Kevin Strijbos is likely to head over to the United States in January as part of his winter preparation programme for the 2015 FIM Motocross World Championship.
Rockstar Suzuki team-mate Clement Desalle has already received the green light from the factory squad to escape the Northern European winter climes for a two week stay in California and now Strijbos is also keen to travel and could be accompanied by Rockstar Suzuki Europe MXGP debutant Glenn Coldenhoff.
The plan to use the fortnight for some intense riding and practice is part of Strijbos’ slightly altered approach to the 2015 MXGP season in which he hopes to eradicate some of the arm-pump troubles he encountered this year with extra time on the works RM-Z450.
“I sat down with the team and my trainer to look at a couple of changes for next season and we will make some improvements in the gym but also get more time on the bike,” the 28-year-old, who finished third in the MXGP standings said.
“The arm-pump issue is not too bad now and was pretty much OK from the second half of the season. It would come up sometimes; at the Motocross of Nations it was really bad but I understood that a lot of riders had the same problem there. Anyway I want to ride more in the winter time.”
Rockstar Suzuki are likely to have all three of their MXGP representatives Stateside with Sport Manager Joel Smets for company. “It is not 100% confirmed yet but I think we will probably go from the 5th to the 22nd,” Strijbos said. “The goal is just to ride and build up the speed. The weather is the main advantage even if the tracks are a bit flatter than the ones we’d get at home.”
Strijbos completed four days of testing with team after the Nations in Latvia last month. Two days were spent in France before another two days at Lommel, scene of the Belgian Grand Prix and where the deep sand provides what Team Principal Sylvain Geboers calls the ‘best and the worst’ testing conditions around.
“I did not make any particular requests to the team for the bike because most of the time the Suzuki was so strong,” he reveals. “I used a lower power setting up until the GP at Lommel [beginning of August] and then rode with the stronger configuration which I was happy with. I’m also using the new frame now because I preferred the old one all season. We worked with the forks and the shock and it was not so easy to get it all functioning together but we made some good steps.”
Strijbos leaves for one week of holiday next week before knuckling down on a training regime to prepare for 18 Grands Prix and 36 motos in 2015. Rockstar Suzuki will have their Portuguese ‘boot camp’ for two weeks in December that will involve all of their riders across the classes. After the Californian stint the Belgian team will re-assess their pre-season racing commitments that is likely to at least include an appearance at the Valence International in France.
