Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

00 00 0") ....... Interview: 1988 500cc MX World Champion Eric Geboers Makin'history By Alex Hodgkinson Mo tocross history was made on the first Sunday of August a t the infamous Ci tadel trac k i n N amu r , Belgium wh en Eric Geboers, 26-years-old just two days earlier, clinched the World Championship 500cc MX Series ti tle to complete a unique hat-trick . h' . h 125 o f c h ampions IpS In t e , 24 250 a nd 500cc classes. The yo u ngest bro th er of a motocross m ad fami ly , who a ll compet~ at some ume (elder b rother Syl vain was th ree urnes seco nd ~o J ~I Ro,?ert in the W?r1d Cham p lOn~ h l p 2:>Occ !\fX Sen~ ), fro m Mol II} the Fl emlsh-spea~lD g p art o f Belgium had won fo u r u tles at wo rld level - h is I 25cc wi ns came on Su zu ki in 1982 a nd 1983, H onda sent him to the 250cc dass last year to WID t~at <;Town a n d n ow he h as th e premier ti tle as well. ~eb oers celeb ra ted 10 ye!l~s of rac mg wh en h e rode ~he traditio nal Au gust 15 ra ce on h IS home to",:n tra ck, a nd on ly th e records of SIX ch a m p io nshi ps, 50 GPs a nd 102 mo tos o f Rober ~ rem a in to be bea ten . Perhaps even In this Geb oers ca n ex tract reven ge for those na rro w defeats su ffered by Sylv ain for he a lready has four ti tles, 31 GP wins a nd 61 GP m otos to h is credit. Last year you said that you had been under tremendous pressure to win aft er " going down to the 2505," Was th e pressure even grea ter this yea r as y~u fa~ed the c1?nce of bec.oml~g th e first n der to WID Wo rld titles ID all three classes? Not all all. There was a lo t written in the papers abo u t th is race bet ween Georges jobe a nd myself, but I didn ' t find that it affected me a t all. Did you find it difficu lt to ada p t to riding the 500s again at GP level ? Last year you had even ridden th e 250s most of the time in in ternational rac es. It wasn 't such a p roblem because I kn ew th e bi ke a lready fro m the testing which we h ad done last year. I knew from th ose tests th a t it was a vas t im p ro vemen t o n th e bike we h ad before , p articu lar ly from a handlin g point of view. It is not on ly better tha n th e m od ified production bik e of 1987, but al so th e fu ll works model of 1986. Righ t from th e start I wa s a lso very p leased with the m otor. Your style, particularly when I watch you in the corners, is much less flamboyant than in the past. Comparing photos of yo u in the same corners this year and in the period 1984-'86 , you seem to be concen tra ting on precision in th e tu rns so th a t you ca n get the bike upright q u ick ly and maximize acceleration. For sure m y ridi n g style has ch a nged , and I don't ride so d ose to the li m it. so I don ' t fall o ff so o ften a ny more. I am r idi ng mu ch m ore u nd er co ntrol. T he reason wh y I sta rted to ch a n g e m y style wa s becau se I realized th at I had to try not to crash as often , beca use that is when you gel hurt. So it is not th e p ower of the bike wh ich ha s forced yo u to ch a nge yo ur styl e? TO. I th in k th at if yo u look back at la st yea r, th en yo u wi ll see that my style had ch a n ged. I ha d to ride lik e that last year, beca use th e pressu re was o n me to win, a nd I soo n rea lized th at yo u ca nnot co me bac k through the pack in the 250s if you make a mistake a nd lose a lo t of p laces. I had to be ca u tio us las t year, a nd th is year was a kind o f natural progressio n o f tha t. . The 500cc series started badly for yo u in Austria and Switzerland, particularly wh en one considers th a t yo u have fin ish ed firs t or second overall a t every .G P sin ce then. Were yo u unhappy with yo ur performance in Sittendorf and Pa yerne? I was n 't un ha p py at a ll in Austria. I was ac tua lly p leased with m y fo rm in th e seco n d hea t when I caught up to six th even though I wa s ridin g with a flat tire. I wo u ld have hoped for a bett er race in Switzerland. I was d isa p poi nted with m y form th ere , but I tried not to show it. I felt sure that I co u ld do better in th e later races. I was n 't rid in g as well as I co u ld. b ut I don't have any exc uses for that. But we ren 't yo u riding with a n inj u ry fro m pre-season ? I th o ugh t yo u h ad broken your collarbone or so m eth in g? I wish I had broken m y colla rbo ne, because tha t is the thing which ca n heal th e fastest an d it doesn ' t gi ve you too m uch tro uble. If I ha d to br eak someth ing in m y whole body, the n I would choose th e collarbone. 0, I hurt my sho ulde r. I broke so me thin g in it , I don 't reme m ber the n ame o f th e bone exactl y, b ut I co nti n ued rac ing wi th it a nd it has been a n irr i ta tio n a ll season. I did it in practice in Ma rch . . So you still have minor p ro blems with it? No . I have big problem s sti ll. I a m going to have an opera tio n im media tel y after th e fina l G P and the race a t Bal en- Mol. Does th at mean that yo u will m iss the Mo tocross des Naiions? It depend s o n wha t so rt of operation I ha ve to have. We wo n't know that u nti l the d o c tor lo o k s at mv shoul der. It is possible tha t I will on ly -h ave to have a n ultrascope; in th at case I will be back again for the Na tions. Did it worry yo u early in the season to be so many points beh ind Thorpe an d Nicoll? I wa s never worried th at I was not capable of wi n ni ng back the poi nts which I h ad lost durin g the first two . G Ps. Wh at did co nce rn me was the knowledge th a t I wa s in a posi tio n wh ere I co u ld n ot a ffo rd any m ore m istakes or bad lu ck. I wa s a lways co nf ide nt that I was faster wh en I found m y form , but m y ea rly scores had been a co mb ina tio n o f bad lu ck suc h as the flat tire an d fir st corner coll isio n in Austria , an d h ittin g the ga te in Switzerla nd, pl us I was not ri ding so well. I was su re that if I staye d d ea r o f p roblem s. then r wa s ca p able of ca tchi ng back u p to the p oi n ts leaders, but I co u ld n ever h ave gu essed tha t it would ha p p en so fast. Was it a confidence booster to know that David Thorpe was struggling with his back in Scandinavia. or did he keep it a secret from you? H e keeps everyth in g secre t. I don' t th ink David will b low h is nose in th e o pen if he has a co ld in case so me o the r ri der sees h im do it. Tha t is his style of professiona lism . I st ill don ' t kn ow exac tly what was goin g o n, b u t I didn 't care. Even when yo u th ink yo u kn o w so me th in g a bo ut Da vid , yo u know noth in g . H e is so .secret. H e sa id to me in Sca nd inavia th a t th ere were no pro blems fro m the crash he ha d in Switzerlan d; he sa id he co u ld run: he co uld race th e bike an d so o n. And th a t is what Steve Whitelock to ld me a lso . I o n ly heard abo u t these m ajor prob lems wh ich he wa s su pposed to be hav in g with his back a fter h is results were n ot so g ood. Th en i t so u n ded like a n exc use. I don't kn ow. I just ha d to race for m yselfin Sca ndinavia. You ha ve made a habit of Sett in g the fastest time in timed training during th e final minutes of the session this year. You d id it in Finland,ltaly and Germany. Is that a tactic designed to demoralize th e opposi tion? I h ave a lway s li ked to do th at if I h ad the abi li ty. I don ' t do it on tracks -wh ich are very to ugh to race like Li c hte nvoo rd e a n d H awk st orie Park. It doesn' t make any d ifferenc e th ere. T hose tracks a re so hard that n o o ne ca n ride a t th ose speeds fo r m ore tha n five la ps, a n d certain ly n ot a t th e end o f 45 minu tes. I try to rid e my 45 minute speed o n those tracks, . a n d co ncentra te o n sorting o ut m y lines. Those tracks yo u me ntio ned were the sort o f pl aces where yo u can' find tha t little bit o l- extra speed if you need it at the end of a G P moto. No wa y in Holland or at Ha wkstone. Yo u ar e just glad thai the two lap board has been shown there, a nd then when yo u see the checkered flag, -You are th e man who has now won titles in a ll three classes, wh ile it was d ea r ea rly in the year that Jobe had n o chance of doi n g th e sam e, th is yea r an ywa y. Yet Jobe seems to attract more publicity in Belgium than yo u rsel f. Is th a t a matter of the language groups with J obe fro m the dominant French-speaking part of the cou n try ? I don 't kn o w. Yo u will have to ask th e jou rnalists tha t. It co u ld be because the J ohnson tea m spends a lot o f money ta king journalists to races a nd so on. It 's easy to get th em on yo ur side if yo u buy th em . Will you be racing the Masters of Motocross and th e other big December rac es lik e Paris Berey? I ca n n o t say for certain u nti l we kn ow wh at so rt o f operation I need o n my shou lder. At the prel imi na ry ins pec tio n, it looked as th ough th e surgeon will have to cut off so me bone fro m m y shou lder, a nd it is difficu lt to judge how long I will be o ut of racing. Will th is also a ffec t yo u r other interests? The parachute jumpi ng is just a h obby a ny way, I th o ugh t I j umped a t m e race in Bal en-Mol. That is where I first d id a tandem jump lasi year, but since th en I hav e learned to jump a lone. Flying th e hel icop ter will be no p ro blem, I th in k. When does yo u r current contract with Honda expire? T his winter. We have to talk abo ut terms this au tu m n . Last winter you had an "agreement" with Honda that you could return to the 5005 if you switched to the 250s for 1987, It took a long time last autumn before this was confirmed. If they had not then agreed to you going back to the 5005 for this season, would yo u have left? / For su re. I d idn 't want m e p ressure of ano th er yea r in 250s, but we agr eed on m e switchback to 500s in m e en d so th ere was no problem . •

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