MXGP & Europe

Ivano Van Erp, a talent made in Netherlands [ENG]

Ivano Van Erp, a talent made in Netherlands [ENG]

Among the 125 riders who were on track this weekend for the final round of the French Junior Championship in Rauville-la-Place was a young Dutchman who was well unknown to the French crowd; Ivano Van Erp.

Don’t be fooled by Ivano’s small stature and angel’s face; Once the helmet is on, the teenager rips, demonstrates excellent technique and an impeccable style.

“Who’s this Ivano?”

Less popular than his French rivals Quentin Prugnières, Xavier Cazal, Saad Soulimani and Alan Harnois this season, Ivano Van Erp is ridin for a French team; team led by Loic Le Foll: MJC Yamaha.

Teammate of Mairis Pumpurs & Kay Karssemakers this season, engaged in the 125 European Championship and the French Junior Championship, Ivano Van Erp is introduced to the fans this season by making his debut in 125 category. The kid from OSS already has a bunch of national titles in the Netherlands to his credit, and, to his already well-stacked records, Ivano added a Junior World Championship title in 2017.

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Ivano not fully fluent in English, we caught up with his dad, Robert Van Erp, to learn more about this young talent; made in Netherlands.

Robert Van Erp

“Ivano started riding when he was 5 years old, on a Yamaha, a PW50.

I used to ride in the past, and so did my brother; I took part in the Dutch national championship but started late. You know how it goes, you have a little boy, you love motorcycles, and he ends up riding and liking it too.

Riding the PW50, Ivano was showing he was comfortable on the jumps, he was not afraid of speed, nor afraid of falling.

A year and a half after his debut, I bought him a 50 KTM and at the age of 7, Ivano rode his first national races. In his very first national race, he rove really well. After two good starts he finished in the top 5 twice. In his second year in the 50CC class he won many races and won the national title. It was time to make the switch to 65 category.

The first year of 65cc in 2013 was really tough for Ivano, he was really short and lacked strength, but he didn’t give up and race after race he improved to finish in the top 10 at the end of the season.

The following year, in 2014, Ivano joined the Beursfoon Junior KTM team and won the Dutch championship title in the 65 small wheels category. Before, we used to pay for everything ourselves.

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The following year, in 2015, Ivano switched to 65cc big wheels and again won the national championship.

In 2016, he made his debut in the European 65 Championship, Ivano won two rounds in the EMX65 qualifications in the North West zone and qualified second in his group behind Liam Everts for the final at Loket. He is also national champion in 65cc big wheels that year.

In the final hosted in Loket, Ivano won the first 65 race. On the same day, there was a terrible accident on the track and a young 85cc rider lost his life. Ivano wasn’t the same boy that weekend, he didn’t ride as he knew how to do, he lost his means and the European Championship podium (1-21).

In 2017, he completed his last season in the 65cc category and won nine of the ten qualifying races of the North West Zone of the European Championship.

Again, the final took place in Loket. Again, Ivano won the first race but in the second race he got unlucky in the first corner and tangled with other riders; he got off the track, started dead last and climbed up to 10th. Ivano finished 3rd in the European 65 Championship. That same year, Ivano took part for the first time in the World Junior Championships in Estonia, winning both races and the title at the same time after a third place on the European championshio. It was awesome! We knew it was possible, Ivano had been really strong all year but he was a bit disappointed in the European Championship final in Loket with his third place; it’s not easy for a young boy to say to himself “Okay, now we’re going for the world title”, but he did. We were very proud, and I wouldn’t have missed it for nothing in the world.


After winning the World Junior 65 championship, Ivano signed a contract with Yamaha to make his debut in the 85 category in 2018. We set up our own team, we did everything ourselves with the support of Yamaha and our sponsors; Yamaha supplied us with bikes and parts. A year of learning with some highs and lows.

2019, a better year, he won some national races and he went 1-1 in Lommel during the qualifying for Europe 85 North West zone. No national title for Ivano in 85cc and unfortunately he broke his collarbone just before the European final and World Junior final and needed surgery. It was his last year in 85 category.

In October 2019, Ivano made his debut on the 125 and extended his contract with Yamaha. This season he rides for the awesome MJC Yamaha team. 2020 is a learning year for Ivano, but it’s a tough year with Covid-19. We have only done two races since February, one in England (EMX125 – 29th) and one in France in Magescq where he rode very well (France Junior – 5th) and after that there were 6 months without racing. Now, there are a lot of races that unfold in just a few weeks.

In 2021, Ivano will seek better results and will be lining-up in the 125 European Championship, the French Junior Championship and the Dutch National Championship.

Ivano is 15 years old, he still goes to school, it is compulsory in the Netherlands, he cannot miss school, with a few exceptions for the European Championship races. He’s in his last year, he’s going to take his exams and then it will be a little easier for him.

Next year we will still be with the MJC Yamaha team. We have a great relationship with everyone in the team and that’s very important to be able to take Ivano to the next level.

This weekend, it was not so bad in Rauville-la-Place (5th) but Ivano lost his balance just before the gate drop in the first race because he is really small for the bike and his staring block tipped at the start . Now we are going to end the 2020 season in the best possible way and we will learn from each race to come back stronger next year.

Most of the time we train alone, Ivano only has a physical coach. Sometimes we meet with the team and we train with the coach, whether in France, Spain, Holland or Belgium.

Ivano is young, but he is a very technical rider with a lot of talent. He doesn’t take a lot of risks because he’s still small and he’s not as tough as the others, but next year, he’ll be riding 200%. “


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