Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ INTERVIEW MotocrosserEric Geboers e cials, either from the organizers or from the federati on , don't hav e any idea what is needed. At the same time some organizers kn ow their own track well , but we need a dialogue. We can he lp each ot her , and both our safety and thei rs will ben efit. Just loo k at Cingol i. The organizers th ere tho ught th ey kn ew everyth ing, no one could tell them anyt hi ng. Bill y Lil es was the victim of that. Do . you think that the Masters of Motocross is an exciting prospect? This year will be the first time that it has reall y take n off and I think it is a very co mplete championship. There is a grea t dea l or talent from both America and Europe, an d there is also a wide variety or races with events on tradi tiona l motocross tracks, the Scheveningen beach race in Ho Iland and both indoo r an d ou tdoor su percross. I th in k it has a great future an d I think it is an ideal vehi cle bo th to introd uce the sport to a wider audience and to attract more outside spon so rs h ip into mo to cro ss. The orga nizers of the Masters are so much more aware of the p ublic relati on s aspects or the prom oti on. Both sponsors a nd th e media need to be treated better th an they have tradi tion all y been in motocross. We have to keep them in formed. H ow will you be involved in the Masters event at Maastricht, Holland, in Nove mber? Will you again be building the track? I will be at Maa stri cht as a rider. Manpower and bulldozers from EG Events will be there, and if they ask me for advice in building the tra ck, then I will give it, but I don 't want the situation where an yone is saying that I have designed and built the track for myself, By Alu Hodgli_ t the end or last summer, Eric Geboers had slumped from a 29point lead halfway through the . World Championship 500cc MX Series to a poor third in the standin gs, on ly just staying in the medal pos itions. Man y felt that th e on ly man ever to have won MX World Ch ampionships in each or the 125, 250 and 500cc classes was over the top, bu t at the Cit adel track in Na mur, Belgium, on Augu st 5 the Belgian had cause for a do uble celebra tio n - hi s 28th birthday and h is fifth Worl d title! Geboers a lso said tha t th is championshi p wou ld be his last as he anno unced tha t he pl ans to reti re at the end or the year when he fu Hills his contrac t with H onda. Our GP correspo ndent Alex Hodgkin son talked to Geboe rs prior to h is clinc hing the World title. A ** * ***** 10 What is the big difference between Eric Geboers as we saw him in 1989 and the 1990 version? Well my hair is th inner and 1 am one year older! My form was down in the second half or last year - after th e GP in San Mar in o. I had a 29-point lead go ing into tha t race and at th e same stage thi s year I had a 61-point lead. Certainly I feel stronger this year and I am more confiden t. I am more motivated to do well, and that is very im portan t. When I need to, I am prep ared to dig deep int o my reserves and su ffer. T hat was the difference in Ital y - Thorpe, Nicoll and myself were all suffering in the heat but I won because I was not prepared to slacken my pace until they had already done so. It was not like that last year. Particularly in the second half of the year. I lost everything, particu larly con fidence in myself. Thorpe was extremely Iast in the second half or last year, but it was more th an that. In San Marino I had terrible lu ck, and David did well there even th ou gh he didn't win the GP. The result was that I lost confidence whil e . David ga ined it, and we saw the resu lt of that a t the British GP . That put me even deeper down . But even before that, I have to admit that I never hit my best form last year. By th e end of 1988 I had won everythi ng whi ch th ere is to win with World titl es in each of the three classes and I didn' t have the mot ivation. I didn 't want it to be like tha t, but it was. We are all human and these th ings happen. It was somethi ng over wh ich I had no control. The aim over an entire season is to be World Champion, and that means accumulating the most points: Some riders seek to achieve that by scoring consistently, others by going for as many race wins as possible. Do you have the same motivation to win individual races as you have to achieve the ultimate goal of being champion? Yes, particul arl y because I saw how easy it was last year to lose form, I want to keep on scori ng as man y po ints as possib le in each race and that mea ns tryi ng to win. I have already won titl es in each class, so I would like to win thi s year in overwhelming style. The sooner th e title is clin ched the better, both beca use there is then no dan ger of somethi ng happen in g near the end of the seaso n whi ch wrecks everyth ing wh ich has go ne before and also becau se that mean s that I have been winn in g. Bu t every race is different . I revise my plan every week in the light of what has happened in the most recent race ra ther than trying to follow a p lan I King for one last time have formulated before the start of th e season. And of course all sorts of th ings can happen in any p arti cul ar race. I go ou t wanting to win, but sometimes I have to accep t that that is not possible and then I try Ior the best resu lt I can reali sticall y achi eve. Do yo ur o the r interests, such as triatha lons, help you to maintain your en thusiasm ' for motocross after all these years? Just taking the tria tha ion thing on its own merits, there are three thi ngs which it gives me. First of all it helps me to ma intain my own p hysica l fitness and I find that my en durance capa bilities have improved plus I reel stronger. Secondly I sponsor a triathaion team now. This helps me because I am able to train together with my team, and I reel very mu ch a part or the team . Each individual is trying to be successIu l not only for h imself but also for the ent ire team. And we are no t on ly togeth er as a team in competition, we are a lso inv olved in sports pro mot ion , helping people to train and ma king them aware of the relationship of sport an d medical health. My team mem bers are all spo rtsme n , no matter what discipline in whi ch we are currently involved. lf on e 'o f us is wi nni ng some thing, then we are all winni ng. When I won th e first race in Italy, I cou ldn' t wait to get to the p ho ne to tell my team and to rind ou t how they had don e in th e Belgian Triathalon Ch ampionship. So when I heard tha t they had also won in bot h the men 's and wom en 's competitions, tha t gave me the added driv e to go ou t in th e second race and win again. We are like a family, willing and spurring each other on. I know that ear lier thi s year a lo t or people were sayi ng that I was taking too mu ch on, trying to organ ize a team , set up a business and race motocross. It has been a mot ivat ion to prov e that it is poss ible to have lots of interests. To be q u ite hon est, now that I have the experience I kn ow that I need to have -a secondary job to driv e me on. lf I had on ly been in volved wi th motocross, I don 't believe that I would have had th e motivation to succeed again. Motocross is run again becau se I have othe r thi ngs to do du rin g the week and on my free weekends. When Billy Liles crashed in Italy and broke his femur, you were very critical of the FIM and said that you would quit at the end of the year if th e Japanese factories didn't support a voice for the riders. Have there been an y developments? After Italy I immediately contacted H RC in J apan, and I ha ve persuaded them to sta rt negot iating with the othe r factories in an at tempt to for m a riders ' union as there is in roa d raci ng. I am happy with that for now , but my decision remains. If HRC can' t for m such an associa tio n, then I will q uit. T hey are working on it, and I ju st hop e th at th ey meet with a goo d response from the other factories, This is necessary not on ly Ior th e safety or the rider s, bu t also for th e q ua lity or the race for everyo ne. For exa mple, who knows better th an the experienced rid ers what problem s there are with dust? Too many offi- 'H had already decided at the start of the season that I would retire if I won the World Championship again. If I had not won, then I would have continued for another year. I was determined to try to go out while I was at the top.' , The Masters also goes to Sao Paolo in Brazil. You were very cri tical of the South American countries when yo u went there for the World Champion' shi p in 1987. What is the difference now? Tha t is a di fference wh ich we still need to prove when we go in Novemb er, but I hope there wi ll be a big difference. There is a lo t or work go ing on to ensure that the peo p le who go to Sao Paolo th is year will be pleased that they h av e been th er e , a nd not to tally dep ressed as the GP rid ers have been in Sou th America each year. Have you made any speci al changes at your track in Olmen? We have built so me new obstacles on the track and we have also improved the facilities for the spectators even more. There are pl an s for what we will add th is year and a lso Ior th e next year so th at the facility improves step by step. We have a good race pl anned for Septemb er 9, with Jeff Stanton, Mike Kiedro wski, Alessandro Puzar, Jeff Leisk, Donny Schmit, Pekka Veh-

• Cover