The 2018 season was supposed to be Brian Bogers rookie season in MXGP but due to injury he missed the entire season. The HRC Honda team decided to keep him for 2019 and the Dutch talent has been making progress since the start of the season.
Bogers currently sits fifteenth in the MXGP World Championship which isn’t bad considering the amount of talent in the class. The main thing for the HRC Honda is to keep improving and find his old form as the season progresses. After missing an entire season it can be hard to get back into the swing of things.
We recently sat down with Bogers to discuss his season.
Gatedrop: Brian, I felt it was a solid day for you here at the Zwarte Cross, maybe the first moto you didn’t ride the way you’d like too but you rebounded well for the second moto.
Brian Bogers: Yeah, the times are really close to each other and in the first moto I didn’t have a good start. I was in sixth and I finished sixth because it was really difficult to make up time and make a difference. The second moto was the same, I started fifth and I finished fifth. Again, it was one lined and you couldn’t make a really big difference. I was happy with the riding and how it went so it was a solid day.
Gatedrop: What’s your thoughts on running a festival with a Motocross race and also this track?
Brian Bogers:Â Yeah, I think the idea is really cool. Maybe they need to make the track a little bit better. The lap is really short and the track is small, tight everywhere. I think that can be better for the future but I think the idea is really cool to have it at a festival.
Gatedrop: Just on your season in MXGP, you started the season slowly I would say but that’s to be expected as you missed an entire year of racing! Lately you were doing pretty good but then Indonesia didn’t go to plan. Overall, are you happy with how it’s going, what’s your feelings on your season?
Brian Bogers: You know, what can I say? I was out for one whole year, I made the step from MX2 to MXGP. A different bike so everything was different for me and if you miss one year, you need to start over again completely from the beginning. If I look at it like that, then I am really happy with what I do already now. But anyway, I want to do better because I know that I can do better. I still struggle quite a lot with the confidence, the trusting myself and the bike. It’s not back just yet but slowly it’s getting better and better. If you look at Indonesia, they were really difficult tracks and then you see I am too slow. I struggle a lot on tracks like that but now we have some European races again and I’m looking forward to that.
Gatedrop: At the German GP, I thought you rode very well and was that GP good for the confidence?
Brian Bogers: Yeah, I think I was 11-9 or something. That’s good, you know? That’s the kind of result, I think I belong now. In Indonesia there were just 13 MXGP riders so that doesn’t really count much but with Germany, I was really happy with that result. Sometimes I’m still struggling a bit with the suspension and everything because I didn’t have so much testing. There the track was really rough and I think I did a good job with how it went.
Gatedrop: Just looking ahead to the rest of the season, have you set yourself any targets? You must be looking forward to Lommel.
Brian Bogers: Of course, Lommel is a GP I always look forward too but I need to be good at every track in any condition. It’s not that I ride the whole year just for Lommel, you know. Anyway, Lommel is sand and I’ve won in the sand in the past so it’ll be better for me. Loket, this weekend, I like that track also.
Gatedrop: There’s a lot of rumours and I think a lot of riders will be searching for contracts next year. Do you know if you are still part of Honda’s plans or will you maybe be looking for a ride?
Brian Bogers: After Germany, were it went really good, I heard that I cannot stay next season. That’s a shame because I like Honda a lot, the team and everything works really really well. Now I am searching for something else. I still don’t have anything but I will keep searching and I hope to get somewhere good.
Interview: Andy McKinstry
Pic: Niek Kamper