After missing the first half of the 2026 MXGP World Championship due to a shoulder injury that required surgery, Isak Gifting finally made his long-awaited return to Grand Prix racing at the iconic Foxhill circuit. The Swedish rider showed flashes of the speed that he impressed everyone with last year, running inside the top ten at times despite having only been back on the bike for a matter of weeks.
Although Gifting admits he still has plenty of work to do to rebuild his race fitness and strength, especially in his upper body, the comeback weekend gave him plenty of reasons to be optimistic. We caught up with the JK Racing Yamaha rider as he discusses his difficult road back from injury, the frustration of seeing a promising season derailed, the factory support he has received from Yamaha, adapting to the updated bike, and much more.
GateDrop: Isak, I have to say I’ve missed you at the GP’s. It’s great to see you back, and are you happy to be back? It’s been a long time coming…
Gifting: Yeah, I’m actually really happy to be back. It finally feels like I’m doing something worthwhile. It’s good to be back. It’s hard. Dude, that was some track to come back to… Jesus, really technical, old-school, the hills, ruts, the bumps. My arms had some job to do, but overall, man, I’m pretty happy with my comeback.
I finished 15th and 14th, but I was running a bit in the top 5 even in the qualifying race and fell back. Then today, I was running a bit in the top 10, had a crash, a small tip over, fell back a bit, but you know… The last time I rode a GP, or something like it, was the MXoN which is a long time, it’s like nine months back in October. So sure, it will take me some time to get going again, but actually, not too bad. I stayed sensible and I didn’t make anything stupid. I just rode my pace and didn’t do anything crazy. What can I do? I’ll have to be happy about it but I’m not super happy about it. I think it’s sh*t, but it’s alright.
GateDrop: Can we rewind back to the winter, just to remind people of your situation? Because you were on the bike, it looked like you were having a solid off-season, and then all of a sudden a shoulder issue, but I think it was a hiccup from the past, or something like that and then you damaged it again?
Gifting: I had a shoulder that was not great, but it was fine and then I had a crash in Sardinia. I got a dislocated shoulder but got it back in, and then had to take a couple of weeks off. I got back riding again, and started working quite well, but it popped out again, so then I had to get it fixed. I had a surgery, and the surgery was probably four months ago, and the crash was around five months ago. I’ve been riding around 3-4 weeks now.
GateDrop: How frustrating was that, because obviously you got everything put together for this year, getting better support from Yamaha after last year, a really good season. This year I think you could have really been up and around the top five a lot more, so to get that setback, mentally, it must have been tough to deal with?
Gifting: Yeah, it was. It was quite tough, to be honest, because like you said, I finished the year off really strong. Yamaha supported me really well, the team supported me really well, and I thought we were making really good steps throughout the preseason, but that’s how the sport goes, you know. Unfortunately, I just had a crash, and that was it. It has ruined my season a bit, but we still got some races to go. I’ve got a couple goals – Uddevalla is a big goal for me, and then the MXoN, that will be a big goal for me. I’m trying to put my mind to that, focus on that, and finish the year off strong anyway.
Of course, the guys are miles ahead of me preparation-wise, but I can still be there, run with them decently. Even today, while I’m struggling with the arm pump and everything from coming back, but we’ll take it step by step. Hopefully, for Loket, we’ll make another step.
GateDrop: Can we talk a little bit about the bike? Obviously, during the winter is where these guys get their base settings. You didn’t have too much of a winter, but in terms of power, what’s the bike this year like compared to last year? Is it like a full factory engine, or what can you tell me about that?
Gifting: I got really good support from Yamaha with the engine. It’s working really well, in my opinion. The bike, overall, is really good. It’s just that I didn’t have the time as I wanted for testing… We tested a little bit, after the Nations and stuff, and then we got going for the pre-season. Just got going in Sardinia, and just when I wanted to get testing and start my preparations for the season, that’s when I got injured. So I missed all of it. Coming back now, it’s the same. I can’t just start with testing straight away, because I have to ride first, to even get back to a decent level, to even be able to say what I need.
Actually, I’ve been using this weekend as a test, pretty much. I’ve been changing suspension a lot between the sessions, making small steps and progress all the time. The Kayaba guys have been doing little things here or there and it’s been helping me a lot, so we made some steps. I think, in the end, it wasn’t too bad.
GateDrop: Going back to last week, the Italian Championship. I mean, it’s nothing like this, but you must have been happy to run with Jan Pancar in those conditions. He’s always faster in Italy and those conditions. You pretty much had this pace, so you must have been happy with that.
Gifting: Actually, like you said, I was a bit surprised that I could… okay, he was definitely better than me, but at least I could go with him a bit, especially in the second moto. He is faster but I was like alright, it was not too bad. At least I had the speed but I just couldn’t do it for a full moto, kind of the same like here. I mean, I can do it for 10-15 minutes, it’s quite okay, but then… I need to get stronger, and then I need to get that riding fitness. You know, it’s life. It takes time, but it’ll be alright. I’m sure I’ll figure it out. I’m really motivated. We’re halfway through the season, and I’m just getting started, so… That’s my only advantage I have, that I’m really motivated this late in the season.
GateDrop: I mean, watching from the sidelines there, the level is just crazy, how fast you guys go. And then, obviously, it’s your first GP of the year, so… Is it a bit of a shock to the system, or not so much? I mean, I feel like yesterday you had the pace for 10 minutes or so, it’s just fitness, really…
Gifting: Yeah, that’s it. Actually, I feel really fit and I’ve been training a lot. But it’s not the same as riding, and especially with my shoulder, I’ve not been able to train my upper body. So I’m a bit weak with the arms and everything, so… It’s all this, bits and pieces, I just need to get it together. But we’ll be alright. Fitness-wise, I’m stronger than last year. If I can get that riding fitness up a couple levels, get my arm pump to stop, set up the bike and make a couple steps… hopefully we’ll end the year with some good results.
GateDrop: Probably a lot of riders might have been disappointed coming here this weekend, because everybody loves Matterley Basin. You’ve raced here in the British Championship before. What was that like compared to the past? I thought it was unbelievable. I thought it was better than Matterley, to be honest…
Gifting: I think the track was great. It was really technical. To be fair, I felt like when I came here Saturday morning, I’m like, man, what am I doing here? I was not ready for this. But I just had to go through it and then through every session it got better and better for me. Eventually I kind of figured it out decent, but it was… It’s different racing the GP tracks, and this was a proper GP track, man. Really cool. I think they’ve done a great job. I like it, it’s a cool track. It was nothing like the British, to be fair. It was… a lot flatter and stuff at the British. Now it was a bit different, but I enjoyed it.
