On Track Off Road No. 185

JVH IN THE RED
Jeremy Van Horebeek is in the
initial throes of a career renaissance
after some lean and mediocre
years with Yamaha and
in the distant wake of a defining
season in 2014 where he claimed
his first (and only) MXGP win todate
as runner-up the world. JVH
is somewhat scorned after being
snubbed by most of the paddock
in the depths of last summer and
is certainly riding with renewed
perspective on his status and
that of the sport. Almost rivalling
HRC’s Tim Gajser for results and
potential after two rounds the
inevitable question arises as to
Van Horebeek’s potential value
for Honda. The irony is that the
Belgian receives marginal support
from the manufacturer (HRC
are independent as a race division,
the rest of the MXGP operation
is marshalled by Honda
Motor Europe) and is proving
the brand’s point in terms of the
competitiveness of their stock
customer base.
“Mid-February Jeremy and the
Honda SR team made the decision
that they wanted to go
MXGP racing and they did contact
Honda Motor Europe for help
but at that time there was nothing
we could do,” explained Off-
Road Manager Gordon Crockard.
“The plan for 2019 was signedoff,
budgets were agreed and
every euro had been allocated.
The timing of the request was
impossible to respond to.
We went to Argentina with this
feeling of gratitude to Van Horebeek,
Honda SR and Honda
France and all the people that
put Jeremy on the line. It was
fantastic that they were prepared
[for the season] but timing was
the issue for us and we could
only say that we’d support them
in any way we could: and that is
an ongoing process.”
Crockard, who won 250cc
Grands Prix for Honda in 2001,
empathised with Van Horebeek’s
plight but was also quick
to highlight the positivity of
the privateer’s progress. “He is
doing exceptionally well and I
can relate to from my own personal
experience as a non-factory
Honda rider in my career and
taking podiums and winning
races,” he said. “So I’m right
behind him in terms of what he
is doing and the promotion of the
customer CRF. Anyone can create
that bike and it demonstrates the
ability of that product. It helps on
two fronts: to the consumer that
we want to buy our bikes and
also to the rest of this paddock
to show that you don’t need the
‘magic bike’. Riders in previous
years have complained that they
couldn’t get the results because
they don’t have factory material.
What Jeremy is doing is a great
argument against that claim and
will really help for future years in
dealings with riders.”
While Van Horebeek’s bright run
of speed and form is an advertisement
for Honda there is also
the awkward PR situation of a
rider potentially excelling for a
brand and then receiving little
compensation or assistance for
the job he is doing, especially if
#89 feels like ‘emphasising’ his
privateer status repeatedly in
the media. For now at least JVH
will have to persist with his lot at
Honda SR and the underdog ‘forgotten’
tag seems to be suitably
fuelling the fire.
“People can say ‘but you’re
Honda: why don’t you have any
euros?’ but this is subject of
budgets, plans, management.
There is nothing we can allocate
at the moment but It is not a
closed door or subject,” Crockard
stresses. “It is wonderful he
is doing so well because it helps
my case to say this guy is delivering
the goods and he should
be given support and help. It is
an ongoing process that I am
working-on internally. This is a
new dynamic where a guy has
showed up on his own - with his
own bike - and is making the
MXGP podium; we are continuing
to work on it. Would be go
any better on a factory bike? We
don’t know.”
MXGP GBR