Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

understands th at if th e riders are n ot ' listened to , then th e riders must sti ck together and make it clear that we are not prepared to co ntin u e on th at basi s. You will have seen the nM proposals for changes in motocross for 1989. What is yo ur reaction? I haven' t foun d any ri ders who are in fa vor of three hea ts a n d the other suggestions. Wh en we were th ere together in So uth A merica a n d d iscussing these idea s, then th e reactio ns were totally against. The people who put these ideas to ge ther just h aven 't been th inking about th e co nseq uences. If those ideas go through, it will be a rea l m ess. How do you feel about the double jump ban which the FIM brought in this year? I think th at was rea li sti c for the outdoor races, but we need to be able to keep th em in th e Supercross. They are different. What we n eed is a n experienced team to build the doubles in Supercross, or they can be built with th e advice o f riders. Doubles can be built safe. Steve Whitelock, your team boss at HRC, has been reported as ' being against the World Masters Series scheduled for this autumn, but I believe you are in favor of it. Is that a problem for you? I do n o t believe that Steve is per sonally a gainst th e series, but I think he is expressin g th e a ttitude of the Honda facto ry. H e knows the m an d I feel sure th ey are not convinced it is of benefit, so Steve is havin g to represent th eir view. But I thin k tha t when th ey see it is a big show, th en they will go for it. Bu t I think it is a really good idea . I th in k the combina tion in a series of Su percross, ou tdoor and desert or beach racing will give us a series wh ich will sh ow who is th e m ost co m plete ri der, a n d it will be a rea lis tic co nfrontation bet ween th e best riders in Ameri ca and Europe. It wo n't be perfect in th e first season, but if yo u look at th e way Bob Dee Jong can organ ize, th en you can see th at he is a m an capable of making it so, o nce any problem s, which th ere m ight be, arise. H e h a s proved that with th e Sch eveningen beach race. Your .H on da contract expires this season, but you have signed a letter of intent for the next two years. Do you think you will be staying with Honda. Yes. I'm q uite positive abou t that. And in which class will you ride? Tha t is not decided yet, but I h ope it will be 500. That is what I want. I wa nt to be th e firs t ri der to wi n the World Champ io nsh ip iii.a ll three classes. Every year sto ries appear linking your name with a return to Suzuki. They are just rumors a nd you get used to th em. Of course th ere are co n nections. When you h ave worked with peop le for m any years, you don ' t Ju st ig nore the m, and inevitably yo u talk about business too, Tha t doesn ' t m ean that you will be wo rking wi th them the next year. When I was with Suzuki, I talked to H on da. If you ca n improve your terms, th en yo u do so, bu t I am not th e sort of person w ho j u m ps fro m o ne factory to another. I think it is im porta nt for you r reputation to stick wi th th e p eople w ho are good to you . The race today in Mol was a great success, but Belgian motocross in general is in something of a crisis. Do you have any views on why that is? We jus t h ave too many races with good ride rs in a very sma ll area. It I S not like Ital y where th e people have th e chance once in a season to see the top riders in th eir part of the coun try. If people don 't go to the race this wee k to see th e World Cham pion, th ey know the y can see h im so me whe re else next week withou t travelling very far . The p eople are n ot prepared a ny mo re to co me a nd see th e same p eople every week. If two to p football clubs played eac h ot her every weeken d for 10 wee ks, the n fo r su re th ere wo u ld not be so m any people for th e last of these as th ere was for th e first. Last yea r a kid in Luxembourg jumped in front of you during the first race and you were unable to , a void him. I u nderstand you have some problems wi th him. Yes. H is life insurance co mpany is trying to say that I shou ld pay one th ird of th eir costs. What do you think about th at? They are al so trying to get another third from the organizers in Luxembourg on the grounds that they should have made even more of an effort to get him off the track. An d th e o ther third is p robably being asked of the ba r whe re he had bee n drinking. Perhaps he should rather be asked to pay for destroying your chances of the 500cc World Championship last year. You 've go t a point th ere. T h e time I was m aking on th e leaders before he made me cras h was enough to h ave m ade me World Champio n beca use for weeks I had been the strongest at th e en d of the races. You have ridden your 250 all year in normal international rac es. Was it good not to be continually sw it ching from one bike to another? Yes, a nd I was even m aking th e starts ma ny times. My H onda was very Honda teammates: 1986 500cc World Champion Dave Thorpe (top) and Geboers. Geboers will most likely stay with Team Honda for at least two more years. good, but racing agai nst the 500s ke p t me very sharp. ' You h ave now co mpleted two sea sons without serious injury and escaped from your reputation as a "crasher." Have yo u made a mental effort to do so? As I sa id ea rl ier, m y r eid fears regarding th e world title were th at I might lose it through injury. I thin k we a ll become m ore carefu l as we grow o lder, a nd th e on ly injury I h ad th is year was a bruised th igh at Metz in France one wee k before Yugoslavia. I h ad spent two la ps trying to keep away fro m th a t En gl ish Suz u ki g uy Whatley befo re he finally succeeded in center p u nc h ing me. It affected me in Yugoslavia, and showed just how easy it co uld be to lose everything because of someone else. Were you nervous in Namur and Luxembourg? It wasn't so bad in Narnur, but af ter m y retireme nt in the second race, I ,was anxious d uring the week before Luxembourg. I knew that I was capable of scoring the necessary points there to make sure of the title, but, once I was in a position to do so, I did n't want to have to wait unti l Switzerland. There were three weeks between L uxem bourg and th e Swiss race, and I was so worried because anything could happen in that time. I have been so close to championships before and seen my chances disappear. It was im po ssibl e to get that out of my mind. On Sunday morning in timed training I had to wait for a lo ng time 'a t the start of the hour to have the plomb fitted to my bike, and it had sta rted to rai n when I got on th e trac k. I co u ld not get under a time of 2:52. an d I didn 't know that track had been much less slippery in th e first 10 minutes when Bursens and Jacky Martens h ad set the fas test time ' o f 2:42. I was so nervous, worrying th a t I 'was 10 seco nds off th e pace an d Lj ust kept cras hing. The nerves co ntin ued rig ht up to the sta rt of race o ne, bu t o nce I was on th e start line, I was okay. My wife sig nalle d me o n th e first lap th at Nicol was ou t, so I kn ew I on ly n eeded to fin ish in the firs t I I an d I just co nce n trated on find in g my , rh ythm. But h alfwa y th rough th e race I was stuck behind Geu ken s, and I was losin g m y co ncentration tryi ng to res trict m y speed to h is pace as h e go t slower, so I decided that I m us t try to pass h im. Twice he p ushed me out in th e corners when I was almost past, h owever, and he is a Bel gi an , I just couldn't believe it l And then I , fell trying too hard. After that I was on m y own and I could relax ' m uch more. The relief when I crossed the li ne was so great. I didn 't see what happened w hen Persson hit the cameraman, b ut as I turned around they almost crashed into my wife who was trying to get through the crowd to congratulate me. No w that the title is yours, will yo u try to rebuild th e Belgian public's faith in yo u ? You ' h a ve alread y expla ined why yo ur results have no t been so good in Belgium this year. I will try to do my best in my remaini ng th ree races starting in Mol. That is a good track , b u t I haven't raced in sand since Sweden, and I still h ave some problems with strength in my left forearm from an old injury. I will try my best, and I have one more race in Italy and th e Motocross des Nations. Th en I will take a holiday a nd try to be fully fi t to defend m y title in 1988. • 13

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