Valentin Guillod has been at this professional racing thing for over 15 years (as you'll see below) but 2025 marks the Swiss rider's first summer racing in America. He couldn't find a ride in MXGP this season and after racing the first six MXGP rounds of the year as a wild card, decided to do something different and look for help in the AMA Nationals. He got some support from Yamaha and a place to pit with the Rock River squad, and he's trying his hand at American outdoors.
It's going well! He's gone 10-13-15-20-14-8 so far in the motos, and that 14-8 gave him ninth overall at Thunder Valley. Steve Matthes caught up to him for an update.
Matthes: Valentin Guillod. Great job today. Really rode well. Second moto, top ten. First of all, what did you think of the track and the altitude and all of that?Guillod: So, I came here 15 years ago.
Oh, that's right, for the des Nations.
Yeah, yeah, I was 17 years old! Damn! [Laughs]
I forgot. So, did that help you at all?
No, no! But I wish I was still 17 years old, but now I'm 32. So, I knew it a bit, the feeling with the bike, the altitude. But okay, I was riding 250, now I'm 450, so it was much easier for the bike [today]. I didn't really struggle with the bike make just few setting changes. Because I have a stock engine, just an exhaust and I just changed the sprocket. And it was working.
Did you change mapping?
Yeah and that's it. And then my body, I felt it a bit andin the second race I was a little short still [on energy], due to the injury that I had in April and all. But no, it was good. A good day, positive day.
Good starts, right? Which I mean you're a stock motor but you're still pulling good starts. So that's really good.
Yeah. So, the first start I went more on the inside, and I think I started 20th or something like this. So, I came back 13th behind Jason Anderson. I was a little faster but I couldn't pass him. And then Benny Bloss passed me two laps to go. So, I finished 14th. But second race I go more outside and then I had a better start, I think around 12th position and then I passed Prado and a few guys to come back to eighth. And yeah, that was a great race.
So, six motos into your American season here. How would you how would you grade yourself. How do you think you're doing?
So, you know, I arrived in Pala with a broken collarbone that I had surgery three weeks before, so I only was riding three times, so I knew that I won't be at my best level. I was expecting if I make two times [two motos in] tenth or 15th will be great. I make a 14th or 13th, something like this, so that was great. Hangtown, big struggle with the heat. Also, the track, the layout is nice, but the ground was a bit tricky. But the heat in the second race killed me. I was cooked completely. I start, I push three corners and then I couldn't do anything. So, then I put the cruise control on and just made my laps to finish the race. So, I was not happy with Hangtown. And then today, yeah, now it's getting better every weekend, and I make a good second moto. I see my place can be between eighth and maybe 12th, 13th. It's great.
| Position | Rider | Hometown | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jett Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia  | 190 |
| 2 |  Eli Tomac | Cortez, CO  | 162 |
| 3 |  Aaron Plessinger | Hamilton, OH | 156 |
| 4 |  Hunter Lawrence | Landsborough, Australia | 153 |
| 5 |  Justin Cooper | Cold Spring Harbor, NY | 148 |
| 6 |  R.J. Hampshire | Hudson, FL | 117 |
| 7 |  Cooper Webb | Newport, NC | 100 |
| 8 |  Jason Anderson | Edgewood, NM | 99 |
| 9 |  Joey Savatgy | Thomasville, GA | 98 |
| 10 |  Jorge Prado | Lugo, Spain  | 82 |
| 11 |  Valentin Guillod | Switzerland  | 66 |
| 12 |  Coty Schock | Dover, DE | 66 |
| 13 |  Benoit Paturel | France  | 64 |
| 14 |  Malcolm Stewart | Haines City, FL | 60 |
| 15 |  Colt Nichols | Muskogee, OK | 53 |
Yeah. I think you've got to start thinking about beating guys like Malcolm Stewart. You know, getting around RJ a little bit. That's sort of got to be your kind of your new goal, I think, right?
Well, I think RJ is quite fast. The problem is he crashed second race. He crashed twice in front of me. He could start just front of me. But then he was fast, and then Cooper Webb and all the guys in front are fast. But then I think, like Malcolm, Joey [Savatgy], Jason, Jorge, all those guys, I think I can be with them. Not all the time, but on some races.
Were you surprised with Jorge and his struggles a little bit?
Yeah, yeah, I'm surprised because it's like you know, he’s a smooth rider. Like, we can see a bit of Jett’s style. And I was expecting that he would do much better than that. I was speaking a bit with him in Hangtown, he told me that he's still looking for the good setup on the bike, suspension then also something with the engine, but we'll see. When you been world champion, you know how to ride a bike. So, then you need maybe a bit more time. Also, he was injured so he needed time. But yeah, I look at myself and I'm happy with what I did.
Do you watch the old races of the tracks to know what they are like? Are you going to watch High Point, for example, an old race at High Point, like last year's race or something?
Oh yeah. I think I will have a quick look to see a bit how it is. In Europe, you have time. Saturday you take your time to not really to learn the track, because when you do one lap, you then know how the track is. But then you have to take your speed and your pace [up]. And the thing is that I don't want to arrive Saturday morning, second lap, push, crash, get injured. So, I take a bit of my time on timed practice. The goal is to be to be fine for the afternoon for the motos.
It is just for gate pick, and so if you can get 10th to 15th gate pick you're fine. Right. Qualifying is not that big of a deal.
Yeah, exactly. And like if I see I was like always around 15th every race and I could make some good starts The second moto I was, I think I was [on the] complete outside gate 36th, 37th and I start in the top 12. So yeah. But then I think for sure there are some races that you need to be inside. I take my time. I don't want to rush. I think it's more I want to show that with a small, small budget, a standard bike, I can show my result, my speed, to open the eyes to the teams and say, “Yeah, okay. This guy, maybe if we give him a good team, good material, good stuff, then we can make better results.”
