Lars van Berkel has certainly packed plenty into his summer, juggling races across continents while stepping back into the MXGP paddock. After contesting the Canadian nationals—where he impressed with podium rides and a top-five championship finish—van Berkel was drafted in by JWR Honda to fill a spot in MXGP, making for a whirlwind few weeks that saw him flying between Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands. In this interview, Lars talks us through the hectic schedule, his Canadian experience, the brutal demands of MXGP, and what’s next with his beach racing ambitions.
GateDrop: Lars, you’ve had quite a few weeks of it, Lommel in Belgium, Canada and then back to the Netherlands and racing three weeks in a row in different continents. Just talk me through about all of that…
Van Berkel: I’ve been of course racing in Canada and the week before Lommel on Saturday I got a message from JWR, the question was, are you in Europe? I said no I’m in Canada, but I can be there next week if you want to because I knew the question was coming.
GateDrop: How did you know?
Van Berkel: Well, I saw Cornelius got hurt in the race and I’ve always been close with Patrik (Erlandsson), we’ve always had a really respectful relationship. Last year I didn’t fill in for them but the year before I did and we always kept chatting and everything. He called me up and asked me if I wanted to race so literally before the moto at Deschambault he booked my ticket. The next day I drove back 1100 kilometres to Toronto, flew back home eight hours and then raced Lommel at the weekend. If I compare now how I feel compared to the week of Lommel, I was just jet lagged and really exhausted so I didn’t ride so well there. I was close to the points again, but I was just tired. Then I flew back for the last race of the Canadian Championship and the season was over – I finished fifth in the championship. Then I came back here but the guys had Uddevalla so I didn’t really train on their bike, I just borrowed a bike from someone and an older bike so I could ride a little bit.
So, Wednesday I practiced with them and then we went to race here. I knew it was not going to be easy because my preparation for this stuff hasn’t been the best because in Canada it’s different with the heat, but the sand tracks are nothing compared to this. It’s really a different kind of toughness. Here of course if you see the names on the on the list it’s insane how many good riders are just in front of you. I’m always pissed when I don’t get points, I feel like an amateur but then if you look who’s around you then I shouldn’t be too hard on myself. Of course, you want points but without the best preparation it’s never easy to step into MXGP and be immediately competitive.
GateDrop: Just on Canada I mean how did all that opportunity come around for you to race there and how did you find racing in a different continent in that championship… I mean fifth in the MX1 championship, that’s not bad at all and you probably never rode the tracks…
Van Berkel: So, a couple of years ago I was just working full time and I felt like that was not the place I should be. I wanted to still be a professional guy, so I always had one goal for myself and that was I wanted to race a national in my life. Then I started racing beach racing and halfway in the summer during the second year… I said let’s just grow some balls, book a ticket, grab a bike from someone and just do a national. First year I didn’t get any points there, it was just difficult with everything but the second year I more prepared. I did really good at RedBud and Southwick. I think I finished 16th and 15th overall and then the day after Southwick I went to Canada to race at Gopher Dunes and I finished on the podium there. One of the mechanics of Dylan Wright started his own team, Guaranteed Comfort Racing now together with Hanover Motorsports. He was looking for a rider and he knew that I didn’t really have anything going on in the summer. He gave me an offer, and I decided to just do it because I like a challenge and I don’t like a lot of time off, it gets me itchy and nervous so I decided to go racing there for three months.
The summer is really back-to-back. You’ve got two weekends off and then five weekends in a row and then a weekend off where I went to Lommel but it’s quite compact, the traveling is a lot. It’s hard to practice in the same way you can do it here. We are quite spoiled in the Netherlands and Belgium with all the tracks close by. You do one hour, and you’ve got like 20 tracks to choose from. In Canada you do two hours, and you’ve got one track and it’s not even the best track to practice so it’s challenging there. I had to really get used to that, but I finished 5th in the championship in the end. I got on the podium at Gopher Dunes but I faded so bad, I had heatstroke in the second moto. It’s so hot over there it’s not even enjoyable how hot it was that day. I almost had another podium at Deschambault when I got past off track, so I pretty much had a podium there. I did really good there and 5th in the championship. It’s not too bad, okay, we were lucky with Dylan Wright having the issues and stuff but it was not a bad season.
GateDrop: Just on the tracks I mean you have quite a lot of experience because growing up you did the whole EMX things, in Canada what are the tracks like? Are they good or are you turning up there thinking, what’s going on here?
Van Berkel: The track preparation was not really the level I expected. Calgary was actually pretty nice for practice but then on the race weekend – you’ve got the opportunity to practice there before the race day but it was hard. Then you’ve got Cold Lake which is super small, it’s like goat trail and you’ve got massive 45-meter quad in the middle. It just wasn’t the best. But you’ve got Gopher Dunes which was really good, Sand Del Lee was also pretty good.
The tracks were pretty good but it’s just different. The suspension is way softer there but you need a softer suspension there because you’ve got amateur day the day before, so the track shapes up different. I still think the tracks in Europe are way rougher than there but there you’ve got another element which is temperature and humidity. It really feels like you’re racing in a sauna, you feel like a barbecue after the moto. I know I’m fit; I do beach racing for like three hours and I come off the bike, I’m still fit… I’m still tired of course but at Gopher Dunes, I don’t remember the last two laps anymore because I went all in.
I wanted to pass my teammate, and I almost fainted on the podium. I didn’t even know what I was saying… I was hallucinating on the podium, it was really scary actually. I was sitting there alone because my parents weren’t there, and I was thinking I can die. I was honestly thinking about Josh Lichtle who died from heat stroke. I was hoping everything goes well because I was literally sitting on a chair for one and a half hours… Okay, I knew where I was but I was having panic attacks. It was so weird, I think being alone and not having family there didn’t help, it was so weird. I give everything, I finished on the podium there and that was good but it’s just different. You cannot compare the two things.
GateDrop: Being Dutch, I mean these kind of tracks of Lommel and Arnhem are usually right up your street but obviously being away you haven’t had the prep you’d have liked. what was it like being thrown into the deep end and racing MXGP again on these tracks, did you even find them rough?
Van Berkel: I found them really rough. Like I said, I think nothing is comparable to Lommel and Arnhem. With Arnhem, I haven’t had any success in the past when I was like racing the Dutch Masters here and everything. I just never dealt with it and I think today was by far the best I’ve ever ridden here. I haven’t practiced here a lot because in the summertime apart from this year I haven’t raced a lot in Europe or in the Netherlands so I didn’t really need to train on a really rough track. Also when you go to practice here it’s completely different. It is like a highway compared to how it is now at the GP.
I would have loved maybe to have Lommel today and Arnhem two weeks ago because I think that’s still more my alley. Today is a sand track but I think as a Dutch rider you won’t have like a real advantage just because it’s so hard with the 180 degree corners. I would say everybody can do it but that is the thing, Lierop is a track you need to keep the flow and that’s something us Dutch riders might make the difference and especially me with the beach racing. I’m more a type of guy who likes to keep the flow and it’s hard to do here. It’s more stop and go with a lot of intensity. Because of my beach racing I think I lack the intensity maybe a little bit but that’s also why I did this to prepare myself going into the beach season to be sharper and more aggressive.
GateDrop: I wanted to ask you about the beach racing actually obviously you’ve been with Honda for quite a few years now, it seems like you won’t be staying there… Have you got 100% plans yet and will we see you doing the beach races?
Van Berkel: You will definitely see me at the beach racing. I’ve had a great relationship with the SR for the last five years. Honda got me out of my office chair because I was literally working in an office before I did the Le Touquet. I showed up the first time there on a Husqvarna and finished sixth overall as a non-full-time beach racer. I then got the opportunity with SR Honda SR to race for them for five years. after five years they made a decision they needed a different rider. I wasn’t too happy at the beginning about it but it’s okay, it’s sport and there’s also a business side, so they decided to take a lighter rider and a smaller rider and that’s okay.
