Petar Petrov burst onto the GP scene when he was 15 years old and has remained a constant in the paddock ever since. A former factory rider and podium visitor in MX2 but 2024 was all new for him as he became team manager of the AIT Racing team.
We caught up with the friendly Bulgarian to discuss a range of topics. You can watch, listen or read below…
GateDrop: Petar, this year things changed for you in the GP paddock as you became team manager of the AIT Racing team, how did you find the role after being a rider for so many years – I am sure it needed some adjustment…
Petrov: Yeah, it was not so easy. At the beginning I thought, I didn’t think it would be easy of course, but I thought it would be a little bit less stress rather than being a rider. Obviously being as a rider you have to also, yeah, you have to perform also as a team manager, but I mean as a rider it’s all the stress is on you and I didn’t realize that there’s even more stress being a team manager because there’s other people depending on you and you have to do your job so other riders can perform. Also with mechanics you need to make happy sponsors and it’s quite a hard work actually. It’s long days sometimes, but I enjoyed it. I think I adapted quite well to it.
I had a good time. Of course there were days that was really stressful, especially the beginning of the season when I was not used to it. I had to make the planning for the travels for everything and that was a bit stressful because I didn’t want to mess up. Once I got into that, got used to it and got a little bit more experience, of course there’s still a lot a lot for me to learn, but I actually enjoy it and I’m looking forward to continuing this job.
GateDrop: You started the season with Tuani, Cazal and Toshev, how were they guys to work with? Obviously everyone is different so you probably have to treat them differently, did that take a while to figure out which buttons to press?
Petrov: Yeah that was also another adjustment for me because I know how I am as a rider. I know how it needs to be to talk to me, but obviously everybody’s different. I think I managed this quite well, especially with the Bulgarian kid, with Toshev. I think we did some good steps.
It was his first year in Europe, out of Bulgaria on the 125cc and also directly the European championship. Unfortunately he had two injuries, but I think he improved a lot during the season and with him was quite okay. He was also staying at my house, so it made a little bit easier on this side for me.
With Xavier also it was quite easy. Unfortunately he decided to call it a career mid-season for various reasons, but also it was quite easy to work with. Unfortunately I don’t think his season went as he would have liked.
I think the results were not there. I thought that in the practice he was riding really well, but then once the race came he was for some reason struggling, so that was a bit of a shame. Other than that I think he did good and he was a really nice kid to work with.
With Federico it was a little bit more complicated. I think he underestimated the difference between EMX250 and MX2. It’s quite a big step, even if for some riders it’s a bit easy. For some riders it takes a bit of time. Also having to do one race GP or two race GP or three race GP and having to do a full season, it’s quite a step. Federico was not the easiest guy.
I think also mentally he struggled quite a lot this season. I think results were not there and then it was not easy for him. I think mentally it was really hard for Federico and I think he needs to work on his mental side and of course speed was quite far off I think.
GateDrop: Being a rider is tough enough in the paddock, but whenever you transition to team manager at one weekend you have at least two riders to run around after, sometimes three. I’d imagine you’re a lot busier as a team manager than you would have been as a rider?
Petrov: Yes, because I have to focus on three guys and at one point there were three different categories. So yeah, this was a hard part and once the weekend starts you don’t really have a time to rest.
You’re just running left and right. It took me time to adjust, but I actually enjoyed it. Like I said, it’s quite stressful because I need to look after the guys and I want them to do good, but also I need to be hard on them and sometimes I’m worried also about them.
Of course, I don’t want anybody to get injured, so it’s a fine line being nice and being hard on them. It was interesting and like I said, I learned a lot and I try to learn also from other guys that have done this job longer than me. So yeah, I try to do the best I can and hopefully continue growing and learning more about it.
GateDrop: As you touched on earlier there, Cazal, unfortunately he decided to quit from racing at a high level. So what was it like then to try and find a fill-in rider? Was it difficult and in the end you decided to draft in William Kleeman for the end of the 2024 MX2 GP season, a really nice kid, really nice family. What was it like to work with him?
Petrov: With William it was good actually. I thought that he did good. It’s never easy jumping into it mid-season and especially he was injured. So I really enjoyed working with him. Really nice family and it was really simple.
That was actually really, really nice. He was a nice kid and I enjoyed working with him. I thought that with a proper winter like the others and being with us from the beginning of the season I think he could have done really good results. But okay, for one or another reason he was with another team and then he had to switch to us. But once he switched I think he did quite okay. He finished I think 15th in Sweden and in Spain he was also somewhere around there. So he did not too bad, not too bad at all.
GateDrop: I mean you were in the GP paddock as a rider, I think from 15 or 16… I would say the sport has probably changed quite a lot since then and of course you’re working with the new generation as well. What’s that like? I feel like nowadays riders probably have a lot more distraction…
Petrov: Yeah, I started racing at 15 and yeah, the paddock, the riders, everything has changed so, so much. Maybe for some good but there’s definitely a lot of bad I think, like you say distractions. I think social media is, there’s some guys care a lot about social media which, I don’t really like this.
Not because I’m old school or anything but I mean I think the athletes should be paid to perform on the track, not so much on social media. I don’t think this is what brings satisfaction in the rider’s career. But yeah, we have to also, I have to adapt and I think everybody has to adapt to this new generation.
I think there is the top guys of course they work really, really hard but I think there’s riders that are at the back and they, in my opinion, they should work as hard as the first one and harder so they can go forward and I don’t think they do. I think they’re focused too much on social media and just kind of showing off and saying I am doing Grand Prix’s which is not what it should be, you know. They should be looking to perform. I don’t say it’s everybody but I think there’s quite a lot of guys now are focusing too much on social media and not the actual job, you know. But it is what it is. I mean, I understand that sponsors care about social media and we need to be, myself also and the team, present on social media.
It’s just like you said, you know, 15 years ago there was no sponsor and the teams cared more about results than social media.
GateDrop: Looking ahead to 2025, I’m somebody that loves motocross and I love MXGP. I think at the minute there’s five teams closing their doors ahead of the 2025 season. Should we be worried about the future of the sport in Europe?
Petrov: Well, I don’t think so. I mean, of course the economy is not great at the moment. I don’t think that Infront Moto Racing can do anything different. Of course, maybe they can do something small different but I don’t think that this will stop teams from stopping. I think it’s more the economy and manufacturers cutting budgets, sponsors cutting budgets. I think also the sponsors outside of the industry are struggling.
I mean, the economy is not great at the moment. I think with the flyaways and stuff it’s also not making it easy. But I don’t think that this will actually change much for the teams not to stop. I mean, to be honest, I don’t know what we have to do to prevent from teams stopping and from how can we make the championship better. But I think on one hand Infront is doing a good job. I mean, we’re going to every country. It’s a called a World Championship so I think this is how it should be. Of course, there is also new manufacturers coming in so it must be, that they must be doing something right also. You know what I mean? So yeah, it depends I think on which side you’re looking at it.
GateDrop: Obviously there’s 20 world championship events now and there’s always at least five or six fly aways. I’m just trying to remember the year you started racing GP’s, was there as many GPs as 20 back then? As a fan, I love 20 GPs, but maybe from a team point of view, it might be a bit too much. Especially with the flyaway rounds…
Petrov: Yeah, I think this also as a rider, sometimes it’s a lot. When I started racing, GP’s there was 15, then we went to 17, I think, then to 18. But I remember when we started was 15. But we were still doing a lot of racing outside of the GP’s.
We used to do the Dutch championship or Belgian championship. There were still more races outside of the GP’s. The stress is completely different and everything else. So this of course takes the pressure off of the rider. But yeah, I think 20 GP’s maybe is a lot, especially when we have to do three in a row. I think that’s quite heavy. But yeah, when we look at MotoGP and Formula1, it’s also a lot of racing. Of course, it’s a different sport. Everything is different. But yeah, it is what it is, I guess.
GateDrop: For the 2025 season, just what’s the plans for yourself and AIT racing? Any riders confirmed? Is it confirmed, you’ll definitely still be in the paddock. Just what can you tell me about next year?
Petrov: For the moment, the plan is to continue, of course. We would like to grow and to get better as a team. At the moment, we can’t confirm any riders or what we’re exactly doing. Hopefully, we’ll know this in the next week or so.
But yeah, we would like to continue. We would like to grow and make the team better and go take every year step forward and we’ll see how far we can get.
GateDrop: Have you got an idea of what championships the team are going to contest? Obviously, you mentioned supporting three riders in three different categories is quite heavy. Is that still the plan next year or maybe you’ll focus on one EMX and one more championship or still not decided?
Petrov: Still not 100% decided. I think we will most likely have one EMX125, a rider. Then we still have not decided if we will be EMX250 or MX2 GP’s This is still to be decided. At the moment, I’m not sure. Hopefully, like I said, we will know in the next 10 days or two weeks.
GateDrop: You raced a couple of GP’s yourself this year. You picked the nice and easy tracks, Lommel and Arnhem. But I guess you live in Belgium and have done since you were 15. So for you, the tracks maybe aren’t as tough as what they are for people that have never raced those conditions before. Just what was it like being back in the paddock as a rider? And did that maybe take a bit of pressure off that weekend? Or did you still have to play your team manager role as well?
Petrov: It was heavy, really heavy because I didn’t choose the easy ones. But I enjoyed those ones. I still took a little bit the pressure off of being a team manager. But I still have to do my job as a team manager. Thankfully, we had only one rider at a time. In Arnhem, we had William also. But EMX250 rather than having the three categories. So that was a bit the pressure off. But yeah, it was hard work but I enjoyed it. I actually wanted to do way better than I did, even if I was, I don’t know, 18th in Lommel or something like this and 15th on Saturday.
I still thought I can do way better. It’s just I struggle with bike setup and stuff. Obviously, doing a full championship and one race, it’s quite different. We don’t really have the same tracks to practice and to test and so on. But I still enjoyed it. I am actually looking forward to do racing a few rounds also next year.
GateDrop: Do you ride that much? Obviously, you didn’t race that much this year at GP level anyway. But did you still ride quite a lot? And is that good for the riders you’re helping? Because then you’re able to maybe go out on the track and show them how to do something?
Petrov: Yeah, that was that was the goal at the beginning of the season. I started riding quite late. I started riding only in February, end of February, I think March. So that was a bit of a struggle. But yeah, I still practice once in a while with them. I try to show them and to push them sometimes, because I’m still quite much faster than the riders we had this year. So that was fun.
I get to push them. But I would have liked to ride for sure more. But yeah, that’s it. My first job is to be a team manager and to make sure the team runs smoothly. Obviously the second job is then focusing on myself riding and stuff like this. But yeah, it was more or less like this.
I think it’s beneficial for the riders with my experience and being in the paddock for so many years, and having achieved some good results, to be behind them and to go in front of them to push them and to show them sometimes how to do. Of course, every rider has different style and different technique and so on. But yeah, from outside, I think I can help.
My goal has always been to help them and to try and get the best out of them. Especially for the young riders and to show them the right way to work and so on.
GateDrop: Next year, obviously, like you touched on, the priority for you is being a team manager. You’ll still ride a lot because you enjoy it but in terms of racing, do you still want to do a couple of GP’s and maybe national level, would that be of interest?
Petrov: I will for sure do the Dutch Masters because this is a championship that I really enjoy and it’s still really high level. There’s still many good top GP riders and that’s something I really like. I will for sure do some international races, maybe Hawkstone International and I don’t know yet at the moment. My plan is still to do some GP’s. I don’t know what, where but probably Lommel and Arnhem.
We’ll see how I feel. If I feel fast enough to do decent results, I don’t want to be there just to be there. I want to be there to do good, to be able to perform and to do results. So if I feel like I’m maybe fast enough to do good, then I will continue to do maybe some more. If not, yeah, it is what it is. I will do the ones that I enjoy and so on.
GateDrop: You’ve obviously been in Belgium for so many years now, I think you were 15 when you rocked up. You’ve obviously got a family there now. Is Belgium home for you now? Do you think you’ll be there pretty much forever? Or do you maybe see yourself going back to Bulgaria in the future? Or are you just content living in Belgium?
Petrov: I’m quite happy living in Belgium. Obviously my wife, she is from Belgium and my kid is born in Belgium and goes to school here. At the moment, it’s my home and I’m quite happy here. You never know what the future holds and what can happen.
You never know. Maybe my whole family will move to Bulgaria one day. Maybe we’ll stay here forever. But at the moment, I’m content and happy to be here. And like I said, my wife is from here and her work is here and the team is based in Belgium. So I think for motocross, there’s at this moment much more opportunities in Belgium. Yeah, that’s it for the moment. This is my home now.
GateDrop: Well, Petar, thank you very much for your time. Much appreciated. Good luck and I’m sure I’ll see you in the paddock next year.
