Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Interview: Former 125cc World MX Champion Dave Strijbos Dave Strijbos won seven of the dozen 125cc World MX Cham p ionship GPs this year, finished second in another four and didn' t have fl single DNF. He scored m ore poin ts than any rider had ever scored previously in a World Championship yet failed to win the . ' d . title, Inste~ , It went to French- , New team, new hope for former champ By A lex Ho d g kinso n Holland's Dave S trij bos has left Cagiva t o cam p aign the World Cham p ion ship 125cc M X Series for Suzu ki. His new boss will be Sylvain Geboers . man Jean Michele Bayle. Many fan s feel the Dutchman was chea ted of th e championship by dubious tactics at th e French GP in July. Early in the seco nd motoofthat GP Strijbos went down on a slippery off-camber comer with Fren chman Patrick Perrier and nearly lost a lap, th en b arely avoided an incident with Bayle's brother later in th e race as he unsuccessfully tried to work his way back into th e points. Bayle closed to within four points that day and eventuall y overtook Strijbos for th e title. AI.though he lost th e title, Suzuki, lackmg a World Champion smce Michele Ririaldi completed the ' facto ry's 10-year dominance of the class in 1984, clear ly believe th at Str ijbos is me man to bring success aga in at the GP level. Just days after Strijbos had agreed to terI!1s to ride for .the EI Charro Suzu ki team of Sylvam Geboers this seaso n, we talked to the man wh o was m e youngest-ever GP winner at 16, yo ungest-ever World Champion at age 18and the man who had scored 21 career GP wins before his 21st birthday last November. Can you tell wh at the setup is for the new Suzuki team with Sylvain G eboers? Yes, Sylvain is th e team bo ss for o ur 125cc GP team at Suzuki, and Gerrit Van Or souw remains as my personal manager and mechanic. We get the bik es direct from Japan and they will be th e full works specifications. It 's our plan to ride not only th e 125cc GPs but also the 250cc Championship in Holland. Our plan at present . f . h h I' IS or me to swuc to t e quarter Iter class of the World Championships in 1990, again with full factory machinery. The deal which we hav e worked out ena bles me to keep a ll of m y privat e sponsors _ Premier clothing, De Molen tire company wh o ar e my shirt sponsors again, UFO pl astics and Scott USA being my most important _ while the en tire team is supported by a major company (EI Charro, the Italian fashion house). I sha ll definitely by con testi ng all , five rounds of th e Italian Intemational Championship in th e spri ng. Fortunately th e Dutch federation have avoided scheduling rounds of th eir championships on th e same weekends as th e Italian races. I think these even ts in Italy are me best possible preparation for me World Championship. Will you be using these races as a testing ground for your GP bikes? Yes, indeed. And that is very importan t, I will get on e of my 125cc GP bikes in the first week of January, as soo n as my Cagiva co nt ra ct is finished, so I can st art gelli n g acquainted with the bike and setting it up then. That gives me three months befor e th e first GP; last year I go t my GP bik e only ,three days befor e the first GP and that ga ve Bayle a tremendous advantage in th e ear ly races. What were the factors which persuaded you not to take up the option on your Cagiva contract but rather switch to Suzuki? When I spoke to Cagiva after the final GP t~ey .told me. th

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