serious force in the championship fight.
GateDrop: Hans, Tim has got his first race win on the Yamaha. Just from your point of view, how good did it feel to see him get the job done and cross the finishing line in first? It’s not the overall yet, but he’s getting closer…
Corvers: Yeah, we are really happy. Especially because Tim made a huge crash during the second heat in Sardinia. Like he mentioned in the press conference, he broke a few ribs and he had a lot of pain. The whole weekend he had a lot of painkillers to take so honestly, we didn’t expect that he should be so close. We hoped for the box, but okay, he did really well. The second heat, he showed on adrenaline that he had the speed and that he can do it. We are happy that now we have a few weeks off so he can recover and can come back in the next few weeks. For us, it’s the fifth GP and is the third podium for him so three out of five on the box, it’s not that bad. For myself, I felt this weekend was the first time that he feels really comfortable on the bike, that he has the confidence. That makes him dangerous in the future. So, for me personally, our world championship starts this weekend.
GateDrop: Just on that second moto, I mean, the level is so high. He was on Lucas, putting a lot of pressure on Lucas and then Jeffrey was coming, coming and coming, but he got the job done. Just watching that race though, how was it from your seat?
Corvers: When I have to be honest, I really didn’t expect that Tim should hold it in the lead and that he keeps the first place. I say, okay, Jeffrey is there. We know Jeffrey is like a bulldozer, like a bullet that he comes and says, okay, Tim will finish second, but on adrenaline and on the power that he had, he managed to win… The last two laps, I found that Jeffrey gave up a bit. I think he said, okay, 1-2 for the overall on what was a sketchy track. He gave a lot of effort, and he took points back on Lucas, so I think that he said, okay, Tim is fast and I don’t want to take the risk. But honestly, I didn’t think that Tim would keep the lead until the end. It’s nice to see, but like I just say, it gives him a lot of confidence.
GateDrop: And Maxime Renaux, a word for him. He rode very, very, very well today, especially that second mot. That might be the best Maxime we’ve seen in a while. So how happy were you to see that? I think he just missed the podium…
Corvers: Yeah, three points, I think. But also for Max, we are all really, really happy with the results of Max this weekend because we don’t write it in the newspaper, but Max really, really sick in Sardinia. From the week before the GP on the Monday, he had a fever and a bad throat. On the Friday in Sardinia he also started to have a stomach problem. He was so many times on toilet and he was empty. He lost five or six kilos in the weekend. He pushed until the end and until he was completely empty. So last week, the week that was running to the GP, he couldn’t train like Tim. He had to recover from the ribs and Max also from his sickness – he was only 20 minutes on the bike, I think, and a little bit cycling. He had to recover the whole week so we came here to say, okay, if we can manage to be two times top five, we are really, really happy.
GateDrop: Hans, you and Yamaha both want to win. You invest a lot of money to win. Last year for your teams standards was a bit of a disaster. How hard have the team and you worked to get both Maxime and Tim comfortable on the bike?
Corvers: That’s a tricky question. I want to say two things on it. Firstly, Yamaha did a big effort to get Tim on the team and to keep Maxime on the team. That’s already a big effort. The second thing is that the R&D worked really hard behind the scenes. They worked really, really hard and they’re still working so there are still new things coming, this is really nice. On the other side, also our internal organisation changed a lot in our team. I’m normally not the guy to quit or to stop with the people who work already many years for my company, because for me, my hobby, my passion. I have a few other companies with a lot of employers so I’m loyal. But this winter, I stopped with seven people, with seven employees so we changed a lot. We changed quite a lot in the organisation and employees. It looks like it’s slowly starting to pay off. It works, the new system. Sometimes you have to make something and to rebuild to become better. And that was the thing that Yamaha did and also the Kemea team did.
GateDrop: There’s a big break in MXGP, unheard of. I think there’s four weekends off. I think Tim is going to do the next two Italian championships. Do you know if Maxime got any plans to race or not?
Corvers: I don’t think that Maxime will do a race. And Tim, we will see. He has to recover first and then he has to do a few tests. I don’t know if he’s going to do both of the Italian races – maybe one or maybe two. It depends on his recovery and how he feels.
GateDrop: After Switzerland, I think Tim went to Belgium for a week to test. He usually spends time in Slovenia. What was it like getting him in Belgium and getting him in the rough sand tracks and so on?
Corvers: It was also the first time that he visited the workshop and that was with the team. The goal from this 12 days and four days of riding was a test job to do and that we did. He liked it and he said that he will come again for one week or 10 days. Until now he never trained in Lommel, never trained in Lommel. Everybody in the world comes to Lommel to train and Tim Gajser, a five-time world champion, he never trained in Lommel. But the goal was to test and to be with the team.
GateDrop: Last question, do Maxime and Tim ride that much together? Or do just both do their own program and their own thing?
Corvers: They both have their own program and if it matches and they are on the same day riding at the same place, then they ride together. But they have their trainers and physical trainers and they make the programs. This is the whole crew is left for Maxime and for Tim – they do their own thing.
