Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

then for Christmas he bought me a Honda minibike. How old were you when you first raced? Six. How were your achievements in the minicross? I won the' regional 60cc Championship, and at 12 I was second in the National Championship 80cc. The following year I won this, and at 14 I moved to the French Junior Championship for 125cc. This class often races on the same program as the GPs and is open to boys from 14 to 18 years. In 1994 you won many motos but lost the European Championship to Brian Jorgensen. I made a lot of bad starts, while Brian was always very good. No one else had our speed, and in the end we won the same number of motos. Already at the. first roUnd in Poland I broke the bike and could never recover these points. In August that year you had your first GP at Borgloon in Belgium, less than a week after your 16th birthday. I remember we saw this guy on a Yamaha who came from 25th to pass riders like Strijbos and Tragter. Did you even surprise yourself? For sure I was surprised. I did not know what to expect, but after that race I really thought to myself, 'Hey, Sebastien, perhaps you are not that bad at this motocross.' Before Borgloon I had talked with some other French guys and they had told me how hard it was to qualify. But already in qualification I was fifth. You had no problem.s with the longer races at GP level? None at all. The longer the better for me. From my school I have the physical condition. I remember that first GP. The first start. The gate dropped. and I didn't move. I froze on the line. So much was going thro.ugh my head, and I suddenly found myself sitting there all alone with the gate down. I finished eighth, and in the second race fourth. Did you meet Jan De.Groot that weekend? No, it was in October that we first had contact. Jacky (Vimond) made the first contact on the phone. At first I had expected to stay with Yamaha, but they didn't want to make any concrete proposals, so we looked for alternatives. How has your relationship developed with Jan? We have a great sympathy for each other. He is a really nice man, he produces a v&y nice bike, and he does everything which is possible for his riders. It is a perfect setup. All of his riders know that they can trust him implicitly. Do you find it easy to communicate what needs to be altered on the bike or what you need? I have no choice. I must be able to do this because I am the only rider on th.e team in the 125 class. I tell Jan how I would like the bike and he makes it for me that way. I think our results show that it is working. . You did not score so many points in the early GPs of 1995. My starts were very bad and I was crashing many times, also. I was trying to do too much too early. But then I settled down. In the middle of the year I was coming into top 10 from bad starts so I had the confidence th.at I could do well. Argentina was my first good GP last year. I started better and I should've won the first moto, bu t I crashed, but then I did win the second. By the end of the summer you had a "Rambo" ·reputation. How do you see that? I think this started at the British GP. I missed the start irl the first mota and I tried to dive inside at the first corner. A dozen riders went down and I got the blame. I also seemed .to touch quite often with Jimmy Button all summer. I think it was only normal aggression. I don't think I touch with other riders on purpose, but if I need to do it to make a pass, then I can do it. I am not afraid to. But I think all riders do the same thing. This is motocross GP racing. If you want to pass sometimes it necessary to do it this way. Everybody else does it. Do they think I should not do it? The first GP this year in Italy was not good for you. I was fast enough, but I had problems with my bike. In the first mota the front brake mounting broke, and it broke many spokes in the wheel after I had come from a bad start to third, then in the second heat the motor broke. Were you nervous after that race? A little bit. I am a little bit heavy for the 125s and I was wondering if I was too hard on the bike. But everything has gone right since then. My confidence has grown every week, but I try not to think about it. My aim is to ride perfectly all the time and to enjoy it. I believe that if I do that, then the results will come automatically. At what stage of your career did Jacky Vimond become involved? Already when I was riding 80cc. He was the trainer of the French federation th.en. How often do you see Jacky? We meet on at least one of the two afternoons during the week when.! go training on the bike, and again at the week.end at the GPs. We have a very good relationship and we also go together for jet-ski or snowboard. How important is Jacky to you? I think he is very important. He has great experience and he knows me very well after five years together. He helps me a lot on the track with advice on lines. He knows me and I know him. Has Jacky influenced your riding style? Sure. Before I was stronger with the bike, not so smooth. I think he has calmed me down. It is only natural that I pick up much of his style. . Although you were winning the European 125cc supercross series last year, you seem to be a better MXer than supercrosser. I think in the end that will change, but for sure that is true now. You know to be a top supercrosser you need to ride supercross a lot more. After so many . years riding MX, I have an instinctive feeling for MX, but supercross is different and I need much more practice at it. [ want to race supercross in America eventually, but to do that you must ride supercross every day. That is not possible here in Europe. You must go to America. Here it rains too often. In CaJi- foenia it does not rain for most of the year ;rnd you can practice supercross every day. Over there they even have bikes at the workshop which are specially set up for supercross, so when you want to ride supercross you take it. Over here we have the bike set up for MX and have to change the setup to go practicing. What are your aims for the 250cc GP at Iffendic (France, August 4), where you will be the wild card? I am going there with an open mind. I go there to race and to see how I compare with the 250 GP riders. I want to see and to learn before I move to the 250 GP class next year. I want to see how much work 1 need to do i'n preparation for next year, to see where I must push myself even harder. Will you stay with Kawasaki next year? For sure.' . And when do you plan to go to America? I am not setting myself any schedule. I will take everything as it comes. First I want to make good results in Europe. But I will definitely go to America in the end. Just like Jean-Michel Bayle, I have set myself the goal of going there and I will do it. ••••••• Jacky Vimond and Jail De Groot clearly play an important role ill the Sebastien Tortelli success story. We asked them what they think about the new champ. You first saw Sebastien at Borgloon. What attracted your attention? JOG: Yes, I saw this rider with a high number' and I had no idea who it was, but I saw him moving forward in the first race using many different !jnes to other riders to make the passes. He went all the way from 25th to eighth. I was looking for him in the second race. He made a reasonable start about eighth or ninth and he moved to fourth, even passing Strijbos. Again he was using wonderful lines, and I thought to myself, "This boy is good." I started asking around and found out that he had been riding the European Championship and that he was under Jacky's wing. I spoke to Jacky, so they knew my interest. Kawasaki France also knew Sebastien from the days when he had ridden 80s and they were interested to get involved. Last year Sebastien was under contract to them, but I did the engine work, this year Sebastien is directly contracted to my tearn.. It is a three-year deal. How good is Sebastien at setting up the bike with you? JOG: He is very sure in his mind what he wants. He does not understand all of the internals and how we achieve some of these things, but he knows how he wants the bike to feel and he can communicate this well. We work m~y on what he wants, but'we also suggest some ideas for him to try. In the end it is important that he feels comfortable with the setup because he is the one who has to ride it fast. When did you first see Sebastien ride? JV: That was back when he was riding 80s. He immediately impressed me because he was so strong and he was clearly not scared of anything. His technique was not so good but he had the speed. How good is Sebastien now? JV: I think he is learning very quickly. He is intelligent, he understands when you explain things to him. And, very important, he knows what is good for him and he wants to do it. He has a very strong desire. He is smart. He listens and evaluates, and he is prepared to work hard, as hard as is necessary to aclUeve his goals. At·the moment Sebastien is an MXer. Can he become a top supercrosser? JV: Yes, of course. And for the same reasons.) remembeF the first year he rode supercross. He was a complete nothing. I promised him that we would work at it and last winter he was really good. Are his willingness to work to be successful and his commitment the reasons that only Sebastien is left from the five youngsters who wenl to the board~ ing school in Paris? JV: It was too hard for the others, woiking both at school and riding at such a committed level was just too much. But Sebastien knew that this was the only solution if he wanted to achieve the ultimate success. It is hard, but that only goes to show you how determined he is. to win. {N 37

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