24MX Honda Racing’s team owner Steven Lettani runs one of the most successful private squads in motocross GP’s. His team has won GP’s in MX1, scored podium places in MX1, MX2, MX3, WMX and won many national titles. CRF machinery prepared by the team has the reputation for being both fast and reliable.
So far the 2014 season has been one of mixed emotions for 24MX Honda Racing. Xavier Boog put the team back on the map and the experienced Frenchman was going from strength to strength before getting injured at the French Grand Prix now 6 weeks ago. We caught up with Lettani to talk about riders, bikes, racing and team management.
How do you look back on the season so far?
Lettani: “I look back with mixed feelings obviously. For the 2014 season we started a new project with the support of Honda Europe, 24MX and all of our other partners. The first half of the season, until St-Jean d’Angély, has been pretty positive. Xavier Boog started slowly, but he was building up. With a 6th place in Spain, 7th in Bulgaria and his speed and confidence improving things were looking up. We had a podium in Hawkstone Park with Jens Getteman, Boog won the one French Elite round he raced… The difference with last year was huge! Also we know how consistent Xavier is so I’m sure he was set for a strong position in the championship. Between 6 and 9 is realistic for him.”
Xavier Boog has shown before that he’s a very solid rider. Not so many guys have finished 4 times top-7 in the final standings of a motocross world championship. But never before the level has been so high in the biggest GP class, do you agree?
Lettani: “It’s true that the quality of the field in MXGP is quite incredible. On one hand you have the implication of seven works teams, representing the four Japanese manufacturers (Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha) and three European brands (KTM, Husqvarna and TM). On the other hand there’s the 23-age rule that brings all talent together in MXGP. If you look at sheer speed the absolute top is very small with 4 riders who can (sometimes) match or beat Cairoli; these are Desalle, Paulin, Van Horebeek and Nagl. After them there’s a bigger group of riders who can fight for the podium when things go their way. I’m talking about Strijbos, Frossard, Bobryshev, Searle. When he’s fit De Dycker would be in there as well. Than we have a huge third group with riders like Simpson, Boog, Waters, Guarneri, Ferris, Philippaerts, Rattray, Gonçalves, Karro but also Nicholls and Leok when they would be fit. Roelants was in that group until Maggiora. To make the difference all details are important and for sure confidence plays a huge part. You can see that it’s pretty intimidating for a rookie or a young rider to even get into the third group.”
With the injuries of Boog, Getteman and replacement rider Jéremy Delincé your team has been hit heavily, but there are lot of riders who are or have been on the sidelines for numerous races. Do you see a reason for the many injuries?
Lettani: “Every crash or injury is different so it’s tough to draw general conlusions. But safety should be a priority on everyone’s list: riders, tracks, organisations, teams and industry. For sure you can see some aspects of racing that have changed, and they all have an effect to some degree. Compared to the nineties for example, there are much more jumps on most tracks. These days GP tracks are very, very technical. Secondly, the competition between riders is absolutely fierce. Riders are pushing each other constantly so to get top results you have to be close to the limit and know when you can exceed that limit while keeping the risks at an acceptable level. Thirdly, there’s the technology of motorcyles nowadays. Bikes are so good that they just allow you to do more. Back in the time when I used to race (editor: nineties) you thought twice about hitting a bump or jumping a double. Simply because it was so tricky. Now the bikes are capable to deal with much more, but when it goes wrong injuries tend to be more severe.”
What’s the status of the injured riders now?
Lettani: “Xavier feels really good, he’s been resting a lot and the surgery to his back and neck was a success. Next week Boog will have a check with the doctor, hopefully he will get the green light to start physical training again. To say when he can get back on a motorcycle is a bit early to anticipate. But he’s a fighter and he’s very motivated to come back. Jens Gettteman is making progress as well. He has an intensive programme with the physio to loosen up the wrist, but he already started his physical training again since three weeks. Normally Jens can be back on track in the last week of July. If everything goes to plan his comeback will be Keiheuvel-Balen, on the 15th of August.”
How do you rate the performance of your replacement riders?
Lettani: “For sure Klemen Gercar is experiencing a steep learning curve in his first MXGP season. He had some sponsor troubles which makes it even harder to concentrate on your racing. I admire how he keeps on fighting and keeps focus on his goals. For Klemen the most important was to learn more about MXGP, improve his speed and take points in every GP. Although he is the MX3 World Champion he really had to start all over again for 2014. So overall I think it’s an okay season but it would be great for his confidence to have a stand-out result either in one of the next GP’s or a big international event. He’s still only 23 so for sure there’s room for improvement. Filip Thuresson has a great ability on the bike, he’s talented and works well with people. His GP races have been very mixed, but in Sweden he showed that he has top 15 speed. And it was awesome to have a popular home rider like him on board for the weekend. This winter he trained hard in the US, with the form he was in at that moment he would surely raise some eyebrows in GP’s. Unfortunately he had some health problems lately but he’s gradually coming back to his best shape. Jérémy Delincé is another rider who has plenty of skills. The second moto in Matterly Basin gave an impression of what he’s capable of. Jérémy has great throttle control, he’s pretty allround and for sure he now has a lot more experience than in 2011 when he last rode the world championship fulltime. The scaphoid injury he picked up in Switzerland during the national championship, one week before Teutschenthal could not have come at a worse time really… But that’s racing! Of those three replacement riders Delincé probably has the biggest potential.”
The 24MX Honda Racing bikes always seem to work really well. It must have been pleasing to have reminded people this season?
Lettani: “Yes (smiles), but we’d like to show even so much more! We know that in the right hands our bike can be a race winner. I’m not bragging, that’s just a fact. First of all we have a great base to start of with. The stock CRF45O is already a very capable and easy-to-use motocross bike. My team has only raced with Honda, so we have a huge experience in building, setting up and running CRF race bikes. Our bike is powerful, yet it’s smooth and very comfortable. I guess that’s the great thing about motocross compared to MotoGP. Through experience and smart choices you can be very competitive, even compared to factory teams that have much more resources! In Qatar and Spain we took the holeshot with Xavier Boog, in Matterly Basin Jérémy Delincé was super close to the holeshot… I’m happy that people start to recognize the fact that we make performant motorcycles. It’s motivating for my technical staff but it’s also a form of recognition for all our technical suppliers. With the most of them we’ve been working for a long time, for example Dunlop tyres, HGS Exhaust systems, Showa suspension, Vertex pistons, Twin Air filters, MotoMaster, SBS, Renthal, Regina, CRM and so on. We only started working with Panolin Oils this year but it’s cool to see that they provide exactly the type of hardcore racers’ product we’re after. GP racing is the most demanding test out there so it’s great if results in the field even outperform the high expectations we have!”
Can you shed some light on the 2015 rider situation?
Lettani: “The traditional musical chairs starts with the world title contenders, than to trickle down. For us this means that it’s a little bit early but for sure things are heating up! We’re talking to our current riders Xavier Boog and Jens Getteman and some others as well. Our team coordinator Adri Van Beers is very involved in this process as well. There are some exciting names among the riders we’re talking to but until the deal is inked that doesn’t mean anything! And isn’t everybody talking to everybody now? I think it’s funny when I hear that people have seen this rider or manager sitting together and they jump to conclusions. Seriously, I genuinely feel that we have a lot to offer for a serious and ambitious rider. 24MX Honda Racing is a focused environment, we’re working hard to get results but we like to have a bit of fun when the job is done. Riders can grow here, reach their best level without the pressure of a factory team.”
The interest of Honda in motocross GP’s is picking up as well?
Lettani: “Absolutely, it’s very exciting to see how Honda is hugely committed to offroad racing in the largest sense! There’s the Dakar project, enduro, World Trials and of course a big push in motocross with an integrated plan from the Honda 150 European Championship to the EMX250, MX2 GP’s to MXGP. If you’re serious about racing you can jump on a red bike and build your career from your schoolboy days to the very top! That’s just awesome to have this structure and the synergy in place. You can certainly feel a renewed enthousiasm. For us there’s an important role to play as a strong sattelite team next to Team HRC. Just like we’ve done in the past we want to challenge and upset the ‘big boys’. This could also mean that we act as a springboard for fresh MXGP talent. And if you prove yourself enough, you can earn a spot on the works team.”
Thank you for your time, as always it’s been great talking to you.
Lettani: “You’re welcome!”