Marnicq Bervoets is quite satisfied with his Kemea “Rookies”!!!
Brent Van Doninck's very first podium during the Dutch Grand Prix in Assen was a pleasant surprise for the Belgian Kemea Yamaha team, in which Van Doninck and rookie teammate Benoit Paturel had already achieved some nice top ten results. The third rider in this impressive Belgian structure is Damon Graulus who took a pair of victories in the European EMX250 Championship. After several failed seasons and wrong assessments with Luke Styke and Petar Petrov, the team of owner Hans Corvers, managed by former Grand Prix winner Marnicq Bervoets, has taken a completely different path in the MX2 category. For example, they have signed Van Doninck and the Frenchman Paturel for a multi-year contract with a view to 2016.
Bervoets' influence also has an impact on teenager Maxime Renaux, the young Frenchman won the 125cc Junior FIM World Championship and missed the European title due to a broken collarbone. Bervoets, 46, has been around for half a decade and has a wealth of experience to pass on. I help where I can and through things that they may also encounter as a professional rider,” he explains. They have a trainer with physical expertise and schedules to follow, but I think a little more in terms of personality and character building. Working with a coach is a good thing, but they must also know what they want, they must be able to choose lines that they think are best and if they are not good, they have gained the experience for next time. This way I work very hard and don't just say "this or that is better" and just throw it away. If you focus too much on control, you will not develop character. I want them to think differently, just think of yourself and not follow someone.”
Van Doninck and Paturel have already proven themselves at national and European level, but their progress and speed in the Grand Prix's has been surprising. “Inwardly you hoped that they had the potential for top ten,” says Bervoets. “When you see them ride and see the results, you are convinced that they can do it. You need a good team and good engines, but of course you also need to be free of injuries. Everything went very well. The start of the year was not 'wow', but if you see the progress now, it has been perfect. I think the team is ready for the next step and that is top five or maybe top three, that is my goal.”
Bervoet's role will now be to get Van Doninck and Paturel confirmed in the MX2016 class in 2. “I know the drivers very well now and that was not the case last winter. Now I can immediately concentrate on working with them and trying to make some more progress. There will be a bit more pressure now because they know what they can do and they have to learn to deal with that, both in and before the races.”
Both Corvers and Bervoets have secured a long-term partnership with Yamaha and, together with Standing Construct, will therefore provide strong support for the 'blue' in the paddock in the coming years. This year Kemea (short for “just find out”) could count on technical support from Michele Rinaldi's YRRD division, which has five years of experience running the YZ250F factory motorcycles. It is not yet clear whether this support will continue in 2016. “We don't know yet what will happen. We will know in two or three weeks what Yamaha wants to do with us,” says Bervoets.
Original: Adam Wheeler – ontrackoffroad.com – Dutch Version: @Kris…
Photo: CDS
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