STEFAN EVERTS – HIS OPINION

The greatest Grand Prix rider of all time, Stefan Everts holds the sport of motocross close to his heart. His 10 World motocross championship and 101 Grand Prix victories are what made him great, but he continues to watch Grand Prix with excitement, and obviously with his son Liam racing in the MX2 class and being a multiple GP winner himself, the interest by the legendary Belgian has risen in recent years.

While many of the current MX2 riders have a technique that is in fact, better than any era before, their speed is also something that makes Everts excited for the future, as the pyramid of Infront (EMX/MX2/MXGP) see’s young European riders advancing at a very rapid rate.

“I think the level of MX2 is extremely high,” Everts said. “And if you look at the difference in times from MXGP, at some GPs, there is nearly no difference in the times. It often takes a while for the MXGP riders to get to the times of the MX2 riders and then finally, go a bit faster. For me, the time difference in the past was two seconds, it isn’t two seconds anymore. There are a lot of good riders in there and they are pushing each other to be better and be on their limits. It is great to see the talent there.”

What does upset “The King” is the fact young riders sometimes make dangerous decisions and in the sport of motocross, a mistake like that, can be very harmful to that rider, but also the riders around him. As a clean racer from the past, Everts would like to see more MX2 riders being a little more careful in the heat of the moment.

“All these GP riders, they are an example, for the young kids who are racing, the new generation that will come up. Those young kids, they should not be trained, or school in things, which are not normal. Our sport needs to be fare racing and not T-bones and cross jumping, or going left to right when passing, or in the start. Our sport is dangerous, and it shouldn’t be made more dangerous from these types of moves. Just be more aware of the risk you are putting people in. It is a risky sport and don’t go into that grey zone, to make it more risky.”

Let’s hope the young kids who are in EMX or MX2 follow the lead of our greatest GP racer, because injuries have cost the sport time and time again and while racing hard is important, the most important thing in racing, is to race fair. We all love a close battle, and we have seen enough of that over the years, but the injuries we have seen stay with us and the families that are involved in our great sport.

Photo Credit : Ray Archer