Amandine Verstappen has already built an impressive track record in the WMX World Championship. In 2019, she made history by winning a Grand Prix at Valkenswaard, becoming the first Belgian rider to achieve that feat. To this day, she remains the only Belgian rider to have won a Grand Prix in the women’s world championship. She has also finished fourth in the final championship standings on two occasions.
However, the 2026 season did not go entirely smoothly. The collaboration with New Bike Yamaha came with its share of challenges, and Verstappen also faced some difficult moments behind the scenes. For the coming seasons, she is therefore taking a new direction. With Verstappen WMX Racing, she is building her own team structure for 2027 and 2028, with the support of Yamaha Benelux.
A new challenge, greater responsibility and, above all, the ambition to take control of her own sporting future. Stouwer MX spoke to Verstappen about her career, the experiences of the past season and her plans for the years ahead.
You made history with your Grand Prix victory at Valkenswaard in 2019. Looking back, what does that win mean to you today?
Verstappen: “That victory will always be a special moment in my career. It was my first GP win and, above all, a historic first for a Belgian rider in the women’s world championship. I was only nineteen years old at the time.
I still remember that weekend very well. I finished second in both races, but thanks to that consistency, I eventually won the overall GP. It was hugely satisfying, but it also confirmed that I belonged among the best riders in the world.
Looking back, that victory means much more than just a sporting result. It gave me confidence and showed me that I could compete with the best. It remains a wonderful memory, but I don’t want to live in the past. I still want to experience moments like that again.”
Over the years, you have gained experience with different teams and manufacturers. What have you taken away from those different periods, both as a rider and on a personal level?
Verstappen: “Every experience has taught me something, both technically and in terms of sport and personal relationships. You learn a great deal from discovering different ways of working, different approaches to preparing a bike and different personalities. You also realise that a team is about much more than just a bike and a few mechanics. First and foremost, it is a group of people who all need to be working towards the same goal.
I have learned to adapt and listen, but also to better understand what I personally need in order to perform well. With experience, you become more aware of what works for you and what can sometimes hold you back. So I look back on my career with many positive feelings, but even the more difficult experiences have helped me grow and define my expectations for the future more clearly.”
In the past, you have sometimes combined the world championship with events on the French motocross and beach race calendars, where you also enjoyed successful periods. How important was that combination for your development as a rider?
Verstappen: “Those different disciplines have played a very important role in my development. Racing regularly on different types of terrain and in varying conditions helps you improve enormously.
The French championship, for example, helped me develop consistency and learn how to approach a championship over an entire season. My seven consecutive titles are obviously a great source of satisfaction.
The beach races added another dimension. It is an extremely demanding discipline, both physically and technically. You have to manage your effort, concentration and bike, sometimes in very difficult conditions. I am thinking in particular of my experiences at the Enduropale du Touquet and in the World Sand Championship, where I also achieved some good results. All those experiences complement each other. They have helped me become a more complete, physically stronger and, above all, more versatile rider.”
Your 2026 season was not without its problems. The collaboration with New Bike Yamaha did not always seem to run smoothly. What exactly were the main points of friction, and how do you look back on that year, both on track and behind the scenes?
Verstappen: “The 2026 season was quite an unusual year for me. From a sporting point of view, it did not meet all my expectations. I finished seventh in the WMX World Championship, which was obviously not the result I had hoped for, although there were also positive aspects that I will take away from the season.
Things were not always easy on a personal level or in the way the team operated either. There were differences in vision, expectations that were not always aligned and, at times, difficulties with communication and organisation. As a rider, you need to be able to focus on your own work in a stable environment, surrounded by people who share the same objectives. When that is not entirely the case, it inevitably requires extra energy.
I don’t want to go back over every individual difficulty or point the finger at anyone. A collaboration involves several people, and everyone will undoubtedly have their own perspective on what happened. I would rather focus on what I learned over those four years. That experience helped me grow, taught me a lot and, above all, made it clearer what kind of environment I want to develop in. Today, I am looking ahead. The creation of my own team is also the result of that reflection.”
As a rider, you depend on the people around you. How difficult is it to concentrate fully on riding when you also have to spend energy dealing with things that are not going the way you would like?
Verstappen: “It is difficult, indeed. I think this is sometimes underestimated in top-level sport. When you arrive at a race, you should be able to focus exclusively on preparation, practice and racing.
In reality, you sometimes have to deal with many other things: organisation, personal relationships, technical problems or decisions over which you have no direct control. All of that requires mental energy. And in motocross, concentration is essential. You need to be one hundred per cent, both physically and mentally.
With experience, I have learned to take a step back and not let certain situations affect my performance on the bike. But that requires a lot of maturity. It is also one of the reasons why I now want to build an environment where I can trust the people around me. People who understand why they are involved in the project and who are all working towards the same goal.”
When did the idea of continuing with your own team first come about? Was it something you had been considering for a long time, or did the 2026 season speed up the decision?
Verstappen: “The idea did not come about overnight. It is something that gradually developed over the years and through my experiences with different team structures.
As your career progresses, you get to know your own needs, expectations and way of working better. I started thinking about the possibility of building something that would better reflect my own vision of the sport and my objectives. The 2026 season certainly accelerated that thought process and encouraged me to take the next step. But I don’t want to present this project as simply a reaction to a situation in the past. First and foremost, it is a positive decision: a conscious choice to take greater responsibility for my career and build my own working environment.
Setting up your own team is obviously an additional challenge, but it also gives me enormous motivation.”
What will you be able to achieve with Verstappen WMX Racing that was more difficult within an existing team structure?
Verstappen: “The main difference is that we can build a structure around my actual needs, rather than constantly having to adapt to an existing way of working. I want to develop an overall vision for my sporting project. That obviously includes bike preparation, technical development and physical and mental preparation, but also travel arrangements, managing the season and working with partners.
I want everyone involved in the project to understand the objectives and make a concrete contribution. That will also allow us to create greater consistency between preparation, races and recovery periods. The idea is not to build a large structure with lots of people. I prefer a small team, but one that operates professionally, with capable and committed people who share the same ambition. I want to be able to make my own decisions, play an active role in my project and take responsibility for it as well.”
Yamaha Benelux is supporting the project. How important was that partnership in turning the idea into a realistic plan?
Verstappen: “That partnership is obviously essential. Setting up your own team requires a lot of work, but also a solid foundation on which to build a viable project. The support from Yamaha Benelux allows us to turn that ambition into reality.
It is a brand with which I already have a history, as I have been riding Yamaha since 2023. Besides the sporting support and continuity with the manufacturer, the confidence Yamaha Benelux has in me, both as a rider and as an official ambassador, is also an important recognition. It also gives us the credibility we need to develop the project further, structure our operation and work with other partners.
I see this as a genuine partnership. We share an ambition, and I want to represent the brand in the best possible way, both on and off the track. Without that support, it would have been much more difficult to make the project happen under the right conditions.”
The project has currently been announced for the 2027 and 2028 seasons. Why is that period important, and what would you like to have achieved by the end of those two years?
Verstappen: “I felt it was important to look at this project over several seasons rather than just one year. Setting up a team takes time. You have to establish an organisation, find the right people, continue developing the bike, build relationships with partners and find an efficient way of working.
The first year will inevitably be about building and adapting. We will have to learn how to work together, discover what works well and improve wherever necessary. In the second season, we should be able to build on that work and take another step forward.
By the end of those two years, I want to have developed Verstappen WMX Racing into a recognised and credible structure within the women’s world championship, with a solid organisation and sporting results that match our ambitions.
Above all, I want to establish a sustainable project, one that is not based solely on an announcement or the temporary excitement of something new.”
You have already won a GP and finished fourth in the final world championship standings twice. What do you see as a realistic next step: winning GPs again, regularly fighting for podiums or aiming for a world championship medal?
Verstappen: “I have already won a GP, finished in the WMX top five several times and competed at the front with the best riders over multiple seasons. So I know what I am capable of. My goal is clearly to get back to regularly running at the front. I want to fight for podiums and win races and GPs again.
A world championship medal would obviously be a fantastic goal. But I think we need to move forward step by step and not focus exclusively on a final championship position. What matters to me today is finding consistency at the highest level again, having good working conditions and being able to make full use of my potential.
I am not setting up my own team simply to keep competing in the world championship. I am doing it because I still have genuine sporting ambitions and want to give myself the means to achieve them.”
You have already had a long career. Are you still thinking season by season, or are you also considering what you might want to do after your racing career?
Verstappen: “To be honest, I am still fully focused on my sporting career. I believe there are still some great things ahead of me, and I don’t want to look too far into the future just yet.”
Amandine, thank you for your time, and all the best for the future!
Verstappen: “My pleasure!”
