It wasn’t that long ago Valentin Guillod was going through a tough time in his career. Despite a really good career in MX2 and even winning GP’s. The transition to MXGP wasn’t easy for the Swiss rider. He has however, been able to bounce back and is now a consistent top ten rider in the toughest class in the world.
We caught up with Guillod to discuss his home GP, his season, the future and more…
GateDrop: Valentin, your home GP, as always, an amazing atmosphere here. Just what was it like racing in your home country again? Because you obviously don’t get to do it that much, just once a season really…
Guillod: It was awesome. I had 55 people from my town who came with a bus. I’m living two hours from here, so it was great. I think there are still a lot there behind us, so it was great. They were full gas, because on the sighting lap, I don’t know, with the smoke, you couldn’t see the track. But it was cool, they were cheering a lot. It helped me a lot in the second race because I touched with someone, he pushed me out of the track. I don’t know, it’s not intentional I think, I hope. I finished in with the fans so I was last, came back eleventh. It was a great ride.
GateDrop: And at a track that you would say is pretty hard to pass on, so you must have been able to use some nice lines that maybe other riders weren’t using… You must be happy with your overall result this weekend as well?
Guillod: Yeah, yeah, for sure. You know, I mean, I was wishing a bit better than this as a result. But normally I make good starts, and now it’s a few races I’m struggling with the start. So I will have to work on this for Turkey and China and Spain. But yeah, with bad starts I make some good, strong comebacks. And yeah, the result is good. I finished 9th overall, same points as my teammate. But yeah, for sure I was hoping for a bit better. But okay, it’s like this.
GateDrop: The last few years, two or three years, have been really good for you. After, let’s say, a dip in your career. How difficult were those difficult times? And back then, did you ever think you’d be a consistent top 10 guy in MXGP again, with pretty much stock machinery? It’s not easy to do that…
Guillod: It was a tough moment for my career from 2019 to 2021. And then from 2022, I put my head out of the water. I started working again with Yves Demaria. It was a long way to come back. But finally, since last year, I can say I’m a consistent top 10 rider. Even more as an independent team, you know. Kevin is 8th in the championship, I’m 9th. In front of him are factory bikes, behind us are factory bikes. So yeah, I think we can be proud. And all the team can be really proud of the job we are doing.
GateDrop: Just on Yves Demaria, what is it about him that helps you? There must be a click there, what do you think it is?
Guillod: Yeah, you know, it was like the planning in general, the physical condition, riding with the bike, also his experience on the bike, to set up the bike. Also, you know, we are in the south of France, weather is good with the possibility of riding. We have a private track that we can ride every day 5 minutes from the workshop, 8 minutes from where I’m living. So, you know, it’s perfect. Then in an area of 1 hour 30, we have a lot of tracks so that’s good. Now the next step is to pass a winter in the sand to improve. It’s what makes me now 9th in the championship. It’s because I struggle at the sand GP’s. So, it’s on the program to make a good winter in the sand.
GateDrop: And obviously, since you’ve been in this team, you’ve kind of been the number one guy, but you’ve got Kevin Horgmo as a teammate now. First of all, what’s it like having him as a teammate? And having somebody that good as a teammate, it must keep you on your toes at the same time…
Guillod: Yeah, so we had a good winter preparation together. Kevin is 8 years younger than me, so he keeps me awake every day. He pushes me, so that’s cool. For sure, it helped him to have me, to have someone who has speed to see where he is. Yeah, it was good. Now he’s 8th at the championship in front of me. I’m 9th. It’s perfect. It means that the job we did was good.
GateDrop: I have him on Snapchat, and I can’t remember exactly what GP it was, but you forgot to fill the car up with fuel. I hope something like that hasn’t happened again. Is he maybe the boss now of that department now (laughs)?
Guillod: (laughs) I’m horrible for that. You know, when the fuel light goes on in the car, I have to go on the zero, and unfortunately, I ran out of fuel. But I could push my car to the parking place, so then I took my road bike, I cycled on the road to go take some fuel, came back with the can, put fuel in it again, and let’s go to the race. That was a good memory.
GateDrop: Just on the team, I mean, they’ve done an amazing job for you. What’s the budget like this year compared to last year? Is it still the same in terms of equipment, or have they maybe got a little bit more support?
Guillod: No, we are all the same as last year, we have just made two changes. We change the brand of the tyre and the brand of the exhaust, but that is all. We are riding with the same engine configuration as last year, same electronics, same suspension. The big difference is that now I have one team mate who is pushing really hard.
GateDrop: How many more years do you see yourself racing MXGP, and are you happy with this team? Obviously they’ve done an amazing job for you, but at the same time, you can’t beat having a factory bike. Is that still an ambition you have, or are you happy with where you are? Because they backed you when you were maybe not at the top?
Guillod: For sure, in my head, I really would like to be a 100% full factory rider. I’ve never been in my career, so it’s on one side of my head. Then the second thing is that I’m really happy with the team, so now we are speaking for next year. The third thing is about how long I’m still going to ride. I will be 32 in December, so 2025, 2026 and 2027. I will then turn 35 in December, so yeah, for sure. Three years for sure, but when I see what Cairoli did in Arnhem, OK, on Sunday he struggled a bit, for sure, but I think he was a long time out of racing, so I think if mentally he’s feeling good, physically feeling good, still 36, okay… Between three and four years.
GateDrop: It shows you must really enjoy what you’re doing. There’s so many GP’s, 20 a year, it’s not easy, but the fact that you’re thinking you’d like to race another three years, it shows that you’re really enjoying what you’re doing…
Guillod: I enjoy it even more than when I was younger, so that’s why I’m a bit sad of this, because I have a better mentality now than in the past, but it was the process of my life to have this. Yeah, we have a lot of… My last two years were tough, because as a French team we have to race French championship, and there is six, seven races. So at the beginning of the year, I did seven races in a row, one weekend off, seven races in a row, one weekend off, and that was costing me a lot of energy, and yeah, you make a lot of races. But yeah, I still enjoy it.
GateDrop: Just on the Motocross des Nations, obviously they haven’t completely announced a team, but I’m sure you and Jeremy are the two for sure. Do you know yet what bike you’ll be on? Because I feel like you always get pretty unlucky with the Nations by riding a 250, but luckily enough last year I think you were on a 450. Are you going to be on a 450 again, do you think?
Guillod: Yes. Jeremy and myself are going to be on the 450cc bikes, because we as a team don’t have a 250cc, so we can’t invest money to bring a 250cc there. Jeremy is the same, OK, they have more money, but I think we stay focused on 450cc, and we’re going to see who is going to be the third rider and the 250cc rider.
