It might be his rookie season but Kevin Horgmo is doing a fantastic job contesting the MXGP World Championship and doesn’t look one bit out of place. The Norwegian actually looks at home on the bigger bike and is very smooth on the 450cc which is great to see.
We caught up with Horgmo to discuss his season so far, running with factory riders and more. You can read, listen or watch below…
GateDrop: Lommel GP, the toughest GP of the year known to many but you seem to love it… A fantastic weekend for you and one of your best GP’s of the season so far. Can you just talk me through your motos?
Horgmo: Yeah for sure, like training time practice I was in the fastest like 9-10 around there but in the motos yeah I’ve ridden here so many times so I know it’s all about getting on the rhythm and I felt like from the beginning like I had the strategy to take the rhythm I could keep all the moto and I felt like I just got better and better flow throughout the whole weekend actually.
Maybe the second moto was my best riding even though in the qualifying moto I finished fifth but I felt like I rode the best in the second moto on Sunday actually, so yeah it’s a really tough GP but at the same time it’s quite different because it’s just heavy for the body… Like Indonesia or something where it’s really hot it’s tough in a different way so here it’s all about mentally like getting into the rhythm and managing to push all the moto and not collapse kind of.
GateDrop: In that second moto you were in a nice battle there with Jeremy Seewer of Factory Kawasaki it must feel great to battle against the factory bikes but I think you just made a mistake and went off track which must have been a bit frustrating because I think you were a little bit quicker but you just couldn’t get past…
Horgmo: Yeah both in the qualifying race and first moto I passed Seewer and for the second moto I felt like I had the speed to pass but at the same time all the track was quite difficult to get past, actually. It was like one big main line and you had to really push the limits to get past and I felt like I was trying everything for so many laps and Coldenhoff was right behind me so it was difficult to attack and then defend at the same time…
Yeah, I had this line going out of the forest there which I wanted to try to go around the outside of him but then I made a slight error and I went off track… The track is quite narrow in that place so I just got the front wheel outside and went off track and then Coldenhoff also came past and it was two laps to go… It was far to the guy behind so I kind of just rolled around the two last laps but it was a good battle. For sure, it is cool to battle the factory riders but I don’t really try to think about who it is, I just try to do my own moto and yeah if it’s Seewer or somebody else it doesn’t really matter. I just try to do the best as I can.
GateDrop: Just on the weekend with the track, I mean yesterday it was quite strange to be honest I didn’t feel like it was typical Lommel and it was quite fast, not as rough as usual but today it was the Lommel we all know and love…
Horgmo: Yeah, I think like in the qualifying moto the bumps were really sharp and not as long and then that’s perhaps because of European classes and the track was still quite moist underneath. Today, there was a little bit of sun out and first moto I felt like in the beginning the bumps were super sharp and it was actually the most difficult and then throughout the moto the track just got better and better. For the second moto it was just much more flowy, the bumps were much bigger but a lot more flow because yeah the GP riders have been there for the two motos and I think the track got a little bit more flow in it.
GateDrop: Just on the team, SR Honda and living in France… How are you enjoying all that?
Horgmo: Yeah, it’s good. Not much sand practice in the south of France but yeah I had two years living here in the Netherlands with the F&H team and training with Marc de Reuver so I am kind of used to it, a little bit of that expertise. We had one training day before coming here in Berghem, we rode one hour I think and I felt quite good coming here. It’s nice this team is perfect for me.
The sand is a little bit also mentally, you know, it doesn’t matter how much you train in the sand when you come on the race you are mentally strong then the sand is easier… it’s just a tough anyway for everybody even if you live in the sand or not.
GateDrop: Whenever I was watching you race when you were in MX2, you were a very aggressive rider but watching you today like you were very smooth. Obviously you have to race the 450cc smoother but have you maybe surprised yourself a little bit of how quickly you’ve been able to adapt to the bigger bike?
Horgmo: Yeah I think I always prefer to ride that way and like in the winter and stuff I always rode the 250 also really smooth and good. But then like for racing you have to just push it all out you have to always go full attack on the 250cc. With the 450cc, I can be much more precise and feel like that suits me a little bit better. Like I can do more how I do it in training, just try to take my own rhythm and ride the 35 minutes as fast as possible.
GateDrop: I think your bike is stock?
Horgmo: More or less…
GateDrop: A stock bike, how is that battling against the best bikes in the world… Obviously the team are doing a good job…
Horgmo: Yeah, I guess it’s not really stock stock because we have got a KYB Suspension and then a Akrapovic exhaust and things like this… But yeah, for sure it’s not like a factory thing, we have one setup and this is what we use but the good thing is if I want something changed on the bike there’s always opportunities to do that. That’s a good thing about the privateer team, there’s no limits, let’s say…
GateDrop: Have you got an option to stay with the team next year or is it all still up in the air? I’m sure the way you’ve been doing this year you’ll get plenty of phone calls…
Horgmo: For sure, this is a very good place to stay I think except for the factory teams maybe even with the factory teams it’s the best place for me to stay. It’s very good with people, good sponsors and good group of people with the team. Yeah, the dream is always to be on the factory team but just now I think I still need to improve a little bit. My goal is to always improve like to zoom out a little bit from the beginning of the season. I feel like I just get better and better and that’s my goal for the coming season and then eventually end up on the factory team. This is my dream.
GateDrop: Just on your rookie MXGP World Championship season… I mean you must be happy, you’ve been so so consistent. If you’re not in the top 10 you’re very very close to it and everyone knows MXGP is stacked, it’s not easy to do that so you must be content and I mean did you expect this coming into the season?
Horgmo: You know, that’s the goal to always be there to challenge and for sure the goal is always to be in the top ten. My kind of goal for the weekends is always top eight to be on that first page of MXGP but that’s not always easy but around the top ten is usually where I end up and then to have some races doing better but then some races worse is normal in the rookie season… A little bit up and down but I feel like I’ve been pretty consistent anyway. If I have a bad start, I manage to go up to the places I belong and then if I have a really good start I feel like I can stay with the good guys so that’s what’s been lacking a little bit, my starts… I need to improve on that and show that I belong up front even more.
