Kenny Vandueren about Renaux, Benistant and Paturel
Since he decided not to race anymore, Kenny Vandueren has still been involved in the sport. He now holds the role of training and coaching advisor. The Belgian has worked closely with Maxime Renaux, Thibault Benistant and Benoit Paturel and has had a positive influence on all three.
The 2021 season was special for Renaux as his hard work paid off by winning the MX2 World Championship and Vandueren was part of that. The French talent has a new challenge for the 2022 season as he has decided to make the jump to the MXGP World Championship.
Let's start with the 2021 season – what a season for Maxime Renaux! He was the underdog for the title at the start of the season, but did you think he would be this good?
Kenny Vandueren: When I trained intensively with Maxime for the first time in December, I immediately saw that I had someone with me with a lot of motivation, commitment and with a goal for 2021. The physical tests and values also showed that he had an exceptionally strong body compared to with a standard athlete. It just had to be followed up properly, which I do together with Yente Dourte (performance coach), for which I thank you. I am therefore very proud that I was able to work alongside Maxime in a factory team in my first year and win the title.
After winning the MX2 world title, Renaux decided to move to the MXGP class, the easy decision would have been to stay in MX2. What do you think of his decision and how does he look on the bigger bike in the short period he was able to test the 450?
Vandueren: Like I said, I know how strong Maxime is and he will like this transition. The feeling on the 450cc is certainly good during the previous tests. We are of course at the highest level and I don't think the level in MXGP has ever been as strong as it was last year in 2021. He will only have one challenge and that is himself.
Despite missing the last two rounds of the championship due to injury, Thibault Benistant still finished eighth in the World Championship standings. That's not bad for a rookie. Were you satisfied with his season and what do you expect from him in 2022?
Vandueren: It's still very early to say, we know Thibault is a very talented rider as he showed last year. He can win heats and is willing to do anything to fight for the title. Despite his injury, we will now first focus on his recovery. We do this in Antwerp with Bert Driesen from Movetocure to get him healthy and fit on the bike again. It's a total program change for him. From there I will write the program of the year for next season and try to work on his weaknesses. I look forward to seeing him grow more!
Unfortunately, Benoit Paturel did not have an injury-free season, but when he made his return he showed good speed and fought in the top ten. Were you happy with how he finished the season and how important is it for him to remain injury-free throughout next season?
Vandueren: Correct! He recently had some really bad luck in his preparation for the GPs. He contracted a serious virus and put everything on the back burner, which meant he had to rest for several months, which was not ideal. I couldn't have asked for a better ending to his season for what he went through. Great to see him still fighting at the front. We are on track. He is the funny one among us who makes everyone laugh. Working together as a team will make him stronger!
The MXGP season starts in February and you don't have as much time as usual. It looks like you've been hard at work on them already? Are you excited for the season to start?
Vandueren: We started working on a lot of fitness and physical exercises as we already did in Calpe, Spain. We started in the morning with some yoga and core before breakfast and spent many hours on the bike. There is also some gym in the afternoon. If anyone has injuries or minor inconveniences, we will work with physiotherapist Filip Dierckx from Yamaha. We will really start from the beginning of December. I'm leaving for Sardinia on Monday to start training with them. I'm really looking forward to the season. Motocross is a dangerous sport, so you have to prioritize riding over everything else. You have to find the balance between when it's okay to push them off the bike and when you need to let them recover. That's quite a difficult exercise. If you're strength training at the gym and wake up with sore muscles the next day, it's not a bad idea to hop on a bike and ride for a few hours. There's nothing dangerous about that. But when you try to get them to do fifty laps at one hundred percent effort on a motocross track, things start to get dangerous. That's my job to do the checking for every rider.
Photos: shotbyBavo and archive
Tekst: Adam McKinstry and Danny Hermans
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