Inside the life of an MXGP Mechanic

Bart Dirkx

 

Being a mechanic for a world class team or rider is not an easy task. These are the guys who put in hours upon hours of graft in order to spin the spanners for some of the top riders in the FIM Motocross World Championship.

Towards the end of the 2020 season, we sat down with several mechanics for the top teams in the paddock to learn more about their pre-race rituals, strategies, must-have tools and what a typical day for a mechanic looks like…

BART DIRKX

IN 2020 MECHANIC FOR: Jorge Prado, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

IN 2021 MECHANIC FOR: Jorge Prado, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

NATIONALITY: Belgian

WHAT ARE THE MUST HAVE ITEMS IN YOUR BACKPACK BEFORE TO TAKE TO THE LINE?

“Basic tools, the tools that you need to do something quick on the bike in case if the rider has a little crash, things that you can fix in 2 minutes. Like a bent lever, the tank cap…Then I always have a plastic cap replacement, some tissue, some fuel, especially for the sand races, because we are always on the edge with the fuel amount”

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE OR MOST USED TOOL?

“Torque wrench is my favourite. Like that I’m sure that all the bolts are at the correct Newton/meters, even if you have a really good feeling with all the bolts of the bike, with the t-wrench you cannot go wrong!”

HOW IMPORTANT IS THE PREPERATION OF THE RACE TRUCK BEFORE THE START OF THE RACES?

“It is really important, because you need to know exactly where all the spare parts are. You need to be able to go inside the truck, open the draw and immediately find the parts that you need even without thinking about it. I think that is really important that mechanics load the truck for this reason, this is why I always want to be on site when we load the truck like that I know exactly where all the parts are and I’m sure that all the things that I need are there”.

YOU USE A LOT OF KEY WORDS ON THE PIT-BOARD, IS THERE A STRATEGY BEHIND THEM?

“Yes, especially when you’re together with a rider after a few years you start to understand each other even with small signs that you give to him. It doesn’t have to be a sentence, only a basic keyword that you use every time. Even the way I look at him or the way I move my hands or my fingers in pitlane, he knows exactly what to do. So it is really important to always keep those same key words and the feeling I have with my rider”.

WHAT IS YOUR ‘NORMAL DAY’ ROUTINE VS YOUR ‘RACE DAY’ ROUTINE?

“Race day I start with a coffee. We then unload the bikes and all of the stuff out of the stands, the carpets, the tools… After that, even if it’s not necessary, I check all the bolts again, fill up the tank and do the general checks you have to do on the bike but as fast as I can. At the end I will check my backpack again, even if I already did so the day before. I check that I have the pit board markers, some tissue, some papers, just basically all the things you must have in pitlane. For me this is normal, and I do all these checks even without actually thinking about it”.

“Then on a normal day, when we go to the workshop, we completely split the bike in all its parts, check all the parts that need to be changed and clean all the other parts. This takes a long time and you really need to be focused and precise to have the best outcome”.

BEING A MECHANIS IS MORE THAN JUST LOOKING AFTER THE BIKE. WOULD YOU AGREE THAT SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO ALSO SUPPORT YOUR RIDER FROM A PSYCHOLOGICAL SIDE?

“Yeah, that’s really important. That doesn’t mean we train together for that, but he puts all his trust in my work. When he goes out on track and makes jumps of 30-40 meters with the bike, it means everything must be built in a proper way. We spend a lot of time together and we really trust each other. It’s like in the army, people that spend a lot of time together have a real connection; that doesn’t mean that we have to be on the phone every day or that we speak all the time… If he has a problem, he tells me, especially because I’m much older than him and knows that he can trust me, we speak about it and we find a solution”.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PRE-RACE RITUALS WITH JORGE?

One thing that Jorge likes to do is to put both of his feet on the foot pegs on the start, this is to make him feel quieter and more relaxed. When we are on the start line, I always stay on the opposite side of the silence, I put the bike on my side and I tell him “ok Jorge, you can put the feet on the bike” and he puts both feet on the pegs and immediately is much calmer and everything is ready, and he is ready to go as well”.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MECHANIC OF A WORLD CHAMPION?

“To be honest for me it doesn’t change anything because I have done this job already for so many years, it is exceptional and everybody likes it, but for me it’s not the most important thing. I really love this job, so I put the same effort working with a rider that finishes 10th in the World Championship and now with Jorge, who has won the World Championship, for me that doesn’t make any difference”.