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/128076
gro und on (Ma rnicq) Bervoets in the cham p ionshi p. I wen t fro m being out of the picture to hav ing another cha nce a t winning the championshi p. I was so mething like 40 poi nts behind Bervoets. I stilI did not have the p ress ure, Be ir er had a ll tha t. Plu s, we had so me new parts for m y bike near the end of the season and that co u n te d fo r a lot. Eve n in the moto w he re I got a n eighth place, I had cras hed in the first corne r of the race and go t lip in last place, so that race was, in fact, bet ter than it looked on pa per. Yo u d id n o t cras h too ma n y tim es t h is yea r. Wh ere did you have you r wo rst experie nce? I wo u ld say Italy . I on ly sco red nine poin ts, and Beirer won with 37. po ints. I jus t cras hed and lost my mom entum for the second moto. A. HOW it vin Be irer and the Q same wa sfromh daMarkg Jones?haThey Be rvoets insome team, an you onl y d you rself and we re teamma tes small backup - di d it eve r give you trouble? No, not at a ll. If they had come to the end of the year and they we re bo th in good form, I might have been fig hting two ri d er s . As it turn ed o u t, Stefan re tu rned at the Luxe mbourg GP and hel ped me straight away, while Bcrvoets was out injured in that time. A What abo u t Everts th wa did ? Q IGP , and happy heimreturn ing eene yo uyhehewantedFirst he put h self betw and Beirer. was so came bac k. I knew A team to win the championship,LuxeImbo u rg, gotthea so never expected him to cause me any angu ish. In I second place and Stefa n scored a fifth pla ce, ju st on e position ahead of Beire r, bu t still it was two poi nts better for me. Then at the next GP Stefa n sco red anot her fifth place, this time two places ahea d of Beirer, l n the Nismes Grand Prix in Belgium, you also saw some great team riding. You were in third place and Stefan passes you, what were you thinking then? At first I thou ght he was go ing to do me no fav ors , I tho ught he was goi ng for it h imself. I then real . ized he was go ing afte r Beirer (wh o was leadi ng) . After Q A that I felt co mforta ble that he was tryi ng to help me. Th en came the German Grand Prix. You and Stefan really dominated that race and he let you win the firs t mota. I was very gratefu l to Stefan for all he di d in Germany . That was really the place that the team won the cha m pionship. I go t 1-3 and Stefan scored 2-1 for the overall. Beirer, as everyone knows, ended with 0-4 and I passed him for the cha m p ions hip. Still, I would have liked to have won that second rnoto, but Stefan was too fast. no t ra ced AfelothaveSupercross thea of p a st w y ea rs. think I I I can rid e okay if I have time to pract ice. Back a few years ago, I beat McGrath and so me other Americans in a Spanish Supercross, so I can do it. Q A YOU arrive at Budds Cre ek in America for the final GP of the year. You have a 19-point lead in the ch am p io ns h ip. What did you think before that CP? . I just wa n ted to roll aro und reall y. I knew if Beirer got ou t in fro nt I wou ld h a ve to keep an eye o n the poi nts . In the first moto, I was a long way back an d Beirer was second, 50 that was a little worrying. The n he lost so me places and I kept m y r h ythm a nd fi nis hed in eig h t h . In the second rno to , Bei rer and I both got te rrible star ts; for me it was just a matte r of finis h ing . I knew h e wo wld have to wi n to have any chance of passing my points tally, and he ended up finishing in 13th place with me 10t h, so the cha m pions~i p was mine. Q Q Any fear of injuring yourself in Supercross? No, would not d o it. take too many chances nd just d my bes t. ApodiuotherwisebeIavery, veryohappy.I wiIIIf notcan make the mI I will Q A YOU raced some Supercross races in America a few years ago didn't you? How did you like that? ll was fun. I d id it at the start of the yeaI'; just for eN p ractice for the Grand Prix season. A Ho w did y o u ce le b r a t e your win? Action Group he ld a b ig p a rt y for the e n d of the vear, and I drank a little a nd ha d fu n with the other riders and mechan ics. Il was no thing too wild, bu t I was very upbeat tha t night. A HOW would yo u describ e you rself ? I a m not a loud p e rs on , very normal. I love peo ple and feel good around the people in mo tocross. Q A W h a t about racing in Amer ica at the Pasadena Supercross, what can we expect from you? Q 29