Isak Gifting has had quite the whirlwind of late in MXGP. The Swede lit up the world stage at Uddevalla with a breathtaking ride that had fans on the edge of their seats, only to suffer heartbreak on the very last lap. Just a week later, he was back in action and found himself battling through crashes, bad starts and frustration in what he admits was a “domino effect” of tough moments. Despite that, the speed and determination are clearly there, and with some big decisions about his future ahead, Gifting remains one of the most exciting and unpredictable riders to watch. We caught up with him to reflect on his wild run of races, the mental side of dealing with highs and lows, and what lies ahead for Team Sweden and beyond.
GateDrop: I mean, what a couple of weeks you’ve had, just talk me through this weekend to start off with. You don’t want to get a bad start around that place, it’s very difficult to pass and it’s rough, so I can only imagine the roost and stuff…
Gifting: Yeah, it’s been tough. I mean, it started, I was doing alright yesterday and then crashed in the end, smashed my cooler on the bike, so I had to DNF. That made me start out in 38th gate today. So, it was unfortunate that just this weekend we were 38 riders, so I had to start way out. I mean, the speed was there all weekend, I just couldn’t get it done.
All three starts this weekend, I was down on the floor, especially today… I just went wide open around the outside two times and I was up there, as soon as I hit the berm, I went down. The first moto I came back to 10th, I was running around there, had a crash, not a big one, but smashed my handlebar with just like three laps to go and I just really could not finish it good. So when I was outside of the points, then I went down again, just ridiculous.
The last moto, same story, crashed on the outside, where I could have been top five in that start, I’d say, if I didn’t kill anyone. And then I just kind of lost my head, I feel like I lost my head all weekend. I rode a bit crazy… trying to pass people was really difficult. I had a good lap time, like seventh lap time or something, still coming through the pack, but just went down again and then just rode around and managed. Actually, it’s like really embarrassing because I come from a pretty good weekend where I also crashed myself out twice in the motos. You know, it’s not a good trend, the riding is there and the starts are there and everything. The fitness is there, it’s just frustrating…
GateDrop: You certainly shouldn’t be embarrassed, the riding is good, like you say, it’s just one of those weekends, you know, it’s a domino effect, but anyway, I mean, on the track, I quite like to watch, it’s good to watch, but passing, if you get a bad start for a sand track, it seems very, very difficult to pass…
Gifting: Yeah, I was surprised, especially yesterday. Today, it was a little bit better, but I’m surprised. You get caught around in 20-25 position and I could ride like five seconds better lap time, but I cannot get through. I had to take so much risk to get through, it was unbelievable actually and like you have to jump over someone into the corner or whatever and then you crash again. No, I was really surprised, I couldn’t… it was difficult to get the passes done for a sand track. Normally you can get through the pack like I did there in the second moto, it was much easier, much easier but I just had to take too many risks today and I wasn’t smart, I rode over my head, I think it’s not professional riding. I’m really bummed with it and I feel embarrassed, I feel like I made myself look like an idiot, but that’s okay, that’s what it is, I can’t change it now, I tried hard.
GateDrop: Totally disagree with you, but anyway, just to go back to last week, unfortunately I was at home, but I was at the very edge of my seat, can you even put that second moto into words?
Gifting: That was something else man. From definitely the best thing I’ve done in my whole life and with that pressure with all that crowd, it was like an MXoN and to then throw it away on the last lap… I think that’s also something that maybe I brought into the weekend a little bit because that’s been really hard to get over. I went from here (high) to down there (low) and I think I had that a little bit in my mind. I wanted to make something good happen here, not anything crazy, but I just wanted to make something good happen. After f***ing it up yesterday, it’s just like you said, a domino effect. I tried my heart out around the outside in the start, both times today, I just really went for it and no regrets, but I went down both times and then just domino effect, it all went wrong from there.
GateDrop: I mean even coming here, whenever I saw you on Friday, I purposely didn’t mention you Uddevalla to you, because I didn’t want to be one of the extra person to mention it, how was that to deal with, because I’m pretty sure everyone that’s seen you on Friday was probably talking about what, like is that hard to forget about that and move on to a new weekend?
Gifting: Yeah, it is. You know, it’s nice, it’s super nice to get all the support on social media and everything, also all the people saying the good stuff but I’m still really, really pissed about that weekend. I kind of want to forget about it and it’s impossible. I come here and everyone is talking about it with me. Everyone is talking about it and it’s great, but I think it’s not good for my head. I should be able to handle it, but I just didn’t.
GateDrop: I think you were in Sweden last week, was that nice, because you’re hardly ever back home, was it nice, after what had happened you were probably pretty pissed, but was it nice to see friends, have a week off and do normal things, have a normal life?
Gifting: Yes, it was, it’s been a while, it’s been a long time, I’ve been grinding really hard down in Italy lately, so and after that Uddevalla weekend I was really tired, so it was nice to be home. I went fishing a little bit, saw some friends and of course done some interviews and stuff with a lot of people on the phone. But it was nice, I still didn’t feel great coming into this weekend, I didn’t ride any sand again, so that’s been a trend now at these sand races, I haven’t had any sand training really since beginning of the year in Riola. I have a small place I can ride in Italy, but it’s got a hard base, it’s 40 degrees and just everything’s going hard, so I’ve been struggling a little bit getting the rhythm in the sand. I feel like I’ve been pretty fast and I mean Lommel was good, but I just haven’t got that little edge where I need to be smooth and nice, I just can’t make it happen at the moment.
GateDrop: There’s three GP’s left, obviously the team haven’t got the biggest budget in the world (compared to factory teams), are you going to be doing all three or is it still a case of wait and see? I did see you were in China weren’t you, doing a bit of publicity?
Gifting: I did actually, I went to the press conference there, that was a little side quest, we are doing the last three GP’s so that’s nice. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a tough end of the season, because now I’m going back to do the Italian championship, then straight away Turkey, China, Australia, back to do the Italian championship and then straight to America.
GateDrop: Oh wow, so you’ve not even a weekend off before the Nations?
Gifting: No, not a weekend off so straight off to Australia we’re doing Italian and then I have like five days to get to the Nations and get ready for that. It’s like this, but it should be alright. I mean the bike is working well and riding is still going well, so I just need to manage and manage my head, I think that’s it really.
GateDrop: Team Sweden, can you tell me much about that? Obviously you’re probably the number one pick, but do you know what the rest of the team is going to be or anything?
Gifting: Actually I don’t know. We were trying to get Michael Mosiman to go for us because he’s got a Swedish mother. That has been on the agenda… I don’t know if I can say that, but it doesn’t matter really, I don’t care, but I think he crashed this weekend pretty hard so that’s now a question mark. That might change the plans. Without that, I don’t know what we’re doing, I mean we got Alvin and Gole for MX1 and then in MX2 we had Frisk, but he’s injured, so I’m not sure what we’re going to do.
GateDrop: Have you ever raced in America before?
Gifting: No, never.
GateDrop: Have you ever been to America?
Gifting: Yes, I’ve been to Florida for a holiday.
GateDrop: Are you looking forward to going to America to race for a change?
Gifting: It’ll be nice, it’ll be sick, I think it’ll be cool. I’m looking forward to just go there, get some good starts, do something cool. I think it’ll be great and then see what we’re doing after the event, maybe we’ll go on some holiday, go down to Florida or something, I don’t know.
GateDrop: Last question, your team might not like me for saying it, but I think you deserve a factory ride, any movements, any phone calls, any meetings ahead of next year, what can you tell me?
Gifting: Slightly, yes, a little bit, some meetings and stuff this weekend, I think that also put my head a little bit in the wrong direction this weekend, because I’ve had some meetings and some important stuff going on. I think I lost my head a little bit around that too. It’s an experience, I need to learn that and be more professional about it. It’s looking pretty good, I have also good opportunities to stay here (with JK Yamaha).
GateDrop: If you were to stay here, would you have a factory engine, or is that still being discussed?
Gifting: We would have a very good support from Yamaha, so we would make a good step, me together with the team, so that’s most likely what’s going to happen, but there’s also other offers on the agenda which I’m considering. I just have to finalize and see what’s going to be the best for me in my career, for the future, I need to take some pretty big decisions now for myself.
GateDrop: Final, final question, obviously you seem to like Italy, ideally would you like to stay in Italy, or if you have to move to Belgium or whatever, does that not bother you at all?
Gifting: I don’t mind moving, I’ve been staying in many countries now throughout my career. I’ve been staying in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, so I’ve been around everywhere, I don’t mind, but I do like Italy a lot. It’s nice, it’s good weather, and I think that’s also something that’s been making me a much better hardtack rider, like Uddevalla, when the track was getting really hard pack, dry and slick. That’s something where I’m getting much better now, which normally I’ve just been good in the sand, so I’ve been improving a lot there. I’ve lost a little bit in the sand, definitely, because I don’t have the opportunity to train sand, and I need that too, you need a combination. All the other riders are training here all the time, like everyone, they’re always here training in the sand, so then to come and compete with those guys for 35 minutes in the sand, it’s pretty tough. We still do it not too bad, but I feel like I need to improve there.
