It was a great weekend for Fantic contesting the Dutch MXGP round in Arnhem as Glenn Coldenhoff was on fire in front of his home crowd. It was a historic weekend for Fantic as they took their first ever MXGP qualifying race win – next they need a win on race day!
We caught up with team owner, Louis Vosters to discuss the weekend, working with Fantic and much more…
GateDrop: Louis, here at Arnhem, in terms of Glenn, an amazing performance this weekend, a qualifying race win, you must be really happy with his performance and did you see that coming?
Vosters: Yeah for me, for us it was a great weekend and yesterday, the qualifying win with Glenn, so yeah he did really well. For us it was the best weekend so far, same points as Gajser for the podium but anyway he made a big step and three holeshots this weekend so everybody happy. But also, yesterday the qualifying win was special for Fantic because it was the first win in history, so that was really great.
GateDrop: Obviously you’ve worked with Glenn for a long time but with Yamaha, but what’s it like with the Fantic brand and be able to keep Glenn for the new brand, which I’m sure was very positive for you?
Vosters: Yeah, it’s really great to work with the Fantic people, they are so motivated, unbelievable and we get great support from the factory and they do everything for us, so the setup for the bike is really good and I’m really happy with Fantic.
GateDrop: Just on Brian Bogers, obviously he didn’t start the season with you, but you got him in as a fill-in rider and he’s been really strong, so I think you made a good decision there?
Vosters: Yeah, with Brian it was a good decision and we are happy with Brian, but actually he had a tough weekend because of the crash in Sweden, but it was really painful for him and he was riding to survive let’s say, but hopefully he will recover really quick in Switzerland and he’ll be strong at the last GP’s.
GateDrop: What’s the goals for the rest of the season? I’m sure you want to get on that podium?
Vosters: Yeah, the goal is to be on the podium hopefully for the rest of the season, so that’s the goal for now and we keep working really hard with the whole team, the whole crew, so that’s the goal.
GateDrop: Obviously last year you were running Yamaha for a number of years, whenever the decision was made that you wouldn’t run Yamaha, was it obvious that you would go Fantic or where you talking to other brands? But at the end of the day, you are with Fantic and year one is going pretty good, you must be happy with how the first year is going?Â
Vosters: No, it was not really clear that we would ride Fantic, but people from Fantic approached me and we had a good meeting in the factory and came to each other and so far I’m really happy with those people.
GateDrop: Glenn obviously has a two-year contract, so that’s good news, you’ve got Glenn next year as well and Brian just extended his contract, so you must be happy to have both those riders for next year?
Vosters: Yes, really happy that we can keep both riders for next year, but also the whole crew, all mechanics will stay, so it’s really stable now in the team and it’s a good feeling.
GateDrop: With Yamaha quite a lot of the time you run three riders, is that something you’d like to do with Fantic or are you just going to stick with two riders?
Vosters: For next year we’re going to stick with two riders and it’s stable now, everything is organized and for now it’s better to stay with two.
