Renowned technician Harry Nolte is embarking on a fresh racing project that will see his new team join the MX2 Grand Prix ranks for 2016 after a ‘breaking-in’ season in EMX250 European Championship participation this year.
Nolte has launched Team HNHF with key backing from firm FH Crone and Harry Fase and is busying fettling Kawasaki machinery for Magne Klingsheim and Lars Van Berkel for the squad’s inaugural campaign. Nolte has repeated Grand Prix winning experience behind him and was best known for his recent work with CLS Monster Energy Kawasaki that included marshalling Tommy Searle’s bid for the 2012 title against Jeffrey Herlings.
After parting with CLS in the winter Nolte did not remain in the background for long and talks with Fase led to the creation of HNHF. “We brought it together quite late so we decided not to run in Grands Prix this year and focus on the European Championship and only contest the European-based GPs where there was no EMX250 round taking place,” he revealed.
If all goes smoothly for HNHF in 2015 then they have bigger goals for the future. Coupling Nolte’s knowledge and acumen then the MXGP paddock could become all the richer for another prosperous team in the very near future. “It’s a three year plan…with Grands Prix in 2016 and 2017,” the Dutchman says. “We plan to start negotiating early with riders for those seasons with a look towards the top three. That is the goal of the sponsor and that’s his dream.”
“I can say that the level of the bikes we have now is the same – if not a bit better – than what we had ready for MX2 GPs with CLS last year,” he adds, commenting on his continuing work with Kawasaki that bodes well for Van Berkel and also 19-year-old Norwegian Klingsheim who completed a rookie MX2 GP term in 2014. “We have a young Dutch rider who is obviously good in the sand but he needs to work hard on his speed for the hard-pack,” Nolte assesses. “Klingsheim is probably the opposite and is fast on the hard stuff but needs more practice in sand. They can learn from each other and it is good way to work.”
Nolte might not be aiming for Grand Prix victories and trophies again in 2015 but his team has undoubted potential for EMX250 and then possibilities for Grand Prix. It is a new direction for the motocross veteran who bases his crew out of Den Bosch. “I’ve not really thought about it,” he says of the altered objectives in his work. “But it is not a step back at all. I have my own team now, together with the sponsor, and it is a new start and a nice challenge. I’m really excited. We have a brand new workshop and the race truck is almost ready.”
