After a spell on the sidelines following a big crash at Arco di Trento, Swedish talent Isak Gifting has returned to MXGP action and wasted no time in reminding everyone of his capabilities. Despite missing some rounds and still regaining full race fitness, Gifting has delivered impressive performances—most recently going 7-7 for 7th overall in Germany. Riding for the privateer JK Racing Yamaha team, Gifting has been very impressive in the MXGP World Championship. We caught up with Gifting to discuss his comeback, the aftermath of his Arco crash, life under the JK Yamaha awning, how he’s settled into the 450cc class, and his goals for the rest of the season.
GateDrop: Isak, I think your best finish is 6th overall in MXGP, but it was 7th this weekend, so not quite your best, but considering you’ve been away for so long, and you’ve missed quite a lot of racing, you’ve came back and it’s sort of like you’ve never been away, you must be happy with what you’re doing in MXGP?
Gifting: I am. This weekend I felt I was just doing really solid rides, two solid motos, and that’s been my goal really, because now coming back I felt like physically I’ve been struggling a bit. Well, it’s only been last weekend and this one, and I mean I’ve had some good rides anyway, but physically it’s been hard on me, because I need to get back into race shape, which is different. So today, 10-15 minutes I was running pretty well that first moto, a bit like yesterday, but then I fell back a little bit, and I need to take it easy, but even in the mud now just solid rides, 7th, and best privateer really, our privateer team, JK Racing, they’ve been doing a great job, and I’m just really happy to be back.
GateDrop: Obviously after you had a big off at Arco, after getting that good start, but you did come back and race the Italian Championship, now you didn’t race the GPs in between those Italian championships, just how fit were you for those races, and was the idea to wait until you were near 100% to come back at this high level?
Gifting: Yeah, so after that crash in Arco, at first I had to get my teeth fixed, because I broke like 6 or 7 of my teeth, and obviously I hit my head quite a bit, and that was the problem, so a concussion. I did the Italian Championship just to salvage some points, and I was not feeling well during that race and after that weekend, so I had to take a couple of weeks off, I started training and I still had symptoms, I was not feeling well, so I decided to actually take a bit more time off than I would normally do, and just said, alright, let’s get back together, let’s get closer to 100% before we start doing the GPs again. The GP’s are always really difficult, it’s really tough, so it’s no point really risking it, so that’s what we did. We waited and came back for that Italian Championship, the next one, felt good, and we said, alright, let’s go to France and let’s get back to it.
GateDrop: The track this weekend, I mean this track has looked the same for the last 15-20 years, so I thought it was nice to see some changes, I think it was good, but maybe for the more powerful 450’s, it was maybe a wee bit too tight, but at the same time, you can’t knock them, they’re actually making changes to a lot of tracks this year, which I think must be good for you guys…
Gifting: Yeah, I think it was great actually, the track was really good, but like you said, it was also very technical, with really tight parts. With the 450cc, when I had some arm pump for some of the moto’s, I was struggling a bit in those parts, but like you said, I still think it’s better that they’re making changes, something else that we see on TV and everything.
GateDrop: In the Italian Championship, you’re battling with Jan Pancar for the title, what’s it like racing him in the Italian Championship, and you guys, he’s completely privateer, you’re in a privateer team, you guys are doing a really good job, so the level must be high in Italy as well, because you’re showing good things in MXGP…
Gifting: Yeah, I think there’s good riders also in the Italian championship, and especially all the national championships. The riders at their home stage, also all the national championships, people are much better at home, so it’s still good racing. They know all the tracks, and like you said, Jan is doing really well, and it will be difficult to beat him in the championship, but like you say, we race every weekend, we battle also at the GP, he’s been really fast the last couple of races. We’ll see how we get on, it’s, I think, quite a lot of time until the next one, it’s a big summer break now, and then we have two more races. I’m leading it at the moment, but it will be exciting, it will be between me and Jan, for sure.
GateDrop: You made the jump up to the 450cc last year, I mean, whenever I seen you race with the 250cc in MX2, I think it would be fair to say you were a fairly aggressive rider, so when you made the step up to the 450cc initially, what was that like, I mean, was part of you scared, you know, with this big bike, but you’ve adapted to it really well, and you look at home in the MXGP class…
Gifting: Thanks. A lot of people said that I was really aggressive in that, and I was on the 250cc, but I think the 450cc suits me much better. My riding style, I feel much more at home, I feel like I’m riding more like myself, I feel more like when I was riding 125cc as a kid, because I went up really early on the 125cc. I was really small on that bike, so that bike always felt really fast to me, so I think that’s how I learned to ride bikes, that way, always being really small on the bike, bike feeling fast and big, so I think that’s why the 450cc actually suits me much better. Now I feel like myself riding again, and also even the step from last year to this year, already much more comfortable and feel much more safe on the bike. I mean, I had some crashes but not that much, and these two weekends, France and here in Germany, really technical tracks, big ruts, very not Swedish type tracks. I just feel good, like I’m not stressed at all, and I’m just doing my thing. I think when I get into a better physical shape again, I can run a bit more close to the top 5.
GateDrop: I was going to ask you about the tracks actually, you know, you were always a sand kid when you were really young, but hard pack, you seem to be picking it up, you’re comfortable in the top 10 now, does racing the Italian Championship also help with that?
Gifting: I think so, definitely, the Italian Championship is helping, and also to live in Italy probably also helps. We only have hard pack, we have no sand really, so, losing a little bit on the sand, but like you say, it’s always been my strong part. We’re also basically only racing hard pack nowadays, there’s not much sand anymore, not at all. There’s only really been one so far this year in Sardinia. That always works out for me anyway, I mean I would like to practice a little bit more sand, but I think I’d gain more from riding like this.
GateDrop: Have you set yourself a goal that you’d like to achieve between now and the end of the season? I mean, you haven’t got a top 5 overall just yet, so maybe that’s the first goal before doing bigger and better things hopefully?
Gifting: Yeah, it’s popped up in my mind now, I’ve seen today I was 7th overall, I was hoping 7-7, if you’re lucky you can get in there but it didn’t happen, I was 6th last weekend, so for sure I really need to get a 5th overall, that’s important. I take it race by race, I mean the championship, it won’t be good for me anyway in the championship, so I’m not focusing on that, I’m focusing on trying to be more in the top 5.
GateDrop: What’s your thoughts on the level of MXGP, I mean the top 3 are maybe a step ahead, but after that it seems like, you know, 4th to 20th is so close, you need a start?
Gifting: Yeah, you need a start, and the starts are working well for me, very well. I feel like the level is really high, I feel like wherever you are in the field, if you’re running 17th or if you’re running 7th, there’s always people around you that you know that’s been doing really good results, and factory bikes as well. The level is very high and even, you always have those top 3 guys always running a bit faster, but even at some tracks, we can also follow them. You’ve seen like last weekend moto two in Ernee, like me and Seewer. It could be anyone really running with them, for a little bit. So yeah, like you said, the start is the key and then to be solid really. Everyone’s going really fast now.
