Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AMA 250cc National MX Champion Greg Albertyn A Thank you . Q What took yo u so long? . - A ~ A comb ination of a lot of thi ngs. Definitely injuries, r t lack of confidence afte r tha t, a bi ke th at possibly wasn' t the best o r most competitive ou t there - a lot of th ings. Q What was the key thi s yea r? . A - Well, all that turned around . I really fell like my r tspeed was good . I worked ha rder than I' ve ever wo rked before, so I was fit enough, stro ng enough men ta lly. (I was) training, a nd w it h th a t co mes m en tal streng th. The Suzu ki of '99 was a great bike - th e most competitive bike I'v e ridden since coming to the Sta tes. (l was) ju st rid ing sm ooth and consistent. Q What took Suzuki so long? . A ~ Well, I th ink w he n vou rest on vour laurels a little r t bit, the compe tition's alwa ys going forward. I don 't know, l' ha ven 't been with Su zu ki all that lon g, but I think w hat the y did is, the y let th em selves get too far behind . It tak es a lon g time to cat ch up. Since Roger (DeCoster) came along, there's been a real pu sh, and a real strong effort to ge t us better ma chine ry and better eq ui pment. It's tak en a lon g tim e to catch up, and now I feel like we' re on a par. Q Do yo u th ink Roger wa s ke y? Definitely he was, because he never se ttled for no. A He was always push ing to ge t bet ter eq ui pme nt , and alway s striving to make the stu ff faster and more reliable. Q DOyou ha ve your plans for nex t year fina lized ? A No t yet. Q Will you be raci ng in th e States ? A Yeah, definitely in the us. . H OW m uc h lo n g er will you be in the Un ited Q States? A- Well, I'm ma rried to an American girl, and I hav e a r thouse here, so I d efinit ely plan o n living here permanently when I'm d on e. It' s so close to m y home wh er e I g rew up in South Africa, th e way of life. I'm totall y com fortable living in Am erica. I've go t so many good friends here, and I love it. . Q Greg Albertyn is proof positive that nice guys don 't always finish last. It took him half a decade, but he has finally landed his coveted U.S. National Champions hip. Photos by Karl Ockert merican race fans ~ rc typica lly a pretty patriotic 101 - especially with motocross, w hich we nave come 'to regard as our d om ain. Witn ess this year's 250cc GP in Budds Creek, Ma ry land , w here spectators booed an d heckled Belgia n Stefan Everts for questioning the talent of Yank riders. Or go back a bit to th e lack of remo rs e a t Fren ch m an Mick ael Pich on ' s dep arture, or a bit further to the outrig ht celebration of Jean-Michel Bayle's exit. From these exam ples, it would appea r that Yank MX di e-hards are a rath er ethnocentric lot. Wh y, the n, all the wa rm fu zzies in th e few week s since the '99 250cc ou td oo r title went the way of one Mr. Greg Albert yn - a gent from South Africa ? Altho ugh his lan gu age is (te chnica lly) Engl ish, he's no less forei gn A en en en ~ gf Cii ~ E. c'Jl 32 than those o the r rid ers w e Jove to hat e. In fact, Ll.S, relation s with Eu ro pe are p ro babl y beller tha n thev are With Alby' s hom eland. . Perha ps it's as simp le as Albertvn being an extremely likable person , or his wo rking so hard th at it's nearl y imposs ible to root aga inst the guy. Thou gh it' s a huge ge n e ra liza tio n , A m erica n s g en u ine ly r esp ect a n d reward p eople wit h stro ng perso na lities a nd stro ng wo rk ethics - peopl e w ho we like to be arou nd and people who pu ll the ir weight. That describes Albee to a tee. Th ou gh he's a three-t im e World cham p, his premier Ll.S, crown too k him fiv e yea rs to lan d . Still, he ha s remained cordial and frien dl y th rough it all. Plu s, his accent is cool - a fact of which we were rem ind ed w he n we sa t down and talk ed with him at Budds Cre ek ea rlier this month. Q Firs t of all, congratulations. . Yeah. Obviously, my family's all over there, so that A is definitely a part of it I miss. I m iss so me of my fri end s tha t I' ve grown u p with, and I always miss going on safari. Q By Chris J o n nu m DOyou mi ss So uth Afri ca at ti me s? What exactl y does one do on a safari? • We and it's u looki ng at see in the ir natural enviro nm A an imals",""un a,lion takingreallyiryoffeent. You canwil d anyt hing fro m a a g a to a bab y elegn phan t ge tting born - jus t an yt hing is possible, and it's so g re a t to be in the natural enviro nme n t. It's reall y cool. Q HOW often do yo u get to go back home? A- Abo u t once a year. I like to stay abou t a month if I r tcan, but wit h our sched u le, it's th e never- ending season. One ro lls straight int o th e next. It's tou gh . GOin g back to yo ur title, how does this one compare to yo ur World ti tles? (Pauses) I think this gives me a real deep satisfaction . It' s so mething th at I' ve worked rea lly hard for, an d I've see n the o ther side of the fence. It feels really, reall y good to be o n top. Wh en I won m y three Q A

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