Interview: Brian Bogers on his first MXGP podium – best day of his life!
What a season Brian Bogers is having. Despite picking up a collarbone injury and missing round three of the series in Argentina he returned in Portugal and had the race of his life.
The Dutch talent showed amazing speed – possibly speed he’s never showed before and went 2-4 for third overall which is the first MXGP podium of his career – a day he’ll never forget.
We caught up with Bogers to discuss his podium, proving doubters wrong and more.
GateDrop: Brian, the best day of your life is just around the corner with the birth of your kid expected soon but until that happens… Was today the best day of your life?!
Bogers: Yeah… for now, yes (laughs). We will have a baby boy in July and that is some really good motivation you know. You can see all year I’ve actually been riding good, around the top five, inside the top five and now even on the podium. It’s amazing and not what we expected but we are working hard for this. One time we needed it to go my way like this.
GateDrop: Can you just talk to me through your moto’s? I mean that first moto the corner speed you had was mind blowing and you were the quickest guy for a lot of the race! Can you talk me through it from your end?
Bogers: Already yesterday I felt really good on the track. In the qualifying race I had the best lap time, the first moto also I think I had the purple lap. The track is actually quite strange, it’s not sand but also not hard either. We are riding with a sand tyre but I just felt really comfortable all weekend so I guess I like this track.
GateDrop: Did you feel any different riding right up there at the front? Did you feel like you were on it, or did it just feel like a normal moto for you?
Bogers: Actually, it felt quite normal. I guess a lot of the time my problem is with the start, I usually start around tenth and it is really difficult to fight your way back to the top five or top three – almost impossible! Today I had two good starts, the second moto wasn’t quite as good as the first moto but the first moto I was directly in third place. I pushed hard, got to second and was pushing together with Prado, you could see that we made a little gap behind us. I wasn’t thinking that I was up front, I was just doing my thing, pushing, pushing, pushing and didn’t think about nothing else.
GateDrop: In the past you have showed glimpses but for whatever reason you’d drop back – maybe tiredness or not being used to the intensity but today that didn’t happen. In the first moto you upped the pace on the final lap to keep Gajser behind you as well so physically you look good!
Bogers: Physically I feel really good. Already last year but last year I had so many starts outside the top twenty and I would fight my way back to the top ten so I would have a really good race but when you finish seventh, eighth or nineth, it’s not the results we want because we have the pace to be inside the top five. Now we have showed that we can be there, it has been difficult but it’s going really good now. We are back and it feels very good.
GateDrop: You’ve had quite a lot of doubters in the past and especially when you had the Honda rider people saying you shouldn’t have the ride blah, blah, blah but it must feel pretty good to show them but also yourself that you can ride right at the front…
Bogers: You know, people never know the insides. I mean I broke my foot and it took my nine months to get back from that and then you start riding… I changed the brand, I changed the class and the MXGP class, the speed is so high. It’s really difficult to come back, in the MXGP class you don’t really have a top ten or a top five, you need to work for that and at that moment it wasn’t good for the confidence. I was always around twentieth place, and I would be disappointed in myself and for sure in that moment I wasn’t worth the ride there. But now I have showed that I am different, and it feels really good.
Pic: Husqvarna
GateDrop: Just on the Standing Construct team and Tim Mathys, I’m not sure what they do differently from all the other teams but they seem to improve every single rider. What’s it like having the team behind you? There seems to be a great team atmosphere…
Bogers: The team is amazing. They work so hard and there’s nothing like pressure from them on your shoulders. They are maybe not always happy but when you do the best you can, it is good for them. I think this is very good for a rider not having the pressure and you just do what you do and what you’re capable of – then the results will come.
GateDrop: You mentioned pressure there, you’ve got one MXGP podium now and enjoy this today… but could this add more pressure? Now you know you can do it…
Bogers: I mean the goal was to be inside the top ten every single race. So far I’ve been top ten, top five and now a podium but the next race will be different. Inside the top ten is good, top five is possible or even a podium, I mean the pace is there and I know I can do it, but we will see. We will fight hard and push to do it again.
GateDrop: It’s probably too early to say this but I wouldn’t want to be the Dutch MXoN team manager this year and especially when Jeffrey Herlings comes back and gets added to the mix but you are certainly knocking on the door to go to RedBud at the end of the year!
Bogers: Yeah, that would be nice, when I can ride for my country I always will but that’s up to the team manager from Holland (laughs).
Interview: Andy McKinstry
Pics: Husqvarna
Podcast! Jonathan McCready gets the inside story from Andy McKinstry who was at the Portuguese MXGP and they also discuss the chances of Jeffrey Herlings racing the US Nationals.
Listen on iTunes here or below:
