Marvin Van Daele: “I'm working on my last season”
It was a bit of a shock when Marvin told us the following: “I am normally working on my last season.” It seems that the friendly Kempen native will no longer be seen on a motorcycle after 2015, or at least not in competition anymore. Marvin, who achieved a wonderful performance for the 'Motocross des Nations' team on the rock-hard track of St. Jean D'Angely in 2011, as an amateur, is retiring from racing. This means that Belgium has also lost one of its trendsetters.
The once younger version of Marvin Van Daele regularly rode in the top 10 of the Grand Prix's, hard or soft tracks, it didn't matter to him. For example, in 2003 there was a top five result in the Grand Prix of Lierop. Two years later there was a podium place in the first round of the Grand Prix of Namur, and a sixth place overall that day. It seemed very clear that Marvin Van Daele had a great future. Were it not for the fact that just when the cheerful man, together with Pierre Alexandre Renet, formed the Teka Suzuki Team Bodo Schmidt satellite team, things went wrong. Due to bad luck, and we really mean bad luck, Marvin's full-time motocross career came to an end. In 2008, the man from Dessel contracted glandular fever and was forced to sideline for more than a year. And as we saw in cycling with Tom Steels, returning to the highest level after glandular fever is virtually impossible.
However, Van Daele did not let it get to his heart. Although he could no longer return to the highest level, he continued to do what he loved, racing. In Belgium, Marvin built up a nice list of honors and quickly became 'Diene rappe postman'. You could consistently find the name Van Daele at the top of the results. All these achievements were warmly rewarded in 2011, when Marvin Van Daele was allowed to defend the colors of the best motocross country in the world, Belgium. He was allowed to go to France with the Red Knights as a full-time worker. Not only did he give our country a good 5th place considering the circumstances, he also beat riders such as Blake Bagget, Matt Moss and Jeremy Seewer.
What will Van Daele do in 2016? He is currently already coaching Mathias van Roy and he really likes it. Organizing training camps is not an immediate option, he said. But he certainly sees a point in guiding pilots on training and competition days. This is also one of the reasons why he decides to quit. He told us that everything he does, he wants to do well. A combination such as Inter and supervisor is therefore not possible, his age and family are also an important reason why he will hang up his boots.
In any case, we wish Smarry a nice season and congratulations on his great career!
Text – Portrait Photo: Frederik 'VePix' Van Eeckhoven
Photos MXDN Saint-Jean d'Angely: Bavo Swijgers
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