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/128330
By rHE CHAMP'S CORNER STEFAN EVERTS The Year So Far H well organized. We have three diffe rent crews to deal w ith the work: a movers' crew, a painters' crew and a painte rs' crew. The distance between the two apartments was on ly 60 meters, but I was so tired after the race in Valkenswaard that the distance seemed more like a kilometer. Within three days we had moved everything and put all in place. As a resu lt I did not have the time to follow my nor mal training program for the German GP. A we ll-earned victory for Brian Jorge nse n there, but I did not like the track there, which is unlike me! To me the track was badly prepared. It was way too fast, and the many crashes and injuries were no coincidence. I think it's time they start spe nding more time and attention to the tracks. Of course they want more spec tacular and special tracks , but it' s time to use some creativity fo r the organ izers. The track des igner Greg Atkins wants to cha nge stuff, but he does not get the support he deserves, I think. I got to watch the F I Grand Prix in Monaco last mon th. That was a lot of fun, just hanging around the pits and see ing how good those guys can race. It's so much abo ut the clean image, so different to motocross, which is all about mud and sand. I also did an interesti ng pho to shoot last mon th for Acerbis. We had a fun time taking the pictures, and the gear looked rea lly co ol. Ace rbis has rea lly stepped up to anot her level, I think, with the 2005 line . The range is very sophisticated, and the pants just fit perfectly from the first time. Something I can't say from the fit of Kelly's normal pants! He r pregnancy is going fine , but with seve n mo nths it see ms her belly is growing while you look at it. Kelly needs more rest now, as we ll. On one hand we both know that we will have a lot to deal with onc e the baby is there. On the oth er hand we have not gone to exact deta il because things are so hectic lately. To fit a baby into that life will be quite a challenge, I'm sure. Our frie nds are alrea dy teasing us with the tough life we will have once the baby is there. Marco Rossi , my enduro sparring partner, will is one of the best at teas ing me. Although Iguess he has som e idea of what he is talking about beca use he'll have three kids himself soon . Best regards , # 72 Stefan Everts e r e we are no w some s ev e n ro un ds int o t he World Mot ocross Cha mpionship . I fe e l good, a nd despite not winning in England a co uple of weeks ago, I am not wo rr ied by the opposition. I feel I have the speed to win, and in England it just wasn't my day, so I can accept that. The round in England was really a great GP. I didn't get the results I wa nted, but the who le atmosphere on the Isle of Wight reminded me of Foxhill, so I guess the ne w t rac k is now t he second Fo xhill, wh ich is important for English motocross. We all know that England is a major part of the Grand Prix scene and something that is very impo rtant for the progress of the World MX Championship. The track was also good, and they did a lot of work on it, so I was happy to see that for a change . While I didn't win in England, I did get the overall victory in the Grand Prix of Benelux a coup le of weeks earlier. That was also not a track that I liked, or at least it wasn't a good sand track . Part of the course was hard pack, and the other part was semisoft sand. You could never keep a good li ne, as the berms kept breaking, so every lap was different . I en joyed winning but didn't really have tha t good a time . It might not be shocking to you, but we had an histo ric breakthr ough for our sport in Belgium last month. Ou r minister of sport, Marino Keulen, is working hard to improve some things for mot ocross in Belgium, and because of the big challenges we are changing with environm e ntal issues , land and noise claims, the att itud e of th e organizing federation s is changing as well. Belgium might have pro duced a lot of champions , but motocross was neve r particularly we ll organized here. Promote rs of the diffe rent champ io nships we re all off to do what they thought was good, and the re was no unity for the sake of the sport itself. Now they are going to form one big fede ration for the amate urs and the more professional ride rs. Th is is especially good for the youth developme nt in motocross as the fed eration will receive a grant of 500,000 e uros ($602,153). The situation might be different in oth er countries, but I think all people involved in motoc ross must make a stand toget her if we want to keep on riding in the future. O n a personal level we got over w ith the house moving in Monaco . Luckily Kelly 's family was over to help because it was a big job! But mind you this one was www.cycienEWs.com CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 30, 2004 107