Valentin Guillod has garnered more attention this off-season than he would typically would, thanks to an untimely switch from the Standing Construct Yamaha team. We have covered that in its entirety already, although we still await a decision on which team he’ll work out of next year. In the meantime Guillod has been trying his hand at supercross, on what resembles a stock bike, and opening some eyes.
MX Vice: The results maybe weren’t what you wanted this weekend, but it seemed the speed was there?
Valentin Guillod: Yeah, you know, my goal was to finish in the top five. Yesterday I had a crash on the start and when you start last in supercross it is really hard to come back. Then I turned off my head and just went the fastest I could. I set the second fastest lap of the race, but I made some mistakes and crashed two times. I didn’t make a good result – I finished eleventh.
Today [Saturday] I decided to try and make a good start, but actually it didn’t happen. Malcolm Stewart crashed in front of me in the first corner, so I had to brake. I was close to last place. I didn’t make the same mistakes as yesterday though; I kept it on two wheels and came back to fifth. It was a great result. It was really cool.
Do you feel like you have a point to prove at these races, to show that you’re a capable supercross rider?
Yeah, but the first thing is that I like to ride supercross. I really wanted to ride here in Geneva, as it’s really close to my house. It’s the biggest motocross event in Switzerland. I think when you’re one of the best in Switzerland and in the world you have to come here to represent your country. Supercross is really cool – I enjoy it a lot. It’s positive for riding in motocross too, as it’s more aggressive.
What about the quad? You were the only rider other than [Justin] Brayton to do that, so that must have been pretty cool?
It was a nice triple out of the corner, then a quad. It was nice – I had a good feeling on it. It was a big jump, but I had fun on it.
One of the reasons you split from Standing Construct was that you wanted to do these races, so do you stand by that decision now that you’ve done them all?
Okay, it was one of the reasons. They didn’t want me to ride supercross, because they were scared I would get injured. But, you know, when you get out the shower you can get injured. I had more bad crashes in motocross than in supercross. That was their opinion, but the biggest thing was that they wanted me to go to Belgium and train with a new trainer. When I signed my contract it was agreed I would work with Yves Demaria, so that was the biggest point.
What about the bike you’ve ridden at these supercross races? Does it have some factory parts or is it close to stock?
That 450F was completely stock. It was a 2015 model with a completely stock engine and exhaust. I just had one set of suspension for supercross. I’ve already done a factory engine test with Rinaldi and I’m really happy. It is a bike that is working really well with my riding style. I’m happy and looking forward to next year.
Are you any closer to knowing what team you’ll be on next year?
Actually I do know, but I can’t say. It’s Yamaha’s job to announce that. What can I say to that? I will be a factory rider with factory material, but I can’t say which team.
Am I right in saying that the possibility of you being the third Yamaha Factory Racing rider has been ruled out?
I don’t know for sure. I could be the third rider on the Rinaldi team or the only MXGP rider for Kemea. I’m looking forward to the future and making plans. I think they’ll announce it in the next few weeks.
Interview: Lewis Phillips | Image: Sean Ogden
