Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Everts was very emotional after wrapping up his seventh World tit l e. The scary thing is, it ' s hard to im agin e who o r w hat would stop him f rom doing the same t hing next year . four -st ro k e g uys li k e m y sel f, Sm ets , J orgensen o r Croc k ard . Ro u nd two in H olland was also a problem , althoug h in Val k ens w aa rd you were able to race w it h Pic ho n for a little while. I felt reall y good in Holland. I' ve had so much 'succ ess in Valkenswaard , and I figured I would have a strong cha nce to beat Pich on . W e both had a go od ra ce , although o nc e his fo otpeg went into my fro nt wheel, I had to stop to fix som e spokes. Sure I am di sappointed , although I alwa ys ra ce bet t er when somebody had a points lead in th e championship, so I am not to o worried. Wha t about Pichon? Did he im press you in the early rounds? I was not surprised or im pressed by Pichon's speed . I kn ew he is quick; he got in th e lead. I lost a lit tle bit, but I was not riding 100 per cent. For m y po in t my problem got worse , and he started pulling away . I beli eved that when I was at my ma x im um , he wou ld not be qui cker than m e. I'v e nev er been on my best spee d at Bellpu ig , so I was not as dis appointed w ith how he beat m e, but how I per fo rme d m ysel f. Wha t abo ut your motivation af t er those first three ro un ds ? You w e re 2 5 p oints beh ind Picho n at one point. Yo u ca n ' t qu esti on m y m ot i v ati o n s. I d on 't ex pect anyone to under stand , I will not give up , and I k ne w it w as go ing to be a t ough series, but ask Marnicq Ber vo et s if I gi ve up. In the 199 7 Wo rld 250c c Mo to c ro ss Champ io nship, I was 7 0 p o in ts behi nd h im in that at the halfw ay m ark and fo ug ht back to wi n the cham pions hip· I don 't give up easily . Wha t ca n I say? I was d isappo inted with w hat happened a t the o pe ni ng rounds o f the W o r l d Mo tocro ssGP Cham p ion sh ip . I we nt to those rac es with a lot of co nfi de nce, expecti ng to battle fo r th e win , and for what ever reason I could not match th e spee d of M icka el Pich on . I was really con fi de nt , also after pra ctice on Saturday in Spain , and m y confi den ce rem ain ed go od . I need ed to fi nd m y form , find out how to beat Pich o n at his own ga me . Italy must have been a breath of fresh air for you , winn ing both races. I d idn 't go to Italy to br eak reco rd s, I went there to find my fo rm , and tha t is how it wo rke d o ut. I am ba ck were I belong , and we will see in the next two Grand s Prix if thi s win was goo d for m e. I don 't feel like I am ready t o sto p. I never f elt tha t th is year, and w hen I get that feelin g, I will sto p . I will tell every on e wh en the tim e is to sto p . A t ro und 10 of the ch am pions hip in Ga ildorf , My rid in g pace thi s seas o n was nearl y perf ect ; I a m not fa d ing aw ay o r a ny t h ing . I'm m aki n g so m eth in g like two m i st a k es at eac h Gran d Pr i x , whi ch is reall y goo d for a ri der to be in tha t posit ion . In th e sec ond rac e in the German Grand Prix , I felt like a ro bo t: I was hittin g th e same berm o n eve ry c orn er, on every lap; it nev er changed, and I was j ust in a really good rh y thm . I'm in super form at th e m oment, and I fe lt for a w hile I had broken Pichon and Srn ets ' sp irits. B reaking t he sp irit of Pi chon ; you kn ew all along you cou ld do t hat. With Pichon, I feel it is bad that he got injured. I' ve been injured , and I wo ul d not w ish it on any rid er. He didn't have tough competition in the past, and for him wh en J o el and I com e in , it rea lly put some pr essure on him - pr essur e he had nev er had before. I thought if you put h im under pressure , he wo ul d fold , and he d id. I have had p robl em s wi t h pressure - ev en w ith m an y years of ex pe ri enc e , it can still get yo u . I alway s wo nde r wh y I let it get to m e. In the firs t three Grands Prix of th is se aso n , I reall y had tr oubl e with m y nerv es, and I worked hard to ge t arou nd it. We have to wait and see if he c an return to th e t op next ye ar. You ha d broken Pichon , but S m et s see me d a little more difficult t o work out. I th ought I was fin all y get tin g the better of Joel Sm et s m en tally . He is a t o ugh guy w ho never gives in , bu t I fe lt th e la st few ra ce s I had m o re than h is m easure. In Li ero p , I ex pected J oel Sme t s t o be fig hting for the victo ry. yet I pulled 4 0 seconds away fro m him, th en in German y I aga in beat him easy . It is so difficult t o ge t Sm ets in th e head - he 's very confident, even when he 's getti ng beat en - b ut th is ye ar. I th in k I have done it. I feel I ha ve fi nall y gotten to h im . J oel always says he was unluc ky , o r whatever. He said it the las t two years tha t he w as better th a n m e , b ut l ost t he c ha m p io n shi p t h ro ug h bad lu c k , but th is yea r he c an 't say any th ing. I am j ust so much bett er tha n hi m at the m om ent. What i s the f ut u re n ow ? Wha t do y o u have co m ing up? I ha ve th e Motocross des N ations and th e Int er nati on al Six Day En du ro . At the Motocr oss des Natio ns, I w ill rac e ag ain st Rick y Ca rmichae l - I rea lly li k e him; he has alway s given m e resp ec t , and I reall y ap pre ciate tha t. He's a grea t rid er , and I really look forward to seei ng what we c an do tog eth er in Belg ium o n Oct ob er 5. He m ight wi n , but yo u can't say he will un ti l the event is ov er . An ything c an hap pen , and I' m going the re to do m y best. Can yo u top t his year? What is th e next aim f o r you? There are no more records to be brok en in Europe. I have alwa ys rea ched for the re cords , and I co uld never im agine that I would break them all - it's really a gr eat feeling . Next ye ar w ill be d ifficult. I have t o m ot ivate myself aga in. I still have Smets and Pichon coming back , and I really feel like I ca n add another Wo rld titl e to my name. Now it's a mat ter of add ing t o what I al re ady have, maybe making it im possible for anyone to break the records I set. What abou t the series i n 2004? Giuseppe L uongo is back, and the Grand Prix series returns to two motos per class. I c a n 't w ait. It's rea ll y good for the sport that Lu on g o is ba ck. He did some good things wi th th e seri es when he c am e into th e sport in 199 7 , and it's not been the same sinc e he left . I loo k forward to doing tw o m ot os ag ain and also seeing some better track s introduc ed into th e spo rt - some better ci rc u it pr ep arati on will also be good fo r the series. We might be doi ng so m e non -Eu rop ean ro un ds, and wh ile th at ' s mak in g it t ou gh er , it m ak es it a real Wo rld Champi onship . eN you looked j ust bril lia nt - like yo u wer e not even t ry ing. eye I e n e vv S • SEPTEMBER 24 , 2003 27