Since deciding to stop racing at the highest level, Dennis Verbruggen has still been well involved in the sport as he’s decided to take on the role of a coach. The Belgian is working with female sensation from the Netherlands, Lotte van Drunen who could have a big big future ahead of her.
“I will leave that up to the future, Lotte has an unbelievable drive to reach her personal goals, she is very talented and a great personality. Hopefully she will stay safe and maybe be another game changer and ambassador for the sport”, Verbruggen told GateDrop.com.
Van Drunen isn’t the only rider Verbruggen is coaching as he also works with young British rider, Adam Collings who bases himself in the Netherlands. Collings will be racing the competitive EMX250 series this year and try to learn as much as possible.
“I started working with Adam at the end of last year, I am really pleased to work with him as I think he is still far from his maximum potential and we could reach some nice results together.
We are working hard on a lot of things to make improvements. I am in the lucky spot to be a part of many riders programs, I try to give my best to all of them to make them better”.
Compared to when Verbruggen raced to now, the Belgian says now it’s much better for the younger riders as there’s more opportunities for them within the paddock,
“Not too much I think (has changed), there are two things that have really changed. It is the way younger riders can grow into the GP’s a lot better then before. They can be a lot more easily picked up by a good team because they race at the same event. Also, the age limit in MX2 is different to when I was younger”, Verbruggen stated.
In terms of the level, Verbruggen acknowledges it has risen in recent years.
“The level the sport has grown to is unseen. The top riders now deserve all the respect in the world, they make the impossible possible at times. The only thing I am going to say about it (Infront), is about MX2 and prize money. They run 2 exact same classes next to each other, MX2 and EMX250, there’s no point. Same day, same class, same age, same level. And there’s no prize money, this makes it impossible for privateers. The rest of the pro’s and con’s, I will leave up to you”, concluded Verbruggen.
Article: Andy McKinstry
Pic: Gino Maes
