MotoGP: Team boss Bartholemy describes emotions of Miller win

Michael Bartholemy, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Team Principal, speaking after Jack Miller took an incredible debut win for both rider and team last weekend at the Dutch TT.

One week ago, Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS and Jack Miller won the MotoGP race at the legendary Dutch TT in Assen. I still can’t believe I am saying those words and what we achieved seven days ago still hasn’t really sunk in.

The last week has been a daze while I have tried to fully comprehend the magnitude of what happened last Sunday. But June 26, 2016 is a day I have worked my whole life for and a day that I will never forget.

I first arrived in MotoGP in 2004 and each day since I have dreamt of winning a race in the premier class. In fact, my dream of winning at the pinnacle of world motorcycle racing first began when I started working in this sport 26 years ago.

It has been a rollercoaster journey at times with some good and bad times, but it has all been worth it to experience a moment like I did in Assen.

I have been so close to realising this goal and now I have done it, I can honestly say that only the birth of my four children and winning the Moto2 title in 2014 with Tito Rabat has given me a better feeling in my entire life.

As well as being a life-changing day for me personally, it was an unforgettable experience for the Marc VDS Racing Team and Belgian motorsport.

I spoke to Jack on the grid and told him that the wet conditions presented an Independent Team with a great chance to fight at the front. It was an opportunity he had in his hands but he still had to take it and he did an amazing job.

I don’t think I have experienced such a range of emotions as I did on the last lap. In all my time in motorcycle racing, I have never missed watching a single lap in a race. Not once. But I must admit that I couldn’t watch the last lap because the tension was unbearable. Jack’s last lap only took one minute and 52 seconds. But it felt more like one hour and 52 minutes.

When Jack crossed the line I felt an enormous sense of pride, relief and joy.

An Independent Team had won a MotoGP race for the first time in 10 years. And it was my team. It simply does not get any better than that.

Nobody can ever take that moment away. The history books will always show it was my team, which started from nothing just six years ago, was able to win in the MotoGP World Championship.

In a rare quiet moment in the middle of all the scenes of celebration on Sunday, I thought about all the criticism that Jack and I have had in the past.

I wanted Jack to join our Moto2 team in 2015 but it never worked out. I know he is a special talent and I didn’t have any hesitation to sign him for our MotoGP project when the opportunity presented itself to work with him.

And now I’d like to think that we have both shown the world that never giving up and having unshakable faith in your ability can help you achieve great things.

It was perhaps fitting too that Jack stood on the podium in Assen with Scott Redding. Scott’s contribution in making the Marc VDS Racing Team what it is today can’t be underestimated. He was influential in gaining this team global recognition.

He scored our first ever Moto2 win in Le Mans in 2013 and then claimed our debut MotoGP top three in Misano last year.

I cried when he left the team last year because we had been through so much together and almost won the Moto2 title in 2013. To see a past and present star of the Marc VDS Racing Team on the podium in Assen was a huge honour for me.

Jack grabbed so many of the headlines in Assen that many people have forgotten already that we also had a podium in the Moto2 race with Franco Morbidelli. For Franco to get his first podium with us on the same day Jack won in MotoGP just makes Assen a weekend to cherish even more.

Jack and Franco’s success showed once again that the Marc VDS Racing Team has always been committed to work with young, hungry and fast talent.

I have no doubt we have four exceptionally talented young men riding for us in 2016, and that all of them with go from strength to strength in the future with the guidance and expertise we can provide them.

I want to say a big thanks to all the people that have never doubted me and never stopped believing in me, especially to my incredibly supportive wife and my children. They have always given me unconditional love and support throughout my career and I will be eternally grateful for that and the backing of all my family.

I want to thank every single member of my team. And specially the once with me from the start. It is the rider that takes the individual glory but behind him is a support network that I am proud to say I lead on a daily basis. Our success in Assen was a triumph for the whole team.

We have people working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to bring success to the team and I take this opportunity now to express my thanks for their dedication.

Every single one of us has now got a good story to tell our grandchildren about what happened on the last Sunday in Assen in 2016!

I must express my gratitude to Dorna and the International Race Teams Association.

We were also the last entry into MotoGP for 2015, and in less than 18 months and in just 26 races, we have managed to achieve something that many large factories have failed to do over a much longer period of time.

We were the last team to be accepted for the inaugural Moto2 World Championship in 2010 and I think our professionalism, profile and performance has made the Marc VDS Racing Team one of the standout success stories of that class.

I also want to thank some special friends in the GP Paddock

I say thanks to all of our partners, including Estrella Galicia 0,0, Honda and Elf. We have already established a fantastic relationship together and I hope that our collaboration will continue to flourish in the future.

I want to say a huge thanks to Marc van der Straten, who is the heartbeat behind our project. We have come a long way since that first Moto2 race in Qatar in 2010 when Scott and Hector Faubel both finished outside of the top 20.

Marc’s passion to become one of the best team’s in the MotoGP World Championship is astonishing and everybody in the team feeds off his enthusiasm and desire to succeed.

The two of us have been on quite a journey together and to see Marc stand on the podium as the owner of a winning MotoGP team in Assen was a very emotional moment for me.

He has been patient and given me the time I always said I needed to build a successful project.

Marc has always trusted my judgement implicitly I am given the freedom to make the choices I think will help the team prosper in present and the future.

Sometimes my decisions have been questioned outside of the team. But I have always had 100% trust in my own decision-making and Marc’s confidence in me has never wavered. Without Marc, none of this would be possible.

Finally, I want to say a huge thanks to our fans all around the world, The messages of congratulations and support have been overwhelming. We demonstrated in Assen that with a lot of hard work and perseverance that you can accomplish great things. Keep chasing your dream because one day you never know when it might come true.