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/127698
He is a riva l. My goal is to win ano the r ch a m p io nsh ip, an d even th ou g h w e bo th ride for the same factory, we w ork in dependently. W h o is yo u r cl oses t frie n d a m on gst your competitors? Well , I have man y friends in the spo rt, but I am closest to Diego Bosis, Any ene mi es? Enemies? All of them ! (Laughs) I believe tha t in com pe ti tio n, it is im porta n t to have goo d re lati onsh ips with yo ur rivals, bu t at the hour of competition we are all enem ies. . Yo u nl?w h ave six W orl d Ch ampions h ips and 60 World Round victo ries. Did you ever dream of bein g this sue- . cessfu l? No . I never eve n consid ered it. When I began, my objective was to win a cha mpions hip. Later, I w anted to keep wi nn ing, but I never planned to collec t so ma nv titles . Whit keeps you motivated? Trials is still wh at I enjoy the mo st. For me, it 's like a lo ng time g irlf r ie n d, I wo u ld not change her for ano ther. Also, a t 28, I am now a veteran, and I enjoy b eati ng rid ers w ho are 10 ye a rs yo u nger. Also, I want to see just how far I can go. Why do the Spaniards dom inate the sp ort ? What makes them better than th e rest? I feel that m y six titles have helped the sp ort in Spain. Many young rid ers see it as an attaina ble goa l. Also, ou r federation, th e RFME, le n ds a g rea t d eal of su p p o rt to the top rid er s, a s w e ll a s helping develop new talent. Young riders kn ow that if they su cceed, the y will have a good future . Th erefore, many . riders ar e attracted to the sport. These facto rs lead to su ccess for the sp ort in gene ral. Are you recognized in the streets of Spain? Are you a celebrity, of sorts? No rma lly, yes, becau se for the last eigh t years between cha mp ionships ana subchamp ionships (2nd), I have been in the pre s s a n d TV. I a m n o t re co gni z e d everyw here, b u t mos t people a t lea st know who I am . Ar e .y o u r sponsors the same for the 1995 season? Yes. Th ey in clu de Fo rtuna Cigarett es, Gas Gas, the Cataluna Tou rism Depart men t a n d Penn zoil. I a m neg o ti atin g with Nuevo Banco of Spain. The re will be one or tw o new spo nsors in '95. . Tell us about you r switch from Beta to Gas Gas in 1993. Was it a friendly parting of wa ys? It was a problem, becau se I had just finished second in the 1992 World Championship. No t a bad res u lt, but I had many prob le ms w it h the b ik e . I w as n o t happy. Then the moment arrived wh en there was bad feelings bet wee n Beta and myself, and r d ecided that the best thing for both of us wo uld be to separate. But that w as not the worst of it, because it was a d isagreeab le spli t. It wa s a valuab le lesson . I hope I don 't have to repeat that expe rience ever again. Were you confident that you could wi n on y o u r first y ea r aboard Ga s G a s bikes? Yes . My o bjective w a s . to win eve n tho ugh I had finished second the previo us yea r . I sa w that I ha d n o t wo n beca use of p s y ch ol o g ical reasons, brought on by problems with the bik e. But I knew I was still in the elite of the wo rld. It was no t easy, but wi th a lot of wo rk I re tu rne d to the top . We re you confident in the bike? Yes. On e of the reason s I even made the swi tch was because I liked the Gas Gas. Wa s there a transitional period? The first year, I wa s not very used to it. I co u ld not co me to a ne w fac to ry an d say, ' Yo u mu s t cha nge e ve ry th ing : I h ad to firs t ge t to kn ow the bike. The bike wo rked well, but so me things had to be ada pted to my style of riding. Last yea r, I had the bike more to my liking, an d it showed in the resu lts. I was mo re comfo rtable. Who w i ll b e y o u r b ig g es t ri va l s i n 1995? Co lo mer; A h va la , and oth ers lik e Do ugie Lampkin, w ho ca n have some goo d results. But to contend for the title is ve ry diffe re n t th an h av in g a good resu lt here an d there. Who will be th e brightest n ew star ne xt yea r? Wit h out a d oub t, Lampkin. He d id it last yea r, and I believe he will continue to do well. H ow many years until re ti re ment fo r [ordi Tarres? At the moment r have a two-year contrac t wit h Gas Gas. I suppose that I wi ll compete for three of four more years. What will you do after tria ls? I a m p lan n ing m y fu ture . I wa n t to establis h a tr ials school to train yo u ng riders an d an org anization to p ro mot e events, so I can make use of what I have learned over the years. How do you stay in shape? N ormall y, in th e mornin g I work o u t with my train er, and in the afternoon I rid e. No t every day, thou gh , because I h ave many obligations wit h th e p ress and my sponsors. Do you ever play-ride on, s a y , a motocross bike? Yes, I like it very much. I ha ve a 250cc Gas Gas motocrosser, and I practice on a track near my home. If you could do it all over again, what other form of competition would you try? I like motocr oss very mu ch, es pecially sup ercross. I wo uld try that. What are your hobbies? I like to drive my 4x4, play on Jet Skis, sn ow ski - man y th ings. What is the most outrageous thing you have ever done on a motorcycle? Recen tly, (Lau ghs) a fter the Barcelona Su pe rcross, some of th e Am eri ca n su percross ra cers and I wen t rid ing on trial s bikes. They did a very big jump on th eir tr ial s bikes, and I d id it too. For me, they are very crazy. . Who are you r favorite motocross, road race and enduro competito rs? Mi ke LaRocco, Alex Creville and Pa u l Edmo ndson. What era, other than yo u r own, would you ha ve liked to compete in? I lik e th e era w he n the Spa n ish bikes totall y d ominat ed the sport - Montesa, Bu ltaco a n d Os sa . If a Span is h ri der cou ld h ave d o ne w ell th e n, it w ould have been very beautiful. What do American trials riders need to do to improve? I'm not su re. It see ms as if they are conten t to win their Nationa l title. No one has se t the goal of winning the World Title sin ce Bernie Sch reiber. What can we do to mak e th e sport of trials more popula r in America? It nee ds to be more well-known. I know that Americans w ill like it. Look, th e s u pe rcross rid ers h a d so mu ch fu n re ce n tly, th a t th ey ch anged their ai rp lan e tickets in order to s tay and rid e with me so me more. More exposu re is needed . Perhaps trial s dem on str ations at su percross races wou ld be good. There is a famous Bultaco poster o f three-time World Champion Yrjo Vesterinen with you in the crowd. What were the dreams of that 10-yearold boy? At -tha t moment, I wanted only to ride. I wanted a motorcycle . I did not dream of cham pio nships, I just wanted to rid e. l~ 19