Marc de Reuver’s name has been synonymous with Dutch motocross for decades. Known for his technical skill, mental toughness, and an uncanny ability to ride some of the sport’s toughest terrain, De Reuver forged a career that saw him stand on GP podiums and take wins that are still remembered by fans today. But his story didn’t end when he hung up his boots. Transitioning from rider to coach, De Reuver has guided some of the brightest talents in the MXGP paddock, shaping careers and sharing hard-earned wisdom along the way.
In this in-depth interview, De Reuver opens up about his own racing journey, the highs and lows of life in the GP paddock, the lessons learned from teammates and mentors, and the realities of coaching in a sport that demands excellence at every turn. From reflections on Dutch motocross talent and insights into MXGP’s evolving landscape, to candid thoughts on social media, mechanics, and the next generation of riders, this is a conversation that goes beyond the track. You can read, watch or listen below:
GateDrop: Marc, first of all, I want to touch on your career. I mean, when you look back at your motocross career, how would you reflect on it? You did have a really good career. It’s hard to win GP’s and you won a few…
De Reuver: Yeah, and I lost a few also with some very stupid mistakes. But that’s hard, man. I get this question a lot, how I reflect and what I think, and if I have regrets. You know what, it is what it is, and I’m happy with it. You know, I’ve ridden races that people still talk about, and maybe in five years they still talk about them. But let me ask you a question. Do you think I’m a gifted rider?
GateDrop: Yeah, I think you are.
De Reuver: Okay, so I was good in the sand, people say. So the thing is, and that goes quite deep immediately in the first question, if you are gifted, and you are really good at something, there’s also a little devil on your shoulder. It’s very strong, and it will come for you. You know what I mean? And to resist these things, and if something comes really easy for you, so I could ride a moto even without training, let’s say, in the deep sand, because I was really thin. If you are gifted, then there’s a little devil on your shoulder always and this is a very strong devil, I tell you. Maybe people also can reflect on this, you know, it’s an addiction – like gambling. It’s difficult, but I’m happy. The only thing I regret, and that’s I never could give my parents a world championship, you know. It’s not for myself so much, and also later in my career, or in my life, I got really deep with that thought that I didn’t get the championship for my parents. Still today, I regret that because they give up their whole life for me so that’s tough. It is.
GateDrop: When you look back at all the teams you rode for, there was quite a lot of teams, quite a lot of factory teams. You can pick more than one team if you want, but where would you say you were at your happiest, and why?
De Reuver: This is also one question I need to break down a little bit, because I cannot say that I like one team more than the other, because then I would not respect all the people that work really hard for me, you know. I can say I liked the 2008 Honda from HRC, that bike was the best, but I also had really good memories on the factory KTM, and also with Yamaha. I cannot disrespect all these people that worked really hard for me, and I didn’t give them all that I should give them, so I cannot really say this or that, but the 2008 bike was the best bike ever.
GateDrop: You had a lot of fast teammates over your time as a rider in the GP paddock, again you can name more than one if you want, but was there anyone in particular that you learned the most from, and what sort of things did you learn from them?
De Reuver: Mentally wise, Ben Townley, because he was one asshole. I tell you, I’m really good with him now, but he made me crazy, man, he made me really crazy also with the training and stuff. Also from Josh Coppens, I learned a lot, because man, this guy trained so much, because to be honest, Josh doesn’t have so much riding talent but man, he worked hard, so that was a big eye-opener for me also. But you know what I say about all the teams, also 2001 with the Eggens Yamaha team. You know, Theo Eggens taught me a lot, life-wise, so every team has something that taught me through my career.
GateDrop: After you retired from racing, I can’t remember if you were out of the paddock that long actually, but obviously you ended up doing coaching, I mean, what was the main reason for going into coaching, is it just because you loved the sport and you wanted to stay involved in a positive?
De Reuver: It’s very easy, it’s very simple. I can ride a bike and I can lay bricks, I can do nothing else, you know, it’s my life motivation, so that’s then the decision very quickly made, and luckily I was not so bad in the coaching.
GateDrop: Whenever you decided to retire from racing and before you went into coaching, were you out of the paddock that long, I can’t quite remember.
De Reuver: I did a wild card race in Lommel in 2014 in MXGP, then I was two years out of racing.
GateDrop: What was life like, you know, outside racing, not going to the GPs and stuff, what was that like, was it tough?
De Reuver: No, because I stopped racing the GP’s but then I still raced some international races, Dutch races, I was Dutch champion, so I could make some money to live before I went into training. So, also when that stopped, then I went into training, but then I trained Lars Griekspoor, a Dutch kid from 2015-16, and then in 2017 was Pauls Jonass.
GateDrop: Well that brings me to my next question actually, Paul Jonass, he was one of the early GP riders you worked with, I think you actually won a world title with him, correct me if I’m wrong, I mean what was he like to work with, I have to say I love PJ, he’s just such a nice laid back lad, whenever you speak to him in the paddock, he doesn’t really seem to have a big ego or anything like that…
De Reuver: Pauls is a lovely guy, I love him, but the thing is I was a little bit spoiled with him. During my time when I rode, I always had my goggles ready, my food ready, I was really organized. When I went to Pauls, he has the goggles ready, he has the food ready, so I was like – this is easy. We just had to go riding, you know. It was a little bit of a false start with Pauls because I thought that it is easy. We just have to go to the track, do the work and go home, but that changed when I went to F&H Racing.
GateDrop: You got a role with F&H Racing team, you were there for many years as coach actually, I mean, how was it being part of that team and they took you in and it must have felt like home a little bit, you were there for quite a long time.
De Reuver: I had a bit of a bigger role there, because Pauls had his physical trainer and everything, he did everything that he should do, but then I come with F&H Racing with quite young kids and I was baby sitter, mental coach and a life coach. It was tough in my head, but now I know that I really liked that, because I had quite a lot of control of the riders. I knew where they were, I see them almost every day, so the control was much bigger and I tell you these days, you need control these guys, because if you let them go, they go right instead of left.
GateDrop: How long did it take you to adapt then to F&H Racing, because it sounded like it was very different, you know, going to that team, like you say, you had a lot more control, but did it maybe take you a year to adapt to that, because before that, you were sort of working with PJ and he sort of done everything he should have been anyway…
De Reuver: No, because I noticed soon that I had this responsibility on the riders, I knew that really soon, because we had a few meetings right at the beginning. In 2018, I started with Jed Beaton and with Ruben Fernandez. With Jed, you didn’t have to tell nothing, he works really hard, while Ruben was a little bit more like a kid to play, you know. We had a few big meetings about Ruben and then I quickly understood that I had a different role also there, but I liked it.
GateDrop: The team at the end of the 2024 season sadly decided to step away from the paddock, I mean, being in your shoes, what was that like? I’m sure it was quite sad, you know, when you got the news that the team is leaving, because you’d been there for so long, and with any team leaving the paddock, it’s always quite sad when they leave…
De Reuver: It’s very simple. You see more teams that this happens too, if you have a company where the millions go through every day in the company and then you have a Motocross team with eight people – that will give you more of a headache than the company itself. So, then they stop and that’s normal. But they don’t understand that motocross is, man, it’s tough. You just don’t come and do the job, man. Motocross is a complicated sport.
GateDrop: Are you still in contact with the Fase family? Do you think they could maybe return in the future? It would obviously be nice to see, but difficult for you to answer probably.
De Reuver: I know there’s been many many rumours but also, I told you already on WhatsApp, they don’t come back at this moment. Maybe when they get a plug and play team, then yes, but how they were working then they won’t comeback.
Am I in contact with them? I am in contact with everybody who brought me to the dance in my life. I still have contact with my first sponsors when I was five or six years old. The people that bring you through your career to the top, you need to show respect and loyalty for them, even if they don’t like it, or they don’t contact you, you need to stay in contact with these people. That’s how I think and that’s also what we miss in life these days. But I have contact with everybody who helped me throughout my career.
GateDrop: During your time at F&H Kawasaki, you worked with quite a lot of riders. Which riders would you say you enjoyed working with the most and why? And again, you can name more than one rider…
De Reuver: You know, every rider had their own character because that’s also a trainer thing and it’s not easy. In the second year we had Henry Jacobi, Adam Sterry and Roan van de Moosdijk… You have three completely different characters on the bike and off the bike. I had to play many characters myself, because I need to think what they think. I need to make a good solution for it and that’s not so easy. It’s also not fair to say I like him the most, then I need to say Roan van de Moosdijk, because we had the championship together or Jed Beaton, because we had his first podium in the MX2. You know what I mean? Or Kevin Horgmo, I like Jed, I like Ruben Fernandez, I like Roan, I like Henry Jacobi, Adam Sterry. Also, David Braceras, you know, maybe he didn’t get the results, but he worked really hard. Kevin Horgmo was good and even Quentin Prugnieres was good, you know. He’s a lovely kid, but he didn’t make the results that we wanted but from his heart, he’s a good kid. You know what I mean? It’s difficult to name one guy.
GateDrop: After F&H stopped, this year you work with the Kosak KTM team, a German team and then you also worked with Adam Sterry and Ollie Colmer in the GP paddock as well. What was it like working with those guys? A few of them you’d worked with during your time at F&H, so that transition was probably quite easy, because you already knew their characters and things like that.
De Reuver: So to come back to that, I’ve been seven years on the payroll with F&H so then you’re quite spoiled in motocross. Every month, you get your salary and even in October, when you don’t do so much, you get your holiday money. We have in Holland, we get holiday money, I got my pension. And then I felt it coming already that they were stopping, then I’m by myself. Not to speak that I’m sad but that’s a little transition, because I need to go by myself. I had to get used to this also because it’s different. And now it comes, the main thing, the control is a little bit gone because we go to the track. But I don’t know what they do at home. If they do their physical training, you know, I send them to my doctor and I do blood checks, I measure their fat, well, the doctor does so that’s my control a little bit. But for me, it’s hard when I don’t have full control, because you need full control to get the best results, you know.
Now, we had also a problem with Roan and Adam. In 2024, they had a really bad year, you know, the Roan problem we know and also with Adam he had a bad team, bad bikes. So last winter, I could not train as hard with them as I wanted, because I needed to make a season with them from March until October. It’s really long. So again, that’s not easy in the MXGP class. But now they had a good year so now I’m going to train them really hard, but they know already. But only for a good purpose, because they’re going to be better next year. Also with Ollie Colmer, he made progress and I’m happy with how it goes now.
GateDrop: When you go to the GP paddock now, you’re still regularly in the paddock. I mean, when you look at the paddock now, compared to when you raced, what would you say the biggest changes are?
De Reuver: I’m going to be honest to you. I only go to the GPs to help my riders and that’s it, because I don’t like the paddock at all and how that comes. The world is changing and like I say, respect and loyalty is important for me – especially respect to just talk to each other. You are not more than somebody else if you have a Red Bull shirt or a Monster shirt. I don’t care what shirt you have on, just be normal and that has changed a lot. The awnings are closed, and you’re not going into the tent with somebody. I don’t like it so much.
GateDrop: If you had the keys to make some changes in the GP paddock, I mean, what would you do tomorrow if you could make a couple of changes? It sounds like you’d get rid of the big fish-bowl awnings.
De Reuver: You need to be honest, we have factory teams, but all the factory teams are a little bit owned by private people. In the end, sorry, I say, but in the end, also, these bosses, they’re little kids also, you know, this guy has four trucks, this guy has two trucks, this guy has a Lamborghini, this guy has Mercedes. You know, that’s a little bit the state at the moment and I don’t like that. Why do you need four trucks? Why you need that? Okay, if it’s your money and stuff, you need to do what you want. It doesn’t make the feeling better, you know. I like if you come with a van, an awning and then win, that I like. At the end of the day, that’s possible. You know, you don’t need all those fancy trucks.
I am there for a different cause, I am there for coaching my riders so I don’t need to see all these bikes. You know, I just need food, my riders, the track and that’s it. I don’t need anything more than that. I understand for the fans, it’s not so nice. You know what I mean? People need to understand that Motocross is not MotoGP and it will never be MotoGP. Never. Because it’s not the structure that we have. Yes, you can have four or five of these trucks but you will still be in the mud in Cozar. People need to understand this, you know, it’s not going to be MotoGP, ever, this is Motocross. This is a soul sport and it’s different.
What I would change about the race format, something I don’t like so much and it’s my thought… If you see the EMX125 championship, these are kids. These are kids from 14 to 16 years old. They need to go to school. 10 races is for me is a lot for these kids. I would make it a little bit shorter and also to get it more safe. I would also put one less class a weekend so they can also prepare the track a little bit in between. Because sometimes the tracks are a little bit wild. You know, also for the safety. This has been spoken about a lot but I don’t think this is going to happen because of the finances involved. You know, sometimes I stand on the track and I look around me and to organize one GP is expensive. I see all these guys from MXGP working there, they need to build up the track. For sure, there’s a reason that they need these classes, people always say about MXGP and Infront only think about money but I think it’s not so much sunshine. I think they really need these classes to keep it going and that’s what I think. It’s both sides but I would go for the kids a shorter championship.
GateDrop: I mean, since you have retired, there’s been so many Dutch talent emerging, you know, over the last five to 10 years. I mean, you must be happy to see some so many Dutch talents being a proud Dutch man that you are breaking through. I’m sure a lot of these guys looked up to you when you were a GP rider…
De Reuver: Yeah, maybe Kay de Wolf, he has seen me ride but the rest, not… I am too old. But what people many times forget is, let me start with the basics in Holland. We are quite rich. Yes, we have money. That’s where the base starts because without money, you do nothing anymore these days. But we have the heaviest tracks, We have them. All the kids from the 50cc, they go out on the toughest tracks in the world. It’s tough tracks and we have good tuners because it’s never enough. You know, the bike always need to better, better, better. We have the best suspension people because our tracks are very rough. People don’t understand why we have these good basics but we have the money, we have the toughest tracks, we have the best tuners and we have the best suspension guys. We have a really good base in Holland to get better and that’s I think the key to all this.
Also the tracks, let’s say in France or in Germany, they are not so much France, Italian type of tracks anymore. Now it’s tracks with big ruts, we have big ruts 24-7 in Holland. If we have the old tracks like when I was racing, I was struggling big time the first time when I went to these tracks. But yeah, a rut is a rut, you know what I mean? So the basics here in Holland is I think the best for the success. If you have these Dutch kids, if you put them in Czech Republic, maybe they will struggle but it’s about the circumstances here.
GateDrop: One Dutch rider I would love to get your thoughts on is Kay de Wolf. Obviously, he’s got one world title to his name. He couldn’t quite make it two, but it was very close. He’s moving up to the MXGP next year. I mean, when you look at him ride, what do you see? What do you expect from him during his rookie season in MXGP? I think in theory, he should probably suit the 450…
De Reuver: He’s much better on the 450cc than on the 250cc, it suits him much better. I’ve seen him riding this year also in Valkenswaard at the international race. He’s good, I tell you. I’m a really big fan of his riding style also. I like it, if he can get the starts, he’s going to be good.
GateDrop: Just on the Dutch GP, whenever you were racing, it was at Lierop and then it went to Valkenswaard and now it’s in Arnhem. I have to say, fair play to Arnhem. I’ve been to every GP there and every year it does seem to get better. They do make improvements. It’s a very rough track as well. What’s your thoughts on Arnhem? Obviously, I’m probably dreaming here, but I would love to see Lierop make a return to MXGP one day…
De Reuver: You need to be honest always. Also, if I don’t like it, you need to speak, talk honest and then we can talk about it. It’s important. So, is Arnhem my first pick? No, also not. Is Lierop my first pick? Yeah, for sure. Because I ride there many good races, you know what I mean? But like I say, I’m very Dutch. I’m happy we already have a Dutch Grand Prix that has people who are willing to organize a GP. Is it my first pick as a track? No. But for my heart, because I’m Dutch, I’m happy we can have a Dutch GP that there’s people who are willing to do this. One of my best friends, Maarten Roos and Hendrik Jan Vos, together with Dik from Arnhem, they organized the GP. I know Maarten puts in weeks of organizing, he’s five years older than me. So, I would never organize a GP in Holland because the Dutch GPs are horrendous. People want to come in for free and they want the best places. My sister is also involved in the organization for the paperwork, people are very crazy in Holland and all the Dutch kids are very crazy. It’s difficult.
GateDrop: Whenever we look at MXGP next year, I mean, it’s looking incredible. It’s not even 2026 yet and I’m already really excited. Obviously, we’ve got Gajser and Herlings moving brands. We’ve got Lucas Coenen, Romain Febvre and then the rookies: De wolf, Adamo and Vialle. It’s looking really exciting for MXGP in 2026….
De Reuver: It looks really good. But let me tell you also, many GP riders are going to connect to what I say. Practicing on a brand new bike is something but racing the bike is a completely different story. I’ve seen this many times and also for myself. For example, the Yamaha 2007 when I was with factory Yamaha, I could not race with this bike but in December and January in Italy before the season training with the bike, it was awesome. It was perfect because I ride my own lines, I did my own things and I don’t have to pass people. Then I came to the races and man, I could not race with this bike. Now we have Gajser changing to Yamaha, Herlings to Honda. It’s not necessarily sure that they can race with these bikes. Not everybody can race a Ducati. Not everybody can race a Honda. We’ve seen that in the past. Not everybody can race a Suzuki or a Kawasaki. With the training, yes because in November, everything will be top.
GateDrop: Why do you think that is? Obviously, whenever you’re practicing, tracks probably don’t get as rough. Would that be one factor? And then the other factor is you can do your own thing at the practice track…
De Reuver: You do your own lines when you train. How many times have we seen videos from guys with the bike and it looks awesome and then they race, they cannot race the bike. Many guys will connect with me about this and they will think Marc is right and somebody finally says this. I also had it with that factory Yamaha, Everts was a 10 times world champion on the Yamaha. Man, I could not race with it, I crashed my brains out with the thing and I didn’t know why. I could not race with it. Many people also maybe get scared now because they are riding the new bikes, you know. I tell you, racing is something different than training, it is a big difference.
GateDrop: Whenever we look at the MX2 World Championship this year, I mean, wow, I was up at 2 or 3 a.m. to watch the final round in Australia. What a championship final between Simon Langenfelder and Kay de Wolf. In the end, Simon got the job done. But it was very, very dramatic and of course, it rained. 2025 was the year of rain.
De Reuver: If you imagine that these guys, they ride 60 motos because I also count Saturday. 60 motos and then it comes to down to the last moto. That’s really weird. You know what I mean? But if you also see Simon, he’s very young. He made some very silly mistakes, you know. In Latvia, he crashed the last lap, I remember. But you cannot blame these kids, he has never been world champion and there’s immense pressure on them. I can tell you also, because if Simon is alone, he would not make it, it’s the people around him. I remember also with Pauls… Now Pauls got world champion, not me and Simon is world champion and nobody else but it’s the package. I tell you, when it comes down to the wire, it’s not easy for everybody. So I’m really happy for him because he’s a good rider.
GateDrop: When we look to America, we’ve obviously got the Lawrence brothers who came to Europe via Australia and now they’re pretty much dominating in America, the outdoors anyway, and Jett’s just incredible. We’ve also got Haiden Deegan coming up, he’s the next up and coming American talent. These are three very big talents, just what do you see when you analyse those three guys?
De Reuver: I’m going to give you an answer now that you won’t like. I don’t watch USA Motocross. I hate it. The only thing I do is I look in the morning where Ken Roczen finished, where Jett Lawrence finished, I check where our European guys finish and for the USA I don’t look. I have big problems with Haiden Deegan. You know why? Because he’s smashing every moto one engine. But I have kids who I train, who watch him on Instagram. They also smash the engine in the air. You know, they see it, they see him on Instagram. But what he does is not Motocross and they don’t know that Deegan gets every moto one new engine. It is not normal. I have a lot of problems with that with the kids. I make a joke now but I have problems with the kids with this guy. I make a joke now but of course, this is a super talent.
I’m from Europe, man so the only thing I watch immediately is where Ken Roczen finishes and the European guys. Lawrence for me is European, you know, because I know them and also Prado but for the rest, I don’t care.
GateDrop: Do you watch Supercross?
De Reuver: No, never. I don’t like it. I’m anti-American and Supercross. Chad Reed, Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart. When these guys stopped, I stopped watching because then Ryan Dungey came in and if I look to the Ryan Dungey, he’s like a surgeon. I don’t like to watch that, man. Ricky Carmichael is my hero, Chad Reed, and of course, James Stewart because he rides so good. But this was supercross, I’m not interested anymore after that.
GateDrop: One rider I would like to get your opinion on is obviously Jorge Prado. I mean, what a rider. He’s a four times world champion and you don’t just forget how to ride a bike. But he went to Kawasaki and it just looked like he couldn’t gel with the bike whatsoever. I mean, what was your thoughts on that? Next year is looking like a really big year for Jorge and his career in America…
De Reuver: So let me say this. First of all, I have no Instagram. I have no Instagram because also I want to coach and I cannot understand what I see there – it’s a fake world. But okay, that aside, the story I told you, not everybody can ride a Kawasaki but this bike is awesome, I’m sure I can ride the bike 100%. I love it but not everybody can race with that bike. If you come from a KTM, this is a steel frame. It’s very stiff and the Japanese bike is different. That needs to suit you the same as the other way around. I’m really surprised that Tomac who rides for years on the Japanese bike. But what’s his riding style? How’s his riding style?
GateDrop: Tomac, very aggressive, the complete opposite to Prado…
De Reuver: Very aggressive, yes. So that suits very good on the steel frame. Prado is going to come back for sure. 100%. Is that Kawasaki sh*t? No, that Kawasaki is top. 100% it is a super bike but not for him. That’s very weird what I say now, because people have different opinions. I cannot judge about Jorge because I don’t know what happened next to the bike. There’s a lot of trainers and coaches I see on Instagram and I cannot see that. It’s not that I want to help him, but I just talk facts. You’re going to see he’s going to be good on that KTM. 100%. You will see.
GateDrop: Another rider you worked with during your time at F&H Racing was Mikkel Haarup. Now, you have said you don’t watch America but he obviously went from GPs to America, had to adapt to a new country, racing different tracks. That can be quite challenging when it’s something you’re not used to. But overall, I felt that he did quite well.
De Reuver: Like I say to you before, I don’t look. I just see the results. I see also the press releases on your website and some other sites. I think that the 250cc class was also, if I’m honest, not so stacked. I also don’t know all of these guys. Of course, I know Haiden Deegan. Yes, I know these top guys.
GateDrop: What was he like to work with? I believe he was a hard worker from what I have heard?
De Reuver: Yes, let’s say I’m honest. Mikkel is a very hard worker, he works very hard. But I think if Mikkel is not so stubborn and listens to other people, he would be much better. Because Mikkel, himself thinks that he’s really good and that’s his problem. I’m just honest. He can also listen to this because I work with him. What he and Mikkel thinks is really, really, really good and he doesn’t listen to anybody. I think if he would do that, he would be much better than he is now.
GateDrop: One other rider I would like to ask you about is Kevin Horgmo. You worked really well with him. I think you finished fourth in the world together. To be honest, I was a little bit worried about Kevin when he went to MXGP, I always seen him as a 250cc rider, but he’s completely proved me wrong. He’s done really well in MXGP as well so you must be happy with what he’s done in his career so far…
De Reuver: If Kevin had the hat of Mikkel, he would be even better. You know, because Kevin is… he’s not too confident in himself. It’s really, really sh*t because he’s really, really good, Kevin. Like I say, I need to play 500 characters for the riders but many times I had Kevin take 10% out of my head. But that’s what you always see in sport. You know, you see a top talent who doesn’t train, you see a super hard worker who does train. It’s like that at the top of sport.
GateDrop: And when it comes to riders, there seems to be a lot of riders going to America at the minute. You know, you’ve got Valentin Guillod, Cornelius Tondel there, Harri Kullas. The Coenen’s are probably going to go, De Wolf might go. Do you think Infront Moto Racing need to change something to try and keep the stars in MXGP?
De Reuever: Stop, stop, stop. Andy. Tøndel, I like him, he’s a very good guy but he’s not fast enough over here. That’s how I see it and that’s nothing to do with Infront. Some guys are not fast enough. For example, I ride Lierop with a completely stock bike, stock 450cc and I win the last moto. That’s not to talk big, but I just want to say, if you have it, you have it and it doesn’t matter what bike you have. Look at Isak Gifting, that bike is not so special. He’s almost winning a moto. These guys we need racing MXGP, these guys are top. All the other guys who go there, they’re not good enough, man. That’s how I see it, that’s my vision so that has nothing to do with Infront. The Coenen’s are different, that’s a different level. They go for money and maybe you have this American dream because there are kids who have this dream. If you also see de Wolf, he was close, but I don’t think he’ll go there anymore. I think because he’s smart. Even Vialle comes back, why does he come back?
GateDrop: Well, a good contract from HRC Honda. I think he was only getting a one year contract from KTM…
De Reuver: So it has to do also with money. That is the basic in these times.
GateDrop: That’s true, but do you think Infront could be better with handing some money out or not?
De Reuver: What I would suggest and I think that Europe is not ready for 20 GPs. That’s what I think.
GateDrop: How many GPs would you like to see?
De Reuver: I think 16 or 17 and a little bit spread out. I don’t talk about those international races that need to come back for money. I don’t care about that but I think that 20 GPs, they’re not ready enough for that. You know, they struggle with that. I would guess that 16 GPs or something would work better. But I cannot look into the wallet of Infront. I don’t know how a company like that works. Because it’s a big company so I cannot look at their wallet.
GateDrop: Whenever you raced, how many GP’s was your last year of racing? I don’t think it was 20 back then?
De Reuver: Oh, man, it was 14 or 15 something like this.
GateDrop: Do you like the two-day format or would you change it to one if it was down to you? I know a lot of riders would prefer the one-day format.
De Reuver: I was at the GP’s also during Covid but I felt a little bit weird there, man. It’s just, it’s gone. The race is finished and that’s it. You know, MotoGP and Formula 1 are also not one day formats. Like I say, we are not F1, we are not MotoGP but Motocross is Motocross and America is Supercross – that’s their main core. Motocross is just to keep everybody happy I think because that’s not their main thing. They want to get rid of that quick so they do it on one day and then everyone can go home. I think MXGP needs to stay two days. This is Motocross and this has to be two days. I do like the format otherwise, maybe less classes so that they can work on the track. But for the rest, for me, it’s fine.
GateDrop: You’ve already started working with your riders for the 2026 season, I believe. I mean, how’s everything going so far? And what do you expect from the guys next year? Just on Roan van de Moosdijk, he had a good year this year and genuinely, it was nice to see. You know, he won the MX Masters title but he’s such a big talent. You know, he was an EMX250 champion ad that’s a hard class to win. He’s done good things in MX2 as well. So he’s slowly getting back to his best…
De Reuver: He’s a really big talent. I’m going to first stick a feather in his ass, we say in Holland. From all the riders I trained in my career, Roan is the best all-round rider I have ever had. If you put him with a helicopter on one track in the world, in five or six laps, he rides the best times of the day. He was the German champion but as a coach, I want more from him and he knows that also so there’s no surprising feelings to this. So first I said, yes, he’s one of the biggest talents I’ve trained and I’ve worked with him but I want to see more from him. So this year, I’m going to let him train really hard. Because I can let him train hard also now, because he had a good year without injuries.
GateDrop: When you say you expect more from him, what do you want to see from him in MXGP? I think he’ll do most the European GP’s in 2026?
De Reuver: Oh, no. He will only do six or seven GP’s. Roan can ride close to the top five and he didn’t do that this year. I know he can do that, 100%. I’m also honest, because it was also a big gamble for me to work with Roan again. He didn’t ride and then he went to HRC, that went completely wrong with that injury he had. Nobody really wanted him anymore after that but Kosak KTM took him again. I believe very much in him and I know if you work good with him, he can do very crazy stuff. In MXGP, I didn’t see crazy stuff from him yet and I want to see that again.
GateDrop: You’ve got your riders that you work with in the paddock. I mean, are you open to working with other riders in the paddock? And, you know, if a rider reads this, maybe they think they need Marc de Reuver in their corner. Do they just reach out to you? What way does it work?
De Reuver: They need to listen really good to this. If I go training with hobby riders, yes, I put my hobby character on. Yes, I’m going to make a corner with them. They’re going to make the corner perfect. I’m going to tell some stories from back in the day. But if you come to me and you say, I want a to qualify for a European championship, I want to top three and I want to be champion. That’s a different road, you know and the road to results is not perfectly mowed grass with flowers. That’s in the top but before we are there, we need to work really hard.
I’ve been to the place that you want to be. I also know the road, how you need to come there so we’re going to climb this road together. But many times, half of the way, it’s too heavy for them, you know. And then, you know, it’s too hard. But you say to me, you want to do that but then we go there. If you want to come train with me, we go, we have to walk the path where you want to go and that’s not easy because you need to accept pain. You need to like pain, I don’t talk about physical pain from crashing, but pain to work very hard because people are also very stupid to think that I never trained. They’re very stupid to think that, you cannot ride 45 minutes in Lierop like this when you don’t train. I have this name, but I don’t care – I also worked very hard.
GateDrop: You obviously train quite a number of different types of riders, young kids, girls, teenagers, as well as professionals. Trainers use different methods. What kind of methods do you use?
De Reuver: It’s very simple. My dad was maybe a little bit too crazy, but I’m very happy with my dad because without my dad, I am not talking to you here about motocross. I even have parents that when I do a training and I go hard on the kids, the parents tap me on the back and thank me for pushing their son so hard. I’m like, what? How is that possible, man? That you need me, you pay me to give your son this, you know what I mean? But also in these times, it’s still the only way that works. Full gas, hard training, hard and very clear. With kids, you need to be very clear to them. No questions and this is the way we go and if we don’t go that way, there is the van and we need to do something else. Of course, I have different characters because again, when I do a training day with kids, with hobby riders, I’m a joker and we do it in a funny way. But again, if you have a big mouth and you say, well, I want to be world champion, I want to be this. Okay, then we can train like that but how we have to train for that. Everybody can come train with me, it’s no problem.
GateDrop: For teams in the paddock these days, it seems to be very, very hard to attract good mechanics and then keep them. Why do you think that is? Probably too many GP’s?
De Reuver: It’s a mechanic. It’s a slave job. No, but this is serious. A mechanic is a slave job so what you need is a guy with incredible passion for the sport. This is the first basic. The passion, not even the money. You need one guy with a lot of passion for the sport. This man is leaving his kids behind, his wife behind for you and then he needs to get paid. Well, for sure he gets underpaid for the hours because normally you get paid in hours but the hours they make, they’re not paid so again we fall back on the passion. If these guys don’t get respect from the riders or from the team managers, they go. They can also drive a van with the packages in the back and they make good money. Then on Saturday on Sunday, they’re freer with their kids and then with their wives. I was also in the possibility for this. Now I made a lot of money also in my career but my training mechanic and my race mechanic, they make both 15,000 euro. That’s not about the money. These guys are also awake at night thinking: Did I change the bolt? Did I do that? Did I do that?
And I’m going to tell you a very nice story. There was always one rider, I’m not going to tell his name. He always forget his goggles. I say to the mechanic, we go to Berghem, a big sand track. I said, put a hard pack tire on so we do that. The rider comes out of the car, he looks at the bike and he sees the tire but he thinks we still need to change it. He puts the goggles on and the tire we keep the same. I said to him, the mechanic forgets so we ride all afternoon with this hard pack tire. We have the team manager, the mother, the father on the telephone. When the mechanic makes one mistake, the whole world blows up and they get sh*t and when the rider does something wrong, that’s okay but this is not okay. After a mistake then the mechanic is going to stop and this is how it works. Again, we come to the loyalty, respect thing. They don’t have that anymore so they don’t come.
GateDrop: One question I would like to ask you about is social media. Probably back when you were a rider, there wasn’t too much social media. But nowadays, there’s so much social media. Now, social media isn’t all that bad. If used correctly, it can probably be a good thing to attract sponsors. But at the same time, it can probably be a big distraction for riders these days. Would that be fair?
De Reuver: I even tried it with my riders. This is a big tip also for other trainers. I always say the battery is 100% when you wake up and then you have one and a half hour, two hours to the track. They look at social media, the battery is then 70% when you get to the track. Instead of 100%, the battery is 70%. Then in between the moto’s, you look to social media but they look at nothing, they look at bullsh*t. It’s a big problem with the focus. It’s a big problem. With my riders, there are no phone. They might say, but you have yours but I am 42 and I’m not on social media because I don’t have. I only look to the news. To show respect, you don’t use your phone because you are in a very dangerous sport. I’m not in fifth gear jumping down a step down downhill. I’m just standing next to the track like this. That’s it and it’s different.
You have the piece of the cake and all the pieces of the winning cake. Then all of a sudden, when somebody wins, I see all kinds of guys there. Also a guy who maybe does the spoke. He’s also part of the cake. I don’t like that, man. People need to know their place and that’s the problem in Motocross. Everybody is a little island. If I was with Pauls Jonass and I said you need one bigger sprocket in the back because it’s better in the sand and we have better traction. If you win, I don’t say, hey, it’s because of me, the sprocket. No, man. I’m just there for information. I’m not the rider and that’s the problem in the paddock. Everybody wants to walk with the chest in the front but you need to know your place.
GateDrop: I would like to ask you about your son. You’ve got one kid called Jason. Has he ever been interested in the sport or has he got other hobbies?
De Reuver: No, he hates it. But also what I don’t want is that because he’s the son of Marc de Reuver and that brings pressure on him. I don’t want that. People will say your Dad was really fast. I don’t care about that. You know, he plays football. I don’t know nothing about football. zero. The only thing that I tell him, don’t let them run you off the ball. Hit them or something, but don’t lose the ball and then he calls me up the next day. Dad, I got a yellow card. I say, that’s really good. I just want him to be aggressive, you know, but he doesn’t care about Motocross.
