Former World women’s motocross champion Livia Lancelot has seen a lot in the Grand Prix paddock. A pioneer in the sport being the first ever Women’s World Motocross champion the French lady is very well respected in the sport.

As a racer she was professional and very precise in how she raced. Technical and talented seemed to be her best qualities and now, as the team manager of the 114 Motorsport Honda team, she has already seen success with strong results from Australian riders Hunter Lawrence and Mitchell Evans.

Now, for the 2020 season Lancelot has again gone down under to find the next Aussie surprise packet and with 21 year old Nathan Crawford and 18 year old Bailey Malkiewicz, she feels she has once again found riders fast enough to duplicate the performances of both Lawrence and Evans and get on the MX2 podium. 

Both rookies, and both excited to get their chance in the toughest motocross championship in the World Crawford and Malkiewicz have already shown good speed while training in southern France.

We gave Livia a call this morning and chatted about her two new riders and also about her strong Australian accent.

MXlarge: Livia, firstly congratulations two new Australians in your team. How is that going with the language, because Aussies don’t really speak English do, they?

Lancelot: No, it is really different, but I am understanding them now after having Hunter (Lawrence) and Mitch (Evans) in the team.

MXlarge: Why did you go with these two guys?

Lancelot: Obviously since we started this team with Giacomo (Garibaldi), we had Hunter and then Mitch, and I really, really like the spirit they have. They are all really similar, working really hard and focusing on the right things, let’s say. I also fell in love with their spirit of racing, and American’s are also like this. Of course, in Europe we have some really good riders, European riders, who have been here their whole life and are really expensive. In Australia we found some good kids with a good spirit and to be honest, they are not as expensive as the European riders. If I wanted to go for a podium next year and I wanted to go with a European guy, the cost is really high. For these kids, it is a bit if a game, because we don’t know if they will make the podium next year. We believe they can, and we have given them the chance and that is why everyone is happy.

MXlarge: Being an Australian myself, what I found appealing about my countrymen is they are usually really easy going and not looking for problems. Is that the case with your relationships with Australian riders?

Lancelot: Yes, that is what I mean when I say I love the spirit they have. They are here to race and focus on just the racing and not on anything else. They really want to do well, and they are easy going on this and we all go in the same direction. They are not interested in what colour gear they are wearing, but just on do they have the right practice facilities and all these types of things.

MXlarge: How old are they?

Lancelot: Bailey is 18 and Nathan is 22.

MXLarge: So, you have to be a big sister for them, I don’t want to say mother figure, because you are too young for that.

Lancelot: I am a little too young to be their mother, but it is a little bit baby-sitting, just trying to help them as much as possible. They arrive from a different country, not a lot of people around here speak English. I am trying to help them feel good out there and they are without family, without friends and we try and give them the best conditions so they have everything they need and can just focus on their racing.

MXlarge: Have they been out of Australia before?

Lancelot: No, never.

MXlarge: So how was that first experience when they arrived?

Lancelot: Actually, Bailey might have come a few times, but first Nathan it is the first time. They really just travel from the apartment to the workshop, to the track. So, since the weather down here hasn’t been very good, we keep riding in the sand and for the moment they haven’t discovered many things, but they are really happy. They are cycling a lot in the area, we also have the ocean very close, so for them it is a little bit like Australia and not like being in Lommel in the winter.

MXlarge: How have they looked watching them ride, do you have an opinion of how good they are as racers?

Lancelot: Yes, I can. They are both doing really good. Sometimes Bailey is faster and sometime Nathan is faster, which is really good, because they are pushing each other on practice, and they will improve from that. From what I can see, they are riding with a full standard 250 2020 and we didn’t start testing yet and they are in deep sand, in tough conditions, but what I see is very positive. They have different styles and I really like watching them ride. If they keep working, the way they are since they arrived, then I believe we can be on the podium in 2020.

MXlarge: Both of them?

Lancelot: Yes, both of them.

MXlarge: Wow, that would be great. Obviously, Mitchell show amazing speed in Argentina, getting on the podium in his debut GP, and then had some issues throughout the year with injuries. Are they comparable to Mitchell when watching them ride?

Lancelot: It is hard to tell. I know I am surprised how they are. I didn’t think both would be the same speed, but as I said, sometimes Bailey is faster and sometimes Nathan, and we already have some comparisons with some French riders, and I do believe both will be on the podium next year. I am not sure it would happen in Argentina, because last year with Mitch was very unexpected. Even for him, and we knew he was fast, but we didn’t’ expect that in the first round. Both these guys are hard workers and I expect a similar thing with them, that we had with Mitch.

MXlarge: I spoke to Mitchell about the calendar and how it looks good for the Australian riders, because Matterley Basin is very much an Australian looking track, and Argentina is also a good one for the Aussies. Are they aware of those places?

Lancelot: Yes, they know, and they are already watching all the GPs on television and they keep watching and they know all the tracks and the set-ups, and we already talked about Matterley and how much is it like the tracks in Australia. They are looking forward to the big open tracks like Matterley and Argentina. For sure Valkenswaard, first time in the sand at the beginning of the season will be different, but we have a lot of sand tracks around the workshop and also a lot of good riders around here training, so they will be prepared. I am not even worried about Valkenswaard.

MXLarge: It is funny, but listening to you talk, you have a bit of an Australian accent.

Lancelot: Yes (laughs), they are talking around me all day.

MXlarge: So, leading into Matterley, what is the plan for the riders?

Lancelot: Yes, we will do all the Italian races in Italy. Not 100% sure about the first one, but for sure in Mantova and Ottobiano. Then we will do Lacapelle in France and that pretty much takes us up to Matterley. So minimum three races before the GPs.

MXlarge: Watching those tracks in Italy, they seem like difficult tracks for new-comers, and Lacapelle could be cold and even frozen. Do you prepare them for possibly poor results at those places?

Lancelot: We didn’t talk about that yet, we just for the moment concentrate they feel good on the bike and they have everything they need and of course close to the races we will talk about those races and the goals and I will tell them it will be hard and we don’t really care about the results at these races, but it is just getting the rhythm or racing.

MXLarge: Just on your personally, how are you finding the whole team manager stuff?

Lancelot: Yes, I have learnt every year. The first year was the worst one, because we started from zero and a lot of things happened, that I didn’t expect, but I am really enjoying it. It is what I wanted to do for a long time and I don’t regret stopping my own racing to do it and I really enjoy watching them ride and I don’t need to be on the podium myself and I am really happy with this role and I hope it continues for a long time.