Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127681
". 'IN E V W Two-time World MX Champion Greg Albertyn T R IE ' fault . Bu t worked m y a ss off and I was ready to die at that moment. Stefan Everts had hi s own bad luck in Finland when he broke his collarbone p rac tici ng. At that point, he had the lead in th e championship. What were your thoughts when you heard he was injured? I w a s actually sorry for him; I really was. I know that tho se things can happen to anybody at any time, real quick. Stefan has a really smooth riding style and he's very much in control, but this is mo tocross and things like crashes do ha p pen . I've always understood tha t it can happen to Stefan, it can happen to me, it can h appen to a nybody on th e track jus t as quickly as it d id to him. But n o, I w as not go in g around th inkin g, "Yeah, yeah cool! He's broken his collarbone!" Naturally, ev eryone ma y think it's a bit of a relief because ther e's less pressure on yo u when that happens to the oth er guybut I kn ow how qu ickly and easily it could happen to me. It did help you considerably in the points battle. Of course. A 30-point lead is a lot better than a one-po int deficit. But I was confident that I was go ing to win the world cha m pionsh ip anyway . I know th at wh en it comes to the last three GPs I will be stronger tha n him. How do you feel about the sudden rise of Yves Demaria? Is that a case of him being that good, or is it because you and Everts have been looking out for each other and consistent points towards the world championship? To be honest, he's had a lot of luck as far as all these overall wins go. He's been going fast lately, there's no doubt about that, but in England we tied on points but he got the overall. In Czecho he beat me by one point on total. Then, in Finland, he beat me by one point again but my bike wasn't running right. Every time that Demaria has won, he's ju s t barely won it. I give him his credit - he's going real well, but he 's not been awesome. What's going on with the Americans who are racing in Europe this year? I'm really not su re about any of those guys. Like (Trampas) Parker, it's strange to se e what he 's doing th is year. He's no t on lik e h e was. (Donny) Schmit's been having a disastrous year wi th a lot of team problems which I think ha s been messing up his mind a bit. He's not getting a long with the manager or any of the mechanics and he's basically been fired for next year. It's got to the point whe re Donny is thinkin g tha t they are all do ing thin gs to irri tate him on p urpose. I ima gin e that Donny is not easy to work with, either. How do you and Schmit ge t along? I treat him like he trea ts me . If Donny feels like it he will walk over and talk to you and be very friendl y. But when he doesn't feel like it, he will ign ore you. I just treat him as he treats me. Who is th e coolest guy in grand prix motocross right now? Uh. Gee, I don't know . . . W ho ' s t he guy m ost likely t o ta k e another rider out? Tallo n Vohland. But it's because he's out of control, not dirty! The last two times you raced against Mike Kied rowski and Jeremy McG rath w a s t he 1 993 U.S . G P and the Motocross des Na tions in Austria. Both times yo u were ab le to h ol d your own against them ... Well, I should hope so. I mean, I'm the world champion an d I like to think of myself as being the best motocross rider in the world. There's no doubt that the American riders are real close and that there's not a big differen ce eithe r wa y. But I like to think of myself as the best outdoor rider in the world. Who knows? Are you disappointed that the top three supercrossers in America - and all the national champions, for the matter passed on the 1994 250 U.s. GP? Sure I am. I don't know that it was their intention but I think a lot of people look at their absence as a sign that they might be a little bit s ca red to race with us, especially in Europe. Do you fear any of the American riders now? I'm coming into next year wi th a respect and a fear of eve rybody. Rather overe s- . timate your opponents th an underestimate them. I'm going to come in expecting everybody to bea t my ass, but as tim e goes on yo u learn who you can beat an d who is going to be to ugh to race with . That' s the wa y I started my firs t 25 0 season la s t year . I figu re d everybody w as goi ng to beat my ass, you know. I'm co nfid ent in my own way and about my own abiliti es but the other guys are a question mark going in, so building them up makes me work harder. Last year I overestimated everyone, I trained real hard and I ended up blowing them away in the first race and all the way to the en d . I'm s u r e th e Americans are going to be tough to race with every weekend, the re's no doubt about it, but that will be my attitude. Nex t year you will be racing a nationa l s eries on a d ozen track s that you 've n eve r seen b efo re, with the exception o f Budds Cre ek . Are you the ki n d of rider w h o can pick up on new tracks quickly? It depends, actually. In the GPs you've got two hours of rid ing on the tra cks on a Saturday. It's free-training and it lets you learn the track. I don't kn ow how it works here. I've heard that they on ly ha ve half-hour practices or someth ing like th at. In the past I used to get on a track and just start blitzing it. Now, after being in Europe so long, you learn to take y o ur t ime to actually get your focus. I'm su re that I will be rid ing as much as possible at each race . Do you have any commitments next year as far as hop-up companies or clothing companies go? Clothing-wise , for this year I'm with Bieffe and they have first option for next year. That complicates things with Yamaha and Honda doing a clothi n g deal that is included in each rider's contract. So, Yamaha and Honda are the two teams you are talking to? I'm talkin g to three, actually. I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out! What are you looking for out of a team? The bikes are the primary th in g , o f course. They have to be really good. The team has to be run really professionally. At this level yo u ca n' t afford to ha ve mi stakes. A s trong team m ana ger is really orga nized a n d th at is really important to the success of the team. Do you look at you r potential t ea mmates and how you might get along as a factor? It is a factor but it's no t a priority. If things work ou t for you and you win another wo rld cham pi onshi p th is year, will you come back and compete in the U.S. GP with the number-one plate? Yea h , I'll come ri de the GP for sure because if I didn't they would be convin ced for sure that I am scared! In fact, before the GP comes, I will wo rk my ass off so that I can win this thing. What is more im po rta n t to you - a world champions hip ti tle or the U.S. national champi onshi p? The world championship . It ha s a lot more clout behind it than sa ying, "I'm the national champion." Especially in South Africa o r even Europe, where coun tries aren't that big. You know, the press and magazines have got so much pull that goes world-wide that the American national champions, guys like Jeff Emig and laRocco, are far bigger stars than the second or third guys that finish in the world championships each year because the U.s. magazines make them to be stars. They are marketed correctly. World championship riders tend to have some weird sponsors. Who are some of the more off-the-wall sponsors you've had in your motocross career? I've actually led a pretty boring life as far as attracting tho se spons orships go. Mine have all been kind of normal , alt hou gh th e JHK company I rode for last year and before builds roofs for h ouses . And Isoglas is another one, I guess. They make glass windows for hous es . That' s a n o d d pairing for motocross, don't yo u th ink? That was during your days with your old boss, Jan De Groot, who now manages Stefan Everts. How do you and Mr. De Groot get along? I've go t a lot of time for Jan, actually. To be honest and straigh t he' s not the most professional te am m an a ger a nd he doesn't always work professionally, but he's a really nice, down-to-earth kind of guy . I really like h im, though I will never deal with him again. How old are you now? 21 - Hey, what's the average age of the guys racing over here in the 250 class? About 21 to 24 or so. That's good. Ho w old were you w h en you start ed racing? I started in 1981 when I was nine. I first raced outside South Africa in 1985 when we went to England for a mini bike race . . In 1989 I went to the Bercy SX in France an d started up in Europe. Ho w do you spell your last na me? A-L-B-E-R-T-Y-N. I don 't know w hy everyone misspells it -I-J-N but you better start spelling it with a Y! In fact, that wo uld be a good headline for your story - Start Spelling It with a Y! Oi