At the MXGP of Sardegna, the Behind The Gate crew filmed with MRT Racing Team Beta, featuring their two new riders Rick Elzinga and Jago Geerts. The Press Officer for the team actually comes from the island, and had arranged for a beautiful beach-house apartment for their riders to stay at between the days at the track – an idyllic location for escaping the stresses of the Paddock, and it made for some great videography of the area for Behind The Gate, as well as giving us the chance to show two of the more reserved characters in MXGP, in a much more relaxed mood.

Ben Rumbold/MXGP.com Interview

The Dutchman Elzinga, a complete MXGP rookie after finishing an injury-riddled final MX2 season in 13th place for the year, with the highlight a P3 result in the final, rain-affected race in Australia. The 2022 EMX250 European Champion turned 23 years old in November last year, so was happy to sign with MRT Racing Team Beta for 2026, although further injury in the winter hampered his preparations. The Sardegna event wasn’t great for the team, with two DNFs for Rick himself. We’ll let Rick pick up the story, after he adjusted to our new studio setup for 2026…

RE: This seat is in a new direction. [Laughs] I'm intimidated!

BTG: Intimidated? It’s OK man, just speak to our camera guy there, we’re all good! One blue light, one red one, to match the bike, is that OK for you?

RE: Yeah it’s nice, eh? Just looking to the camera? OK…

BTG: Perfect! First of all, Rick, moving into MXGP this year, how did the move to Beta come about? Who started the conversation there, and how did it come to be that you are now a Beta factory rider?

RE: Yeah, you know, last year I got approached by Beta, they asked if I wanted to try the bike because both my and their ideology was quite similar. There was quite a good feeling in that, quite a good connection. You know, they were trying to find a younger guy for a longer time. And for me, I was trying to find a 450 seat because last year was a kind of a difficult year for me with injuries and everything. So yeah, you know, like this, it just fitted quite nicely. I thought, ‘I want to try the bike’, and it was quite good, you know, in the first instance, not too bad, and yes, just a good fit overall. 

So, yeah, that made me quite happy, because usually if you are not in the factory seats, it's quite… you know, like a chair dance. It’s a bit of an uncertain world, but yeah, Beta was quite solid in wanting this, so that gave me some trust with them. Whereas other teams were a bit, ‘maybe yes, maybe no’, they're switching a lot, so I was just choosing a certain role, basically. And that's how I ended up with Beta.

BTG: Nice one, thank you. Now obviously, you had injuries last year, I mean, not to go back to bring up lots of pain, but yeah, what were the problems last year? And then was it a carryover from that, that you could not do the first few rounds this year, or was that like a new injury for you?

RE: No, last year was just a bit difficult. It was difficult to get in connection with the bike, you know, it was just that I felt always on the limit with the bike, so it was difficult to avoid those problems, because everybody is going so fast these days, you have to push the limits. They weren't the biggest crashes, but every time I got hurt. I broke my pinky finger twice, and then a collarbone also. So they were just very unfortunate accidents.

And then in the winter, actually the first test with Beta, I had a big crash. Still, it surprised me, it was a bit of a freak accident. I broke my kneecap, which took like two, three months to heal, two and a half months. Then I was happy, because I was still back around New Year's, that I would be back on the bike, you know, I had a couple of days. Knee wasn't 100 percent, but it was, you know, it was okay. Then we went back to testing suspension.

Then even without crashing, I just put my foot on the ground to step a bit, not in a crazy, or not in a wrong way, but I just felt immediately at the first touch of the ground that it just spread apart again. Yeah, I still don't know why, because it was a bit of a, like I said, it was a freak accident, because, I'm not so silly that I will try to do stuff when I can't. I listened to my body and it felt alright. And also the medics, you know, they told me it was fine and strong enough so I could ride again. So it was strange that it broke again, and yeah, breaking it for the second time makes it a lot worse in recovering, so since then I'm still recovering with this, probably I am now at 60 to 70% I feel like, with the knee. The knee is fine, it's just that the muscles around are really weak because I took like four months off everything, so yeah the body needs to get used to it again, I'm just far behind, so it's just clawing back I guess.

BTG: Yeah for sure, and obviously it’s not ideal now, that it's coming right when you have to change class, you go to a higher level of competition, a bigger bike. Just to think from that side, before we talk about the racing there, the actual riding on the bike, the 450, how do you feel with the bigger engine, the bigger bike? Did you try a 450 much, before you moved to Beta even?

RE: I would say I'm a 450 guy because I'm quite tall and heavy. Of course, I'm heavy because I'm quite long in the limbs. But yeah, last year and the years before I had a 450 for training, and I just really loved it. It was just nice to ride on it and I really enjoyed it. Also, my style is a bit like that. I like when the bike has a lot of power and I can use it, instead of like pushing and pulling on the bike, you know? That's what I like less to do. So yeah, I was really happy to move to 450. I still do, but yeah like I said, I'm still clawing back from an injury and I haven't tested much on the bike, so I just need time, I guess, to get into it, because at the moment the results are not good, and for me it's the first time that I get lapped in my life, and all I do is get lapped! So I'm really far behind. I would say I just need to keep working, and I need some time, and then I will be around the top ten. I suppose that's what my goal is, and what I think I can do, so that's the goal.

BTG: Something that was said in the Paddock was that you went to get the number 4, and you basically stole it from Liam Everts. He really wanted number 4 and he couldn't because you had it! Why go for number 4?

RE: Actually, Liam and me talked about it in Tenerife. We were cycling there in the winter a year ago, and he told me that he wanted to have number 4 as well, before getting the 26. And I always wanted it because it was my youth number, you know, I grew up with number 4. So I always tried to get it. I never could. In EMX some other rider had it, then in MXGP Tonus had it and he kept it for a long time, even though he only did one race a year!

So, you know, I was pushing the people from Yamaha, like, please get me number 4, please get me number 4. And we finally did! So I was really happy, and then Liam told me like he also wanted number 4, but we were just quicker! So I was really happy with my people, that they did it and now I have number 4!

BTG: So just to talk about Sardegna, first of all, you guys you had a nice setup there with the beach house, how did that come about?

RE: Well, you know, Sardegna is a nice place, especially when you're not there in the winter like we usually are. So we go there in, for me, it’s Summer time! Italians will say it’s Spring but for me it was already like Summer, but yeah, just a good time. We're on the beach. It's very calm, you do your training, and somehow it just gives you more peace, so I just love being there.

BTG: So Sardegna is your second race back, because you came back in Switzerland and then going to Sardegna, obviously you've raced there before, but now on a 450. What was it like for you, just give us a story of your weekend, and how it was to try and race there on a 450 for the first time.

RE: Well for me, I was just busy with testing basically, because I still hadn't had the chance to test, so I was just trying to fix that, not race too much, because I'm just not there yet. So, you know, I tried to find the fastest way to get myself into shape and to my potential, so just testing, and then yeah we had some recurring problems with the bike. So we have to address those, and then yeah be better this weekend in Arco.

BTG: Is it a brand-new bike or are you kind of working on what Ben and Tom had last year? Are you developing the bike at the same time or just trying to get it suited for yourself?

RE: Yeah, we are just continuing to work on what they left behind basically. So for me, I need to figure out the suspension and for me a new frame of course. But yeah, definitely we are evolving on what they had. So yeah, we're just trying to get it better.

BTG: You were based around, I guess, the whole Yamaha base in Lommel, obviously, in Northern Europe. Have you changed completely now? Have you moved to Italy, closer to the Beta factory? What's your setup like at home compared to what it was like before?

RE: Yeah, so in previous years when I was with Hutten Mettaal Racing, I lived at home because I live twenty minutes from Hutten, in the north-east of the Netherlands. So, that was a change this year, moving to Italy. The team will move to Belgium in a couple of weeks, so then I will be back at home, working from there, which is for me the best, because I have all my people there. It's just a new way of working with those guys because yeah, they are working in the Italian way. It's a bit more relaxed and a bit more, yeah, just a different way of working, you know? I am quite strict with every time and date, I like to have a schedule and they are more relaxed, you know? Like we will figure it out, and they will, but for me, it's just a different way of working.

BTG: Yes I know, [nodding to our Italian cameramen] Italian timing is different! So to summarise, can you please tell us your hopes for the year, where you want to be?

RE: Yeah, my hopes for this year are just, you know, get back to fitness, get healthy again with my knee, figure out the bike together with the team and then just find my potential and hopefully secure a good ride for my next year in the MXGP class, which is where I would love to be. So yeah, I have the one-year contract to make it what it is and I'm here for it.

Epilogue: Rick was able to get through the Trentino Qualifying Race without being lapped, and only the very top men put him a lap down in Race 1, before an early crash put him out of race two. The upbeat Dutchman would have benefitted from the break in the schedule, and will no doubt score his first points of the year very soon. If you like to cheer for an underdog, you could do worse than keep your eye out for this rider who has had so much misfortune in recent years. Make some noise for the number 4 whenever you can!

Author: Infront Moto Racing - Ben Rumbold