If you watched last few races of the 2014 MX2 FIM World Championship unfold, you probably remember that Red Bull KTM Jeffrey Herlings, the runaway leader, broke his femur in July. Herlings, the defending champion, had a seemingly impenetrable 145-point lead at the time, with four races left (though it would have been five had the race in the Ukraine not been canceled due to the ongoing civil war there). No matter, the relatively unknown Jordi Tixier seized upon the opportunity afforded to him when his teammate Herlings went down. The Frenchman caught fire and reeled off three podiums in six motos, dissolving the giant points gap in the process. Tixier got close enough for Herlings to make the very painful decision to try to race with a steel rod in his thigh at the last round in Leon, Mexico. It wasn’t enough to hold on to the title.
Now the 2015 FIM World Championship opener is set to go down at the floodlit Losail circuit in Qatar this Saturday night, and Jordi Tixier is a changed man. He will now enter the fray with the number one plate as defending champion. He’s also now a member of the Monster Energy Kawasaki MX2 Racing Team, Just before he left for Qatar for the opening round, Racer X called on Tixier to see how things were shaping up.
Racer X: Jordi, the opening round of the 2015 MXGP World Championship in just a few days away, and Qatar now beckons. Where are you at with everything?
Jordi Tixier: Yeah, for sure. Everything is going in a good way. For me there has been a lot of change, you know? A new color, a new team, and new people around me. But at the moment everything is going well. We had a good winter pre-season with a lot of tests, so the bike is in good shape now. We’ve done two pre-season races now and it’s going good. The first one [Hawkstone MX International in the UK] I won and at the last race, at Valence, there was a lot of mud so it was difficult to see my speed and everything. Otherwise, I feel really good and I’m looking forward to Qatar.
KTM has won the last seven consecutive MX2 World Championships. You won the last title for the brand in 2014. Why did you leave KTM to go to Kawasaki? Was it the motorcycle or the team?
In the middle of the season I had a big meeting with KTM and they just kicked me out. I was really, really sad and disappointed because I didn’t know they were like this. We always had a really, really good relationship and I was still second in the championship and they said, “Yeah, we kick you out and we just want to take a younger rider.” I was really sad, but it gave me some energy and some power for the last few GPs and I showed them I could be up front and possibly be the world champion. I already had a strong relationship with this CLS team, so with KTM I said, “Okay, I’m going to them and I’m going to show you that I can beat you.”
You won the 2010 Junior 125cc World Championship on a KTM and stayed with the brand for the next four years. It seemed as if you were destined to remain with KTM well into the future, but I guess it didn’t work out, did it?
Since 2010 I was with KTM and then when I went to MX2 in 2011—it was quite difficult for me. After the season, though, Pit [Beirer] and Stefan [Everts] were there for me and wanted to bring me to the KTM Red Bull factory team. That was really great for me. Then this season they said they were kicking me out. I didn’t know so much about what happened. I was really sad but now I’m really happy, and I’m really happy about my new team, so now it’s just in the past and I don’t care anymore.
How do you like the Kawasaki KX250F?
The bike right now is really good. To be honest, I never rode on the standard bike. I started on the factory bike the first time I rode it. The feeling of the bike was really good. I mean, the handling of the bike when compared to the KTM is much better. My feeling was already good. We did some really good testing on the suspension, too, because it was quite different from KTM. I mean, the frame and everything was also a lot different. Now the bike is really good for me. I think we have a strong bike and for sure we are ready for the first GP now.
As far as the mechanics, your teammates, and the overall infrastructure of the team, do you feel good about everything there?
Yeah, my mechanic is really good. It’s a very French team so I said to Jean Jacques [team owner], “For me, I want an English mechanic because my English is already not so good, but I want to keep getting better because I can use it everywhere I go.” My mechanic is really good. He just does his job and my feeling with him is really good. With all the people, everything is going really, really good. When you say something or ask for something, they just do it. They are always trying to find a solution. With my teammates, it is really good. Thomas Covington, I haven’t seen him so much yet, but he’s young and a really good kid. He’s riding really good and my relationship with him is already really good. I’m really happy with that.
With Dylan [Ferrandis] it’s been different. We’ve raced together for many years; we rode 65s together. We always want to be in front of each other so that can be quite difficult, but the relationship is also good and we have no problem in the team. At the moment, everything is going well and hopefully it’s going to be like this all season.
What will it take to defeat the Red Bull KTM factory guys this year?
Going back to 2008 or 2009, to be world champion you really needed to have KTM because I think they were a little bit better than the other bikes. But now all the other teams are working really hard and all the bikes are quite the same. This season we have a really strong bike and we have the bike to be world champion. Now, as the rider, you have to be there all the time and have to be consistent. You can’t make any mistakes. If you make a crash or something, you need to finish the race and take all the points you can because they will help you at the end of the championship. You have to do your best and be in the top five all the time. And if you can, you need to try and be on the podium all the time. I think that’s the key to be world champion.
How about Jeffrey Herlings? Can you beat him this year?
I don’t know. I hope so. That’s my goal, you know? The last few years he was faster than us, but he also got injured two times—like last year he was injured and the year before. Last year was my time to be world champion and I did it. Jeffery, I know him really good and we have had a really good relationship the last three years we rode together. He’s a really, really, really strong person. When he goes training, he just pushed to the limit all the time. He’s a really strong guy and he does give it his best from the first to last lap. He’s really strong during the race and that’s why he makes such a big gap all the time. For me, maybe at the beginning of the race I’m at 100 percent and at the end I’m like at 80 percent. It’s not like 100 percent all the time for me during the races. This winter I really worked really hard on that. I worked to make sure I’d be 100 percent the entire race and I think I’m ready for that. With a good start and good speed, I think it’s possible to beat Jeffrey. We will see in Qatar. I will give my best to beat him, and to beat KTM would be a dream for me. For sure my goal is to be world champion one more time.
I watched the entire 2014 MX2 World Championship on TV and I was impressed by what I saw. Can it be argued that MX2 is just as competitive as the 250 Class in the United States?
I don’t know. I’ve never been to the United States, so I cannot say that. I think the tracks are different. I think the only difference is the tracks. For myself, the racing looks better in the United States than in Europe because the tracks are always better and with a good line. The tracks in the US look to have good grip. In Europe, the tracks are more slippery and without so many lines and they are difficult to pass on. I don’t know. It’s all really different.
What’s in the future for you?
In my head I’m really focused on this year and now. At the end of this year will be a really difficult decision to make. For myself, I would go to the US because it’s one of my dreams. My first dream was to be world champion and I did that already. My second dream is to go to the US and try it there. I don’t know… It’s going to be really difficult because I’m going to be 23 and I must go to the 450, but the 450 isn’t the bike I really like at the moment. I think going to the US could be really good for me, but we need to find a good deal with a good team. For the next few years to go to the US and try the competition there would be really cool for me.
