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/128245
FIM MotocrossGP World Champion Stefan Ellerts 1',-", • thing. Unfortunately for me , he was bet ter that day, but I still believe that I can beat Ricky. I'm just wa it ing for next year and [to] have my shot again. For him, it's probably the same thing. But that's just th e great t hing about the sport: It 's poss ibl e to have rivalry but in a sportive way - as a fri end . You don 't need to be enemies and not loo k at eac h other or not say an ything to each other. Tha t's not alw ays necessary . With me and Ricky , it's possibl e. We'r e good pals, and we ca n have fun and put on a goo d show. ... Carmichael getting booed in the United States It woul d hurt me if people would boo me . For sure, Ricky is a hard worker, he trains really hard and he works for his sport reall y professionally, and th en, when yo u put on your best on a Sunday and then the people boo you , it's not nice. It's really not nice. For m e, peop le who do that, they are in a wa y stupid . T hey do not k now what they're doing . Th ey are stupid . I don 't th ink he deserves it. You have to appreciate people how th ey are , and Rick y is how he is, and you h ave to apprec iat e th at. If he's happy in that wa y, th en he 's happy. Li ke if T ra vis [Pastran a] is more crazy and m or e stupid than Ricky , th en he is m ore popular, especially in a count ry iike A m erica. Ricky is not crazy enough , probably, but he 's a hard worker , and he j ust goes for th e results and just wants to be a winner and not a c razy, sometimes stupid guy. .. .still being motivated after accomp lis hing so many of his goals I have such a great passion for myself and have so much ambition, always. Even now, I'm here for this race [ISDE] , and I just came here for fun . Every time I need to rac e, I want to race to win . It's like a never-ending story with me, I just want to go and go. I know one day it will st op , I'll be so tired of it , but at the moment, I have achieved so m uch and I've won so much , and all of my ma in goals I've ach ieved , like wi nning t he tri ple crown - the 125, 250 and 500c c cla sse s - b e at ing J o el Robert ' s record at most GP victories . Now I' ve won three different c lasses in on e da y , winning the M ot ocross des Nations - everything I' ve don e. I' m enjoying m y life; I'm a very luc ky bastard to do what I can do. It started out as hobby , [now] I'm earn ing my money with it, and I just apprec iate it a lo t. Ev en at th e moment, sometimes it's diffi cu lt be cau se peopl e are bothering me m ore and more for p ictures and autographs, eve rybody wants to speak to me , but in 22 JANUARY 7 . 2004· e ye I e n e vv a way , I have to be luck y and to be happy even when it' s sometimes diffi cult. ... why he is so fast on a motorcycle Bec aus e I und ersta nd m y bik e, I un derstand th e trac k. It' s th e combin ati on o f treat ing yo ur bike on the trac k , ridin g the rig ht li nes, ha v ing th e perfect tim in g , experience. fitness. It's j ust a lot of things. I've creat ed a smooth style. I don 't know ho w I've don e it, bu t it happened as a child. I'm alwa ys try ing to ride in the low rpm , where the b ike is work ing easy - it's eas y for m y body , for m y ph ysi cal condi tion ; it's all ab out timin g. Like Pit Beir er - he alwa ys rea lly lo oked up to me , and he said , "How th e hell ca n you rid e so smooth? I've been tr y ing it so many times, I've watched you , I've been beh ind yo u , I've tried to cop y yo u , and I ju st cannot do it . If I rid e like you, I'm three or four seconds slower than normally ." I don 't kno w how I do it; it's th at feeling with th e engi ne , with the bike. I like to hav e a torquey bike; th e m iddle range of the engi ne performanc e need s to be real stro ng, so wh en I go into lower rp m, I need to have the power, so I ca n, like, braa, braa, braa. I li k e sli ppery conditions. I love the sand. Wh en I lo ok smooth and slow , I'm really fast . ... excelling as an all-around racer My dr eam ha s alwa ys be en to b e a gr eat m ot ocross rider and, at one poi nt, m ayb e a supe rc ross rider , but, okay. th at dream went away, so I focus on something else [m ot oc ross] , but I've nev er dreamed to becom e an all -around ride r. I've been doing Supermotard for a couple of years, one or two races a year, and I'm enjoying that, too. I pick th ings up , Same with the enduro [ISDE] : The first day was a little bit tough , th e second day got a little better, and each day gets better. Even on a trials bike , I do that a lot. I haven 't been do ing any trials competition yet, but I go out a lot in the mountains and do some trials riding. ...competing in the Six Days It interested m e a lot , but Yamaha is not so happy abo ut it. I had to talk about it a litt le bit , but finally they said , " O k ay. On e Supermotard , one enduro , yo u can do ." It's a great fe eling [ridin g th e Six Days]. It is something compl ete ly different. It's not so difficult s once you know th e system a little b it. It's ok ay with the tim e checks and the spe c ial tests - y ou ca n walk 'em . And then you have to work on your bike, and it's something I've never don e before, and that was a c h alle n g e for m e to prov e - okay , I ca n change a tir e, I can change a filter . I can change a wheel , and so on. I' ve pract iced. I said , "I' m going to do it and I don 't want people to laugh at m e." I'd like to do it aga in , yeah . Wh y not? Actually , I' m th in king t o do m or e Superm otard races, als o . We st ill have to speak about it with Yama ha . ... how long he'll keep racing I hope till I'm 6 5; I don 't know how long. I j ust take it year by year; I still have a year contract with Yamaha , and I will see within a year what I' ll do for 2005. I really hop e I still have the motivation fo r 2005 - it would still be nice to race . Then maybe come back to the Six Days for New Zealand. ... touted as being the greatest of all time I thi nk a lo t of th e riders are great, but one guy c an do a little bit m ore than th e o ther one , but that's why he doesn 't deserve less respect, and only th e best gets the m ost resp e ct , and th at's not always fair, because ot he r riders also put effort in and work hard, but they m iss that little bit . If I look at m y ex -teammate Marnicq Bervoets - he's been trying for so many years, but he's never got that respec t, but I have so much resp ect for this guy, because he has bad luck; sometimes he cr eated it himself, but every time, he tries aga in , and he has th is little b it of hope, like, "Ma ybe I can do it this year: each year again. I'm one of the greatest. There are many " great est " riders . (Long pause ) Even though I've never seen Joel Robert , but what I've seen from the vi deos and wh at I' ve heard from him, and the pic tures, it's Joel Robert , Eric Gebo ers , m an y Europe an GP riders like Hakan Carlqvist - he had such a big personal it y ; he w as not the m ost ta lented rid er, b ut h e w as differ ent in hi s pe rsona l it y ; and th at made him a leg end. [In ] America , th ere w er e so m any: J ohnson , Ba il ey , O 'Show, McGrath for sure, RC no w. ...James Stewart I' ve never seen him live, but everybody says he's very im pressive, I:N