Van Horebeek completes factory Yamaha MX squad for 2014The 23 year old finished an impressive debut season in the MX1 class (as of next  year under the new name ‘MXGP’) with 7th position and won many
admirers for his speed and consistency in his first campaign on the
bigger motorcycle.
The former MX2 GP winner earned two top three finishes in his maiden MX1 term and missed the points just twice from thirty-four motos. He posted fourteen top five results and came increasingly close to a maiden MX1 podium in the second half of the calendar. "It was a wonderful season. I broke my finger four weeks before the first grand prix but once I was in good shape then I was always near or in the top five,” the Belgian said. "I wanted to be the number one rider in a factory team and coming to Yamaha was the perfect opportunity. I’m sure having the backing of the Yamaha Rinaldi crew will help me move onto the next level.” The new MX1 conscript will slot into the Rinaldi-run squad next to Christophe Charlier; the Corsican is dedicated to MX2-GP on the YZ250FM after clinching two moto victories and finishing fourth in the championship. Van Horebeek will represent his country at the Motocross of Nations in Germany at the end of the month before getting down to work on the brand new race bike – the lighter and more responsive YZ450F – for the 2014 season. "I hope I will feel comfortable right away and we can get some good work done,” he said. "I know the team has a good reputation and I’m not worried about being on my own on the 450 in the team. Christophe will be there on the 250 but I think it will be a good challenge to lead development on the new bike.” Laurens Klein Koerkamp - Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Manager. "Jeremy has had an impressive first season in MX1. As one of the younger riders in the premier class we were keen to see how he would manage and we liked his consistency and the way he proved to be competitive across the spectrum of different tracks and terrain found in the FIM Motocross World Championship. He was seen as a dependable and competitive choice to put the new YZ450F through its paces and get Yamaha back to the front of the category. As we have seen it can be very hard to make predictions in such a tough sport such as motocross but with Jeremy and Christophe we feel that we have great potential in both classes. The motocross Grand Prix programme for Yamaha is coming together well and we have every reason to look forward to 2014 with these riders and entering two exciting new bikes.” Van Horebeek will be joined as an official Yamaha rider in next year’s MXGP class by Australian Dean Ferris who has been announced earlier to ride for the Steve Dixon led British section of the Yamaha factory motocross line up. Copy and image courtesy of Yamaha Motor Europe N.V. |