Main image courtesy of Jey Crunch.
Way back in 2015, Valentin Guillod was briefly in the title hunt for the MX2 World Championship before ultimately ending up fourth in the standings. It was clear he would have been a title contender, if not a favorite coming into 2016, but one thing stood in his way: his age. Guillod, like many others in the last decade, hit their stride in MX2 just in time to become too old for the 23-year-old age limit of the class. His next year in MXGP resulted in a solid ninth in the standings with KEMEA Yamaha, but injuries and team shifts since has sent his career over a rough road.
Now in 2021, Guillod has found a home and success. In his first year with the new Hostettler Yamaha program, Guillod won both Swiss Motocross Championships and flourished with strong rides for Switzerland in the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations and other great rides. Unfortunately, just as he hits his stride again, another tough break has hit with the Hostettler Yamaha program closing its doors at years’ end. Once again, Guillod is back to the drawing board for his program moving forward, but he feels this year was a big step for him physically and mentally. We caught up with him at the MXGP finale in Italy last week to talk about everything.
Racer X: Alright, so starting off with just kind of talking about rebuilding from, you know, you were fourth in the MX2 championship in 2015 and then moved up to MXGP and I think you were ninth that first year and you've gone through some injuries and other things and team switches and stuff like that, but it really seems like you've found your footing this year winning those Swiss Championships, the great Motocross of Nations races. Just talk me through rebuilding back to this level where you're feeling as comfortable as you are now.
Valentin Guillod: Yeah, you know, since December of last year, with my manager, we started to put together a plan to rebuild myself and the first point was mentally. I have to work on that because after those bad years with injuries and stuff like that, it was tough. So, yeah, we put together a plan to work on it and with the team starting brand new, we had to work on the bike and everything. We did the Swiss Championship and when there were no races, I would race GP. And when I signed the contract, I was only going to miss two GP's, but the COVID situation changed a lot of the calendar. So anyway, I missed five or six races. But yeah, I was focusing on the Swiss Championship doing both classes on the same day just following race after race. It was a long day, you know. Four races of 30 minutes with no breaks between, so it was cool finishing off as two-times Swiss champion.
With doing four motos in a row like that, how much fitness and intensity does that take to do that at that level? What can you learn from doing that that you can use when doing two motos here at the GPs?
Yeah, the intensity is not the same and also the level is not the same as MXGP, but I was taking it as a big day of training on the bike. It was almost like doing two races of one hour because between the races I only had like 10 minutes to change my helmet, gloves, and goggles and take a drink. The guys would be going for the sighting lap, and I was just getting onto the gate to go for the second 30-minute race. For sure physically, it helped. It's good for the focus and the endurance of riding on the bike. So, it was some good days but sometimes it was really tough because sometimes we had some like 35-degree [Celsius] days. Believe me, the last race I was done. Even on the gate, I was still trying to recover from the second 250 moto. So yeah, sometimes it was really tough, but it was a nice challenge and I'm really happy I did it.
Talk a little bit about finally having this year where you win these two championships, you get to run up front, you get to win races. I know it's not MXGP, but you get to build a little bit of confidence when you win these races. How does that help you mentally to just feel winning races again, feel being up front, and trying to envision that again in the GPs?
Yeah, exactly. Mentally, it's really good to race in front like I did also in the Motocross of Nations when I finished second, so that was really good. I gave me a big smile on my face, so that's great. And also, it was good to race again on the 250. I really enjoyed racing the 250. It was here that I see physically I still have a lot to improve this winter. Because like, just with the power in my legs, on the 250 when I land off a jump, I can just keep the throttle open and stay on my legs. On the 450, when I do that, I have to sit because my legs are not strong enough. So, yeah it was good to a race a 250 to feel strong on the bike and to feel stronger than the bike. And also, what was good was that I saw what I can improve for the 450 riding-wise. So yeah, this winter will be a tough winter for me.
With this team, you found a little bit of a home, and unfortunately, they're not going to be back next year. But what was it about this team that you worked well with and gelled with and maybe understood the bike as quickly as you did to just find comfort with everything?
So, first of all, the Yamaha is a really good bike, and I always had a really good feeling on the Yamaha. I remember good memories from the past [on a Yamaha]. You know when you get on the bike and smile that it helps a lot. But yeah, it was a brand-new team and we had to work on that. The people around the team were really good and it was like a family. Always trying to do the best and very open to speak. Like when I wasn't feeling good, they were like, "Okay, we will try to find a solution to improve." So, that was great. Hostettler, they're the Swiss importer for Yamaha and the owner of the company is a very passionate guy. He is helping us a lot this year with the investment in the team and unfortunately it has to stop for next year. It's a bit sad because I had a two-year contract with them. But I will try to find a solution for next year to maybe do my own team or maybe to find a Yamaha team where we can bring the budget from Yamaha Switzerland. But otherwise, the team was really nice. There were good people. My mechanic did a great job all the time. I didn't have any problem on the bike all year long. That's great when you can jump on the bike, and you have the confidence. You don't have to think, "Did they do this on the bike or not?" You can just go full gas on it and that's great.
With the off-season coming up and you trying to put your own team together or jumping into a Yamaha team with the Swiss help, what does your off-season kind of look like? Are you going to take a little time to recover from this year and then get into everything or are trying to figure things out already to go into next year?
So, for all my contracts and stuff like that, it's my manager that's going to manage that. I hope that in the next two weeks, we can sign and then it's done, and we can focus on the future. On my side, I'm just going to do three weeks of break. I'm going to go watch the MotoGP race in Valencia. It will be really cool to see the last race of Valentino Rossi because I'm a huge fan. And also, Thomas Luthi, the Swiss guy, will do his last race also. So yeah, going there and then for sure taking off all that pressure that we had. Because like, I started the season in the middle of June and mixing the season between the Swiss Championship and MXGP, I only had two weekends off. One in August and one in September. So, to be honest, today, the last race of the season, it's already been a few weeks that I'm struggling with the mental side because I start to get tired. It will be good to take a little break.
Where do you realistically feel you size up on your good days in the MXGP class? Is there a position that you like to finish or riders that you like to finish around that make you feel like you had a good race? Or is it overall just having a good feeling on the bike and feeling strong physically that makes you happy about your result at the end of the day?
Yeah, that is what I'm really pissed off at myself for the last few races. It's like, I know the level that I can have when I'm practicing or I'm at the Swiss Championship, I can really race at my real level. But when I come to MXGP, I struggle with that. So, it's stupid, but when I'm alone on the track, I can have speed and flow everywhere and I can play with the track and the bumps, and I can scrub and whip every way that I want. But here in an MXGP race, I'm really tight on the bike. I'm not playing and doing all that stuff. So, that's one goal that I want to work on. And physically I have to work very much because I have to improve a lot on that. And also mentally, I have to improve on that. Also, the position for sure. I don't want to see anymore blue flags. Some guys that I beat a few years ago are now putting a lap on me so that's just mentally really tough. The problem is difficult to say. The level is all the same level. If you make a good start, you can ride in the front, but if you make a bad start, you never can come back. But for sure, around the top 10. I did one race in Arco di Trento where I finished 10th, so for sure it's my goal and what I'm motivated to work on.
Switching gears a little bit, you talked about whipping and scrubbing. You have a very unique style that American fans have probably seen your scrubs and things like that. Have you ever had an interest in racing supercross? I know you've done Bercy and Geneva before but has there ever been an opportunity or a chance where you wanted to come race supercross in the U.S. before?
Yeah, for sure. You know, I really like to watch supercross. I'm really looking forward to January when it starts and to watch them. For sure I would like to come there and race one time in my career. To be honest, the American guys are really in front with supercross. They have another level that European guys don't have. Because here we don't have supercross, just three races in wintertime. But yeah, why not? Why not do one outdoor race next year? It depends on what I'm going to do with my contract next year. In 2019, I didn't have any contract in MXGP, and I was having some talks with teams in the U.S., but it didn't happen. You know, I was out of 2018 season with injury. I broke my legs at the beginning of the season. But when I came back, I did some top 15s and top 10s. But to tell the American teams that I would like to come there, it's difficult. They don't really know what level we can have. So, it didn't happen but yeah, why not? We will see.
If you did come race something in the US, you would probably ride a 250, right? You talked about feeling comfortable on the 250 with leg strength and things like that, and the 250 class in the US you're not aged out of obviously. So, is that something where if you came, you'd probably do it on a 250?
Yeah, why not? It could be a good solution to do that. For sure, I really like to race the 250. But now, this winter I will focus on being stronger on the 450 because that's the main goal. But yeah, that's good in the US that you don't have the age limit that we have in Europe. It's a bit sad that we have to move to MXGP. If you take road racing, MotoGP there is no age, and also Moto 2 there is no age. Our goal, it's to go fast on a motocross bike, doesn't matter if it's a 250 or a 450. It's a bit sad that we have to make this step, but it's like this.
Back in 2015 when you moved up, did you feel like you maybe weren't ready for the MXGP class? You had a good season the next year, but I think you probably thought you could contend for the MX2 title if you were able to stay back down. Did you feel like that was a potential for you if you were able to stay back?
Yeah, it was in my head. When I had to move to 450 in 2016, it was a bit sad because 2015 on the MX2 Yamaha, it was the first time where the team [Standing Construct] was racing Yamaha because the two years before we were on KTM. So, we didn't have a lot of experience to work on the bike. The bike was good, but we were struggling a lot with the start. The bike never jumped the gate, so we were struggling with that. And then I saw in 2016, the same team with another rider, they really improved on the bike, and it was working good and making good starts. So, it was a bit sad that my age made me go to 450s.
Lastly, who would you like to thank for everything with helping you get to the track this year and all your sponsors?
Yeah, for sure I would like to thank the team, Hostettler Yamaha. Also, Peter Hostettler who's the owner of Yamaha Switzerland who invested a lot. My mechanic who did a good job also. The chief mechanic of the team and all my personal sponsors. I have now many years with Tissot helping me, 6D helmets, 100% goggles, Alpinestars. So, all those guys that helped me a lot the last few years.
