Camden McLellan secured his third MX2 Grand Prix victory of the season at Arnhem, adding another impressive result to what has been a consistently strong 2026 campaign. The Triumph Racing rider came away from the Dutch Grand Prix with the overall win despite narrowly missing out on a perfect 1-1 score, finishing second in the opening race behind Liam Everts before taking the second moto victory.
McLellan admits he was disappointed not to complete the perfect weekend, having felt he had the pace to win both races, but was still determined to appreciate what was a significant achievement. The South African has now amassed a number of podium finishes this season and believes he has left points on the table on several occasions, with his earlier injury also costing him valuable championship points.
Following his Arnhem victory, we spoke to McLellan about his third GP win of the season, the frustration of missing out on more victories, his championship deficit, the challenging Arnhem circuit and the important role his girlfriend Sara plays during race weekends. He also opened up about his NestedBrand underwear business and how he balances the project alongside his professional Motocross career.
GateDrop: Cam, a bit of a different question at the beginning because I’ve always wanted to ask this question but always forget. You’ve got a brand, NestedBrand, can you tell me a little bit about that and what role do you play in the brand. Is it a lot of work because you’re a professional Motocross rider so you probably don’t want to spend all your time on the brand…
McLellan: It was something I started at the beginning of 2024. My parents, they’ve always pushed me to start something outside of Motocross. They wanted me to get an education up to university but I never really wanted that. They said the next best thing is to start something that I can make money through a different way than Motocross because you never really know how and when your season and career can end. For a long time since I was a kid, I enjoyed clothing and I was very creative when I was a kid. I loved drawing, I loved that kind of stuff so I’ve always been drawing and always kind of wanted to start my own clothing with my designs and stuff.
Then coming to Europe, I got my first real taste of long sport underwear and since I started wearing them, I kind of never wore short underwear again. I found some issues with the ones I was wearing at the time and I thought, you know what, I have a little bit of money, I’m making some money, it’s good to invest it in myself rather than just let it sit in a bank account. I started getting to work all by myself in the beginning, getting samples, testing, trying new things and then after about a year and a half of sample testing and all that kind of stuff, I found a place that I was pretty happy with the underwear and started selling it. My cousin is also very business minded and business orientated so I needed to delegate it. My career in Motocross was taking a step up, I had to become a little bit more invested and professional so I started to delegate towards my cousin who has been helping me ever since.
But I had stock at my house, not anymore, it’s all sold but I send orders out, I design, I work on the new products we want to come out with, so kind of everything when I have time. MX is pretty time consuming, but I wouldn’t change that for the world. It’s been a fun project.
GateDrop: Let’s talk about the racing, knowing you the way I do, third GP win of your career but knowing you, you’ll probably be pissed off you didn’t go 1-1 because I do feel, even though Liam rode really well, it’s nice to see Liam win, it’s nice to see somebody different winning but you’re probably pissed off you didn’t go 1-1 and completely dominate…
McLellan: I wouldn’t say pissed off but I’m a little bit disappointed because I definitely feel again on Saturday that I should have won the qualifying race, I spent too much time behind Guillem, on the same token it was really difficult to pass yesterday. Today as well, I spent a little bit too much time behind Guillem or Sacha, I don’t really remember now but Liam had a little gap. Anyway, I closed in on him and just couldn’t really find a place to pass. I think I was too nice once on the start straight, I could have made the pass but kind of shut off and gave him some room. It’s hard to say, you always have kind of a hindsight but I know on the bike I did all I could, I pushed, I gave it everything, I was pretty smoked after the race but anyway GP win. I need to enjoy it, I need to take it all in because it’s the top of the world.
GateDrop: I mean a GP win, you can never complain too much but I have a stat sheet and went to update it after the race and I don’t know, it feels like you’ve won more than three GP’s. Does it feel like that for you too?
McLellan: I know I have so many podiums and I’ve been so consistent but I’m always this short of a win in Loket, in Sweden, this short of a win again today to go 1-1. I feel like I have a lot of races where I should have won or could have won but haven’t so that’s been eating me. I’m really happy with my season but I wish that I did win a little bit more and I feel like I’ve left a lot of points on the table looking back at some of the races.
GateDrop: I think the main thing was probably the injury, how frustrating is that because in the championship you are only 37 points down. Without that injury, you’d be there or thereabouts…
McLellan: Unfortunately that’s Motocross and I was lucky to not be more injured than what I had. Riola and Trentino were pretty dismal, Trentino especially, I was like pretty much riding with one arm, my left arm was completely useless so looking back now it’s frustrating but also I could be completely out of it. That crash in Switzerland was really nasty and for a moment I couldn’t feel my left arm and I had a tingling feeling down my spine so my shoulder blade was hurting and everything was just really sore. I thought it was going to be a lot worse than what it was, it was still very bad, was some nerve damage which is not ideal if you compare it to a broken collarbone or something like that. Sacha has had his injury, Guillem hasn’t really and Simon hasn’t really but there’s always if, buts and maybes. Whatever, unfortunately that’s just it.
GateDrop: That track today, that did not look enjoyable one bit, what’s it like to ride compared to a place like Lommel, it feels like Lommel even though it gets really rough, there’s a bit more flow out there, Arnhem looked terrible to ride, did you enjoy it at all out there?
McLellan: I liked it, I had a lot of fun, I just enjoy riding in general anyway so I had fun. It was tricky for passing so it was not the best racetrack but I just enjoy riding. Like you said Lommel has a little bit more of a flow than here, but that’s also something different, you’ve got to be really mentally switched on around here.
GateDrop: And a question about your girlfriend, obviously Sara used to race WMX herself, now no longer a motocross rider, I’m guessing she’s there to support you a bit more, is that nice to have her? Obviously she’s not raced the MX2 World Championship but she knows what it’s like to be a racer, so does that help?
McLellan: It’s awesome, she’s very good. We have a great routine on the race weekend, she helps me a lot to save energy and I don’t have to think about anything but riding, that’s all I do, all my drinks, all my tablets, supplementation throughout the weekend, so all I’ve got to do is drink, eat and go ride my bike, which is a big help. Obviously she has raced so she knows what it takes to be out there, she knows when to step aside and when to be there for me after a bad weekend. It’s been very good to have her this year.
