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Calvin Vlaanderen

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Calvin Vlaanderen
Vlaanderen in 2022
NationalityDutch
Born (1996-06-24) 24 June 1996 (age 28)
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Current teamMonster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team
Bike number10

Calvin Vlaanderen (born 24 June 1996)[1] is a South African-born Dutch professional Motocross racer.

Vlaanderen is a two time grand prix winner at FIM Motocross World Championship level. Vlaanderen was also a member of the victorious Dutch team at the 2019 Motocross des Nations.[2] Domestically, he won the 500cc class in the 2022 Dutch Masters of Motocross.[3]

Vlaanderen, through his grandparents, has dual nationality between his birth country of South Africa and The Netherlands.

Career

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Junior career

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After picking up numerous South African national motocross titles from 50cc to 125cc between 2003 and 2011, Vlaanderen competed in the FIM Motocross Junior World Championship in 2011, finishing in tenth overall in the 125 class.[4] In the following year, Vlaanderen moved to Germany full-time and competed in his season in the European Motocross Championship. Vlaanderen was able to finish tenth in the championship but picked up two overall podiums in Italy and Portugal. In the 2012 FIM Junior World Championship, Vlaanderen bettered the previous season's result, riding to seventh overall.

2013 would be Vlaanderen's last season aboard a 125. This would be his best season at European level, finishing third in the European Championship with three podiums to his name. Vlaanderen then followed this up by finishing runner-up in that year's Junior World Championship, winning the second race en route to this.

250 career

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Staying with the Bodo Schmidt KTM team, Vlaanderen moved up to the 250 in 2014. He put in a consistent season in the EMX250 class of the European Motocross Championship, finishing eighth in the final standings and taking a win in the first race at the final round. On top of this, Vlaanderen competed in his first two MX2 grand prix in the 2014 FIM Motocross World Championship, with a best finish of thirteenth in race one in the Czech Republic.

Vlaanderen moved to the HSF Logistics team to compete in the MX2 world championship full time. Unfortunately, due to injury, he was not able to make his debut until the penultimate round of the season. He continued with the HSF team for the following two seasons,[5] putting in consistent performances throughout both campaigns. His first overall podium came in 2016, with third overall in Latvia.[6] These performances were enough for Vlaanderen to be signed by Team HRC, Honda's factory team in the MX2 World Championship for 2018.[7] This move allowed Vlaanderen to have by far his best season at world championship level until that point. The season saw him take two race wins and his first overall grand prix win at the first Indonesian grand prix, on his way to sixth in the final standings.[8] Following his first grand prix win, the South African motorcycle federation, Motorsport South Africa, complained to world championship promoter Youthstream regarding the South African flag being flown on the podium. His performance throughout the season, would earn Vlaanderen his first call up to compete for The Netherlands at the 2018 Motocross des Nations.[9] As a team, the Dutch were able to finish second overall after his teammates Jeffrey Herlings and Glenn Coldenhoff won all three races. However, Vlaanderen was not able to start his second race due to an eye injury sustained in the opening race of the day.[10]

2019 would be Vlaanderen's last season in the MX2 class. He missed several rounds of the season and finished eighth in the final standings, picking up a race win and four overall podiums on the way. He once again represented The Netherlands for the 2019 Motocross des Nations, held on home turf in Assen. After finishing second in the MX2 qualifying race, Vlaanderen picked up two tenth-place finishes in the main races on the Sunday. These results helped the country win its first title in Motocross des Nations history.

450 career

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For the 2020 FIM Motocross World Championship, Vlaanderen had to move up to the MXGP class and was picked up by the Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha team.[11] He had a consistent rookie season in the class, with a best race finish of fifth in Mantova, eventually finishing the championship in sixteenth. In the 2021 season, Vlaanderen improved his final ranking to fourteenth overall despite missing the final five rounds of the championship.

The 2022 world championship season would be a break through year for Vlaanderen in the MXGP class. After a start to the season where he steadily improved, Vlaanderen was able to record a dominant double race victory and grand prix overall win in Sardinia.[12] A second overall podium in Belgium would also contribute to his final ranking of seventh in the championship. Domestically, he was able to win the 500cc class in the Dutch Masters of Motocross, whilst he made his third appearance at the Motocross des Nations. The Dutch team finished in seventh overall at Red Bud, with Vlaanderen having the highest individual race finish in the team. Vlaanderen carried this good form into the 2023 season, finishing consistently in the top-5 all year and achieving sixth overall in the final standings (finishing as the highest-placed non-factory rider). He picked up a single race win at the Czech round and made his fourth appearance at the Motocross des Nations, where the Dutch team was hampered by the injury of Glenn Coldenhoff. These results would see Vlaanderen signed by Yamaha's factory MXGP team for 2024, marking his return to factory equipment for the first time since his MX2 days.[13]

Vlaanderen would build into becoming a consistent top-six finisher as the 2024 FIM Motocross World Championship progressed, finishing third overall at the eleventh and twelfth rounds. In the first race at the Dutch round he crashed and injured his knee which saw him miss the final four rounds as well as finishing seventh in the final standings.[14] Prior to this, he finished third in the 2024 Dutch Masters of Motocross for the second year in a row.

Honours

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Motocross des Nations

FIM Junior Motocross World Championship

European Motocross Championship

Dutch Masters of Motocross

ADAC MX Masters (Germany)

Career statistics

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Motocross des Nations

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Year Location Nation Class Teammates Team Overall Individual Overall
2018 United States Red Bud  NED MX2 Jeffrey Herlings
Glenn Coldenhoff 		2nd 18th
2019 Netherlands Assen  NED MX2 Jeffrey Herlings
Glenn Coldenhoff 		1st 2nd
2022 United States Red Bud  NED Open Glenn Coldenhoff
Kay de Wolf 		7th 5th
2023 France Ernée  NED MXGP Kay de Wolf
Glenn Coldenhoff 		19th 10th

FIM Motocross World Championship

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By season

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Season Class Number Motorcycle Team Race Race Wins Overall Wins Race Top-3 Overall Podium Pts Plcd
2014 MX2 10 KTM Bodo Schmidt KTM 4 0 0 0 0 18 32nd
2015 MX2 10 KTM HSF Logistics Motorsports 4 0 0 0 0 39 30th
2016 MX2 10 KTM HSF Logistics Motorsports 26 0 0 0 0 224 12th
2017 MX2 10 KTM HSF Logistics Motorsports 26 0 0 0 1 261 13th
2018 MX2 10 Honda Team HRC 39 2 1 9 5 543 6th
2019 MX2 10 Honda Team HRC 24 1 0 7 4 399 8th
2020 MXGP 10 Yamaha Team Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 30 0 0 0 0 206 16th
2021 MXGP 10 Yamaha Team Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 26 0 0 0 0 203 14th
2022 MXGP 10 Yamaha Team Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 34 2 1 4 2 395 7th
2023 MXGP 10 Yamaha Team Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Racing 37 1 0 2 0 599 6th
2024 MXGP 10 Yamaha Monster Energy Yamaha Factory MXGP Team 31 0 0 6 2 550 7th
Total 281 6 2 28 14 3437

Grand Prix Wins

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GP wins
Amount of GP-wins Date Grand Prix Place
MX2-class
1 1 July 2018 Indonesia Pangkal Pinang
MXGP-class
2 15 May 2022 Sardinia Riola Sardo

References

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  1. ^ "Calvin Vlaanderen Bio". mxgp.com. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Dutch delight in Assen as they win the 2019 Motocross of Nations". Infront Moto Racing. dirtbikerider.com. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Calvin Vlaanderen and Gebben van Venrooy Yamaha win the Dutch title". motors-addict.com. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  4. ^ "MXA INTERVIEW: SOUTH AFRICA'S CALVIN VLAANDEREN". Jim Kimball. motocrossactionmag.com. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  5. ^ "HSF Logistics Motorsport Team announces line up for 2016". HSF Logistics Motorsport. mxgp.com. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  6. ^ "GP Report: MXGP of Latvia". Adam Wheeler. racerxonline.com. 8 May 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Team HRC is ready for the 2018 MXGP season". hondanews.eu. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  8. ^ "MX2: Calvin Vlaanderen wint zijn eerste GP!". Steven van Kempen. motocrossmag.be. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  9. ^ "THE NETHERLANDS ANNOUNCES 2018 MOTOCROSS OF NATIONS TEAM". Chase Stallo. racerxonline.com. 10 August 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  10. ^ "Calvin Vlaanderen injury – heartbreak for MXoN Team Netherlands". Andrew Hill. dirtbikerider.com. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Gebben Van Venrooy Yamaha Team Announces 2020 Roster". vitalmx.com. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  12. ^ "Vlaanderen boven! Zuid-Afrikaanse Nederlander Calvin Vlaanderen triomfeert in Sardijns zand". sporza.be. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  13. ^ "MXGP News: Yamaha Restructure Operations for 2024 Season". Edward Stratmann. mxvice.com. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Knee surgery for Calvin Vlaanderen". mxvice.com. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
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