MXGP #34 July 2016

#34_JULY 2016

T I O N E B L E R U T A P

R MONSTE MX S Y G R E EN CUP ’ S R E D I R

O

T U O FROM E U L B F THE

RACING CATCH UP

RIDER OF THE MONTH Benoit Paturel

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INDEX

COOL SHOT

MONSTER GIRLS

HALL OF FAME Rene Baeten

MXGP MAG: Chief Editor: Marionna Leiva Photos: Youthstream YOUTHSTREAM Media World Trade Center II Rte de Pré-Bois 29 1215 Geneva 15 Airport Switzerland MXGP Mag #34 July 2016 The articles published in this magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of Youthstream.

Then content of this publication is based on the best knowledge and information available at the time the articles were written.

The copying of articles and photos even partially is forbidden unless permission has ben requested from Youthstream in advance and reference is made to the source (©Youthstream).

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EDITORIAL Giuseppe Luongo President of Youthstream Group Dear MXGP Friends, June was a great month for MXGP with 3 successful events: France, Great Britain and Italy where fans came in abundance and who were able to revel in the simply breathtaking racing, and fans in England and Italy were also able to enjoy MXGP’s special guest rider, Chad Reed.

All MXGP’s social networks (especially Facebook) saw a mighty increase, and thanks to this overall growth of MXGP we are seeing a stronger and stronger presence of important partners; you would have all seen that Fiat Professional has become an official sponsor of MXGP and there are more and more entering MXGP because they believe in the value of communication via MXGP, this is why Fiat Professional increased their visibility as title sponsor of the MXGPs of Great Britain and Lombardia-Italy.

Whether you’re a fan coming to

events or watching it on TV you would have noticed improvements in all aspects of our sport: the quality of riders present in the various Championships, infrastructure, media coverage and production (TV, social media, printed media, etc.), racing and the presence of international sponsors, the paddock has also grown into a real village with lots of activities for the fans, hospitalities and impeccable teams’ structures where, from close-up, you can see mechanics working on the race machines and champions preparing for competition.

What makes the MXGP paddock unique is that there are more than 10,000 fans visiting it over a race weekend, and for that weekend they become an artery of MXGP’s pumping heart.

Last Sunday I had a very interesting conversation with a well-known journalist who told me, ‘Giuseppe, I reread some of your interviews from many years ago where you spoke about the future of the World Champion-

ship, such as the quality of racing, circuits, infrastructure, television, media, international sponsors, etc., and at that time some took you as being crazy because it was too big and too much for a sport like Motocross. At that time the general opinion was that Motocross is as-it-is and it would never reach a level you were envisaging because they thought it was more propaganda than a true plan, but now your dreams have become a reality, and even more. Now what’s next?’ Now, the dream (and hard work) has to continue, MXGP has reached a high level with the 7 manufacturers present with their factory teams, with the largest participation of international sponsors ever, with a huge media coverage touching every continent and with a massive presence of VIPs and fans at events, but there is still a big margin for improvement and we have to work on all the details to make it more professional and more attractive.

Last week a presentation for the 2016 Monster Energy FIM MoMXGP MAG 2016 MXGP.COM

Still some very exciting and new events await us over the next few months. The traditional and adored Loket (Czech Republic) and Lommel (Belgium) are the next on the MXGP calendar, then for the first time after many years MXGP will return to Switzerland, which will be an outstanding event as the local organizers are doing great work to a beautiful venue, MXGP will then return to Assen (the Netherlands) where the atmosphere was absolutely crazy last year, I say it often, but it’s a really important part of MXGP’s pros- after that MXGP will be held for perity: the European Champion- the first time in the cathedral of NASCAR, in Charlotte (USA), ship is bringing excellent riders with a lot of top American ridfrom Europe and from abroad ers joining the starting gate just like Australia, New Zealand and before going to the final round USA, it has become the best rookie Championship in the world in Glen Helen (USA) which is which young riders from all over loved by everyone. The Monster the world chose in order to boost Energy Motocross of Nations their career and have the possi- in Maggiora is heading in the bility to grow via experience with direction of breaking all MXoN records, this will be an experithe media and the level of comence not to be missed! Then to petition and tracks to one day compete in the Motocross or Su- finish the Motocross season, the Monster Energy Riders’ Cup will percross World Championships. tocross of Nations was held in Milan and for the first time there was really a massive participation of journalists (over 40) from the biggest Italian media who would normally have never come to MX events; their statements about our sport and the growth they have seen were very positive, and they were especially impressed that our sport is kept close to the roots where fans can be a part of it all.

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be held on the 8th October in the VELTINS-Arena (Germany) which will be an incredible event; the manufacturers have committed to not only bring their top MXGP and American riders but they will also be exhibiting their 2017 bikes and bringing loads of activities to the paddock. Manufacturers will start announcing their teams shortly and over the next month you will discover all the names, it’s going to be something no less than extraordinary. With the partnership of Monster Energy and all the manufacturers not only will the racing be extraordinary, but there will also be many shows and activities for everyone. Youthstream and all its partners are committed to making this the best stadium event ever in Europe and everything is falling into place, sponsor visibility has already sold out and all Youthstream’s TV partners will be broadcasting the event live or with a slight delay.

Have a great summer and we’ll see you in Loket!

COOL SHOTS

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HOLESHOT

OUT-FOXED

After twelve rounds of topclass world championship action it’s time to take a quick breather as MXGP heads into a well deserved four-week break, and while some of us will look forward to the rest, we know that most of you are still hungry to catch up with all the going’s on over the past three MXGP rounds.

After all, we wouldn’t want you to suffer from withdrawal symptoms now, would we?

Thought not!

of France at Saint Jean d’Angély which was round ten.

MX2

MXGP of France After nine rounds it could not have been closer going into France, with three riders all sharing the spoils, tied at the top with four Black Plates under their belts; Herlings, Jonass and Anstie. That is some serious power coming out of Austria! However, in MX2 Race One there was a So, how have you been follow- Fox Holeshot newcomer in the ing the Fox Holeshot competi- form of Suzuki World MX2’s tion, are you all up to speed?

Jeremy Seewer, landing HIS If not, don’t worry as our and SUZUKI’s first Fox Holemystery writing machine is shot of the season showing on-hand once again to fill you that the might of Japan has all in, starting with the MXGP some serious firepower of

their own as well. Unfortunately, the Swiss rider was unable to collect the 25 points on offer, as Jeffrey Herlings and Benoit Paturel took control of the race, leaving Seewer in third.

If the top three contenders had spent the break between moto’s wondering if they had misplaced their holeshot mojo magic, all was resumed for one of them as Max Anstie guided his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna over the white line ahead of the pack to lead the standings once more, but it was short lived as Herlings charged to a French double to claim his 57th career victory, equalling the legendary Belgian Joel Smets record

Fullback MXGP of Lombardia-Italy At round twelve, Mantova, the eyes of the world were Fullback MXGP of Great Brit- on ‘The Bullet’ once more ain and whilst it was almost a Two weeks later we arrived foregone conclusion that the in England and the world-re- #84 would (probably) colnowned circuit of Matterlect two more race wins, the ley Basin, where a wounded even BIGGER QUESTION was Jeffrey Herlings – foot injury ‘would he manage to get his - looked to gain more ground Red Bull KTM to drag his butt on his rivals. In fact, he acdown the start straight to tually did more than that and more Black Plate glory?’ the two Fox Holeshot’s that And the answer was a hugely he collected saw him not only disappointing NO! Booooo! But jump to the top of the leader three cheers for Thomas Covboard with two more Black ington, YAAAAAY who rockPlates taking his tally to SIX, eted out of the start in Race equalling the number of Fox One to nail down his first Fox Holeshot’s that saw Max AnHoleshot of the year on his stie claim the overall prize in Rockstar Energy Husqvarna.

2015, he also raced to anoth- Maybe we should re-name it er double victory. the Rocket Star! Anyway, you get the idea; the rider from The US of The United States now has a beautiful black who shared the podium with the MX2 championship leader.

Nice!

shiny Fox Holeshot plate, and you can bet he will spend almost the entire four-week break drooling over it, maybe even walking backwards and forwards past it on a regular basis just to reaffirm that it was not a dream and that actually it was for real.

And Tom … do you think he will mind if we call him Tom? Anyway, Thomas wasn’t the only first-timer in Mantova and in Race Two it was the turn of the Russian Rocket, Aleksandr ‘The Torpedo’ Tonkov that crossed the Fox Holeshot line by the narrowest of knobblies over Jorge Zaragoza, but by the time the riders arrived at turn four, yeah, you guessed it, Herlings was out front, doing his thing and yeah, he took two more wins to extend his lead over Jeremy Seewer to 169 points in what is a hotly contested

one-horse race for the MX2 title.

ther back to Saint Jean d’Angély where this issue of MXGP Mag kicks off with the latest round of Fox Holeshot heroes.

So as we head into the break with the next round being at Loket, the top three of the Fox Antonio Cairoli was on fire Holeshot standings now looks and showed us a glimpse of like this: his scintillating Sicilian supremacy by storming across After 12 Rounds: the stripe in Race One to take Herlings 6 his Fox Holeshot tally to sevAnstie 5 en, two more than his closest Jonass 4 rival Max Nagl, but any hopes of a repeat were dashed in MXGP Race Two as Cairoli fell at the MXGP of France first hurdle, handing Romain Here at MXGP Fox Holeshot Febvre his first Black Plate Towers we strive to bring of the season! Really Romain? you all of the latest informaYou waited until the 20th moto tion, yet by the time you read of the year to finally pull a this, what happened at round holey? Oh well, at least this twelve at Mantova will already one was extra special as it be last week’s news!! But fear led to a runaway victory over not, as we take you even fur- Tim Gajser and with it a MA-

HOOSIVE victory on home soil for his third win of the year.

Just in time for Matterley Basin then, the place where he claimed his first ever race win in MXGP… Fullback MXGP of Great Britain … Except this time, The Basin proved to be a nightmare for Febvre instead of the fairytale return he was hoping for, a scary qualifying crash left the defending champ on the sidelines and while we wish him all the best in his recovery, it almost certainly meant the end of his title defence and/ or the hope of second MXGP world title.

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Come race day and once again the top two trigger fingers were at it again; Cairoli was first over the line in Race One with Max Nagl returning the compliment in Race Two and as we headed for Mantova the Red Bull KTM led the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna 6-8 and the two veterans of MXGP showed they still know a thing or two about how to make the perfect start. Take note Tim Gajser!

Fullback MXGP of Lombardia-Italy Oh, guess what? Do you know what happened at Mantova?

Well, Tim Gajser must have had a sneak preview of our latest issue of MXGP Magazine and the Slovenian actually took note and the Honda Gariboldi rider roosted everybody as he roared to his fourth Fox Holeshot of the

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season, and bagged another win in the process.

But none of that was a patch on what happened next, OMG! Race Two was just an absolute classic and it couldn’t have happened at a better place. The atmosphere was electric with the incredible presence of the Tim Gajser fan club, but we were in Cairoli’s back yard and when the Sicilian raced across the line for his ninth Fox Holeshot the crowd just erupted, the volume turned up WAAAAY past the 10. With Gajser right behind him in second, the next twelve laps were some of the best we have seen in MXGP with Cairoli and Gajser tearing strips off of each other as they slugged it out until Gajser was the last man standing, his youthful exuberance proving too much for the thirty year-old veteran, mak-

ing Mantova his own with a 1-1 for his seventh MXGP win of the season. Granted, TC222 was slightly hindered by a wrist injury from the previous round but for the neutral it was a great way to close out round twelve as MXGP moved into the four week break.

So how does it look then in the top three Fox Holeshot classification in MXGP after twelve rounds?

Cairoli 9 Nagl 6 Gajser 4 Time now to shut the doors here at Fox Holeshot Towers, so until we resume again at Loket, Czech Republic, enjoy the silence. We will be back before you know it. BRAAP!

RACING CATCH UP

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TAKING SHAPE The battle between the two young guns Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser and Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre has provided some of the most extraordinary racing in the history of the FIM Motocross World Championship. These boys have raised the bar to the extreme and weren’t showing any signs of backing down in the second half of the season.

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Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre struggled through the MXGP of Spain after crashing in the Qualifying Race with Shaun Simpson, which resulted in being hit from behind by fellow Frenchman, Team HRC’s Gautier Paulin, and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Antonio Cairoli. It was reported that the champ had dislocated his elbow and had torn some ligaments in his shoulder, which could have easily put him out for the weekend, resulting in the loss of the championship. The gritty Frenchman soldiered on though, and lined up for both races where he went 7-4 for 6th overall.

Only 5 days on, and the following round of the championship, the MXGP of France, round ten, was at the world-renowned track of Saint Jean d’Angély, a circuit most famous for the 2011 edition of the

Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations where Team USA were last victorious.

Febvre’s first grand prix win was on home soil at Villars sous Ecot last year, so even though it was feared his injury was a lot worse than the 6th place he finished in Spain, his faithful French following still came out expecting big things.

And they won’t have gone home disappointed, other than witnessing one of their stars, Gautier Paulin, crash out of the event spectacularly on the final lap of the Qualifying Race while leading.

In terms of the main events, Race 1 in France will be one of the most memorable of the season. It was the first real head-to-head between the two champions Febvre and Gajser as both championship contenders went bar-to-bar

around turn one. Febvre had the early lead but was caught and passed by the nineteen year old rookie sensation. The crowd erupted which inspired Febvre, one rider who has the heart of a lion, to give it all he’s got. The 461 upped his game and put in a massive final lap surge only to lose the race by a hair, a defeat he was clearly disappointed about.

In Race 2, the fired up French talent took the holeshot and didn’t look back. Tiga chased him around turn one and kept him honest for most of the race before eventually accepting the fact that Febvre wasn’t going to let him have the win on HIS stomping ground. The duo took a win each and tied on 47 points, with the race 2 winner, and

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fan favourite, Romain Febvre taking deemed unfit to race due the the win for his own pride, as well severity of his concussion. His as that of the doting French fans. team also decided to withdraw him from the following round as well.

With the championship moving quickly into the second leg of the tour, Romain Febvre had some work to do. When the defending champ landed in the UK was 24 points down on Gajser, who just seems to be getting faster and stronger. After setting the fastest time in Timed Practice, 461 had first pick of the gate for the race that reminded us that racing has an ugly side. During the Qualifier, in a mid-pack battle, Febvre (and his championship campaign) took a staggering blow with the Frenchman being thrown from his bike into the face of a jump where he was knocked unconscious. The champ was carted to hospital and

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Tim Gajser, on the other hand, reminded us of all things awesome. He was completely untouchable in his prowess and took full advantage of the situation at hand with his third double moto victory of the season.

out. Meanwhile, two of the most seasoned MXGP throttle jockeys, Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Max Nagl and Gautier Paulin, got the remainder of the bottles poppin’ on the bottom two steps of the podium.

Everything Tim Gajser touches turns to gold, even his hat. The rookie stole Cairoli’s thunder, and the show for that matter at the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia-Italy, after triumphing Another couple of hot topics at one of the most epic battles the FULLBACK MXGP of Great ever. How epic? Well don’t worry Britain: the attendance of Ausabout moto one. Gajser cleaned tralian superstar Chad Reed. up, but moto two was a comReedy rocked up on a Monster pletely different story; TC222 Energy Yamaha Factory Racing pulled the holey with Tiga hot machine all set to do business. on his heels. Tiga being no slug, While it was pretty epic to see made a move straight away, and him out on the track and there the crowd, which was almost was a good vibe surrounding as much Slovenian as it was him, MXGP is a deep class and Italian, went bonkers. Someone not one you’d want to race while put some fire under Tony’s butt, rusty. Chad soon found that because he burst the intensi-

ty gauge and nudged Gajser for the lead. Gajser gave him a signal over a jump, but Tony wasn’t going to be told by a rookie and dive-bombed him a few turns later for the lead. The duo bashed bars for the majority of the race with the fans getting in on the action. It was no joke, the coolest race of the season.

In case you didn’t know, Gajser won and Tony eventually faded back to third.

And then there is MX2; It’s Jeffrey Herlings class and everyone else is just riding in it.

4 – 6 months. Herlings broke his around the 16th of July 2016 and attempted to race the final round of the championship on the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s 14th of September 2014. Only Jeffrey Herlings, otherwise known 2 months after having a rod put as The Bullet, is looking unstopin his leg, the gritty youngster pable once again. It’s not the first painfully raced, but still lost the time he’s looked this good, but championship by a heart-breaking after a couple of rough seasons 4 points. where the MX2 world title has slid through the gaps of his fingers, Trying to race with an unhealed he has learned that things can bone comes with consequences change in an instant. and it did more harm than good.

The healing time of the injury was You probably already know, but prolonged and it wasn’t until just for those that have been living two weeks before the opening Monster Energy Kawasaki’s under a rock, back in 2014 Jeff round of the 2015 FIM MX2 World Clement Desalle finally surfaced was well on his way to wrapping Championship that he even tried and landed on the podium for the up his third consecutive world ti- to ride. Feeling very rusty, The first time this season in third, tle. He had a whopping 169-point Bullet managed to win the round while Gautier Paulin jumped up lead over his, then, teammate, but didn’t look anything like his to the second step of the podium, Jordi Tixier, heading into round usual self. He dug deep though, which is his best result this sea- 14 of 17, but it all fell to bits when but in his effort to race unpreson. Cairoli finished fourth, and he broke his femur doing a charity pared, kept binning it and injurdue to the absence of Febvre, he race on a KTM 85. ing himself. Throughout 2015, he has moved up second place in the broke his collar-bone, almost lost championship standings.

A broken femur normally takes a finger and walked away from

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some horrific crashes before a small crash which saw him get landed on by his former teammate, Jordi Tixier, ended his season with a broken hip. That injury occurred at round 13 in the Czech Republic, which ironically, is our next stop on the calendar.

Touch wood Jeff gets his third world title this year. After all he’s been through, the kid deserves it.

Numbers don’t lie, he has led 327 from 426 laps; Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis has led the second most amount of laps, 42. He has won 9 from 12 Qualifying Races, 23 from 24 Championship Races and all 12 grand prix’. His stats are amazing, and the maturity and craft of his racing has improved ten-fold this season.

While Romain’s win and the epic

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racing between he and Gajser caused a ridiculously big buzz, as did the performance of breakout star, and France’s own, Benoit Paturel. Benny, as we call him now, out did himself that weekend and proved that his appearance to the second step of the podium was no fluke.

Not that we thought it was, but every time a rider lands on the podium that wasn’t predicted by anyone, the bench racers have their doubts… Were we surprised though? Naaah! When you look at Paturel’s final run in last year it was perhaps clear to see that 2016 was going to be a good year for him after a string of top ten finishes that included two 4ths and a 3rd at Leon in Mexico.

basically born in the stuff. HSF Logistics Motorsport’s Brian Bogers proved that it’s not just a stereotype with his impressive performance this weekend. ‘BB gun’ hit a bunch of milestones with a career best race finish of second place in the opening race, and a third place in race two, which landed him on the second step of the podium. Up until today, Bogers hadn’t even cracked the top five in 2016, and not since his 4th overall at Valkenswaard last year in his rookie season, but that was in the sand so does that count? He also took home a 5th in Sweden last year, but even so, it was a mega achievement for the Dutchman who was incredibly emotional at the end of the day when he Everybody knows that the Beldedicated his performance to his gian and Dutch riders are strong grandma who recently passed in the sand since they are all away.

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FIM Motocross World Championship

Standings MXGP CHAMP. STANDINGS

MX2 CHAMP. STANDINGS

1. T. Gajser (SLO, HON), 532 points 2. A.Cairoli (ITA, KTM) , 440 p.

3. R. Febvre (FRA YAM), 408 p.

4. M. Nagl (GER, HUS), 401 p 5. E. Bobryshev (RUS, HON), 396 p.

6. J. VanHorebeek(BEL,YAM)351 p.

7. V. Guillod (FRA,YAM) , 267 p.

8. G. Coldenhoff(NED, KTM), 230 p.

9. S. Simpson (GBR,KTM), 212 p.

10. C. Desalle (BEL, KAW) , 210 p.

1. J.Herlings (NED, KTM),597 points 2. J. Seewer (SUI, SUZ), 428 p.

3. P. Jonass (LAT, KTM), 403 p.

4. B. Paturel (FRA, YAM),325 p.

5. A. Tonkov (RUS, HUS), 320 p.

6. D. Ferrandis (FRA, KAW) , 308 p.

7. M. Anstie (GBR, HUS) , 274 p.

8. P. Petrov (BUL, KAW) ,253 p.

9. S. Bernardini (ITA, TM), 253 p.

10. V. Brylyakov (RUS, KAW), 219 p.

MXGP MANUFACTUERS 1. Honda 2. Yamaha 3. KTM 4. Husqvarna 5. Kawasaki 6. Suzuki

540 484 450 416 310 242

points points points points points points

MX2 MANUFACTUERS 1. KTM 2. Kawasaki 3. Suzuki 4. Yamaha 5. Husqvarna 6. TM 7. Honda

447 327 325 313 261 204 174

points points points points points points points

2016 MXGP Videos

60 Videos produced every race weekend 8 millions online views from the start of the season 25 millions minutes watched

Most watched videos News Highlights MXGP of Qatar: 589,497 views News Highlights MXGP of Thailand: 488,395 views Honda Gariboldi’s Tim Gajser on fire at the MXGP of Latvia: 401,451 views

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MXGP SOCIAL

TWITTER, FACEB IN THE WORLD OF #MXGP @elitomac Excited to add the @MonsterEnergy @mxgp events that are coming stateside in September to my calendar

@motoman154 ‬‬ @mxgp MXGP2 is a fantastic game :) @the_duffmeister 5. @emig47 just wanted to say it was a pleasure to listen to your commentary along with@PaulMalin11 at @mxgp of GB. A great pairing in the box. @nondoX ‬‬ Loved the weekend @mxgp @britmxgrandprix doing it agai next year plus lomme‬‬ @johnson_653 ‬‬ Such an awesome weekend down at Winchester watching the @mxgp #britmxgp ‬‬ @yellow_ferret‬‬ Great day out @mxgp in Matterley Basin yesterday.

Brilliant noise and made me wish I knew how to do a video! @darrenJBoyd @PaulMalin11 @mxgp I’m catching up. Seen MX2 race 1 (No surprises there...)

Looking forward to the rest over next day or two... ‬

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@jasonbarrowmx Another fantastic weekend @mxgp although the heat and some more tough luck hindered the results…

@jamessuckling1 I just wanna watch the @ mxgp I recorded

The crash that put Romain Febvre OUT for two rounds:

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Gautier Paulin’s MASSIVE crash on the final lap of Qualifying at the MXGP of France:

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RIDER OF THE MONTH

FROM OUT OF THE BLUE Every now and then a rider with extraordinarily amounts of talent lines up on the grid, pulls a few holey’s, wins a few GP’s and before we know it they are a world champion. The reality is though, that for the likes of Roczen or Herlings for instance, we saw it coming thanks to their performances at youth level.

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SPECIAL FEATURE

However, the opposite of that is also true where a rider arrives on the scene one day out of the blue and we wonder where this kid came from. Benoit Paturel is one of those riders that has been quietly chipping away in the background; all of a sudden he has broken cover and is now a podium contender in MX2. He has been there twice already this year and that is why the Kemea Yamaha Official MX Team rider is our MXGP Magazine Rider of The Month.

Humble beginnings Born in Lyon in December 1994 Benoit Paturel’s first date with a motorcycle came aged 4 after he took delivery of a Honda QR50 on Christmas Day, 1998.

For some of us that have been around bikes all our lives that kind of thing might seem pretty normal, but for Benoit it was

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something of a surprise, as his parents were not part of the racing scene, although his father Christophe did have a road bike.

After honing his dirt bike skills for a few years, Benoit entered his first race at the age of 8 at none other than the circuit of Pernes-les-Fontaines, which was close to his home. It’s also a former GP track. But unlike some of today’s stars that started out young and now grace the world of MXGP, Paturel was a slow burner as he explains.

‘My parents Christophe and Odile run a small Bed and Breakfast close to Pernes-lesFontaines. They never had a lot of money so everything they did for me was not easy. When I started racing I didn’t have

good material but I’m really happy to be where I am now. I never made any good results on 65cc or 85cc just mostly between 5th and 10th but when I changed to the 125cc it came a little bit better and I progressed step-by-step, but I was never at the front like Dylan Ferrandis, Damon Graulus or Maxime Desprey who all won a lot of races, but me, never. I wanted to progress and I wanted to be a professional rider in motocross and after much work I am here.’

The transition At 15 Paturel entered the highly competitive world of EMX125 competition riding a 2B Yamaha. His best result was a 9-8 at Fermo, the final round for 7th overall. The following year he improved to place 9th overall, placing 7th overall on three

occasions. He also finished 7th overall in the FIM Junior World Championship at Cingoli in Italy.

A quick look at the results from that race today reveals he was on the right track as the top six that finished ahead of him were: Joey Savatgy, Jeremy Seewer, Chris Alldredge, James Dunn, Damon Graulus and Tim Gajser.

In 2012 Benoit switched from 2B Yamaha to BUD Racing Kawasaki and from EMX125 to EMX250. He finished 11th overall despite only competing in three of the seven rounds. A solid 6-6 at his home round at Saint Jean d’Angély saw him finish him in a very familiar 7th overall. Later in the season his teammate Valentin Teillet picked up an injury and his team asked him to fill in for him, and in Sweden Paturel made his MX2 debut. He did not disappoint either and scored points in both moto’s. His 10-17 netted him

14th overall.

After missing the next three rounds of European action in Latvia, Russia and Czech Republic due to a hand injury he returned to Matterley Basin to go 12-5 for 6th overall, his best ever overall finish in a European championship round. However, that was eclipsed at the final round at Faenza in Italy when the young Frenchman 2-3 for 2nd overall. Paturel had put himself in the shop window.

Diversion A switch to Husqvarna in 2013 and a new one-race format saw Paturel struggle through the EMX250 campaign, and although he bettered his previous best to clinch 10th overall, his best race finish was a lowly 5th at Loket. He had also contested all of the rounds, so it was a somewhat disappointing season by his own standards.

It got worse the following year as well, as a badly damaged shoulder left him on the sidelines, unable to race. It seemed like he’d had his time, missed a golden opportunity to be signed by a major team, when out of the blue Kemea Yamaha came knocking.

‘In 2014 I was 3rd in the French Championship but nothing in EMX because I made no race because I injured my shoulder quite badly and had to stop racing for six months.

Then Kemea Yamaha took me from nothing, with no results on paper which is really nice for me.’

His new boss and team Owner Hans Corvers caught the eye of Paturel early and was keen to target Paturel as a future member of his young team: ‘We followed him in the EMX125 on the Kawasaki at that time,

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and then he went to the Husqvarna in EMX250. Then I saw something at the race at Saint Jean d’Angély and from then I followed him every race and I spoke with Marnicq Bervoets about this and we saw something in him. In August 2014 Jacky Vimond came to us in Lommel and he said ‘hey, I have worked with Benoit for a few years and he has a lot of potential. I know that he is a good rider and that he wants to do it, he wants to go for it’ and so we signed him. Yamaha wasn’t so happy, well I wouldn’t say not happy at first because they didn’t know him, nobody knew him. It was a strange risk on one side but now, after one and a half years he is doing what we want to see, and it’s not finished yet.’

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Back on track As an MX2 rider at Kemea Yamaha in 2015 it took four GP’s to get a top ten overall finish, and by the time the season was over he had scored 9 top ten’s with 6 of them coming in the last 6 rounds, including a debut podium after finishing 3rd overall at Leon, Mexico. In his debut season Paturel finished 9th overall.

This season has been better still, and at the time of writing Benoit Paturel is placed 4th overall in MX2. He has placed inside the top ten at ten of the twelve rounds so far, two of which resulted in podium visits in Spain and at home in France; both of them were 2nd overall to Jeffrey Herlings. Of course one of the guys pulling the strings of Paturel’s success is

his trainer and mentor Jacky Vimond, as acknowledged by Benoit: ‘Jacky Vimond is my trainer and he has a lot of confidence in me and it was him who pushed to find one team for me and Kemea took me. Also now after one year they took Jacky (as the team trainer) so it’s a really nice story.’

And that is something that Corvers agrees with: ‘Yeah, he plays a really, really important role and I’m sure Benoit wouldn’t be there where he is now without Jacky, but now we also feel it now with Brent. Jacky started working with us in November last year so it’s not that long and also with Brent, especially when you talk to the riders, they are really happy with the way of

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working with him, and they do every week better and better, so it was a really good decision to start working with Jacky, and our goal … we hope that we will reach the goal, and everybody knows what the goal is.’

And of those podiums? Corvers says in some ways while they came out of the blue, the team is right on track: ‘We didn’t expect it last year, from Brent or from Benoit. The goal last year was between 8 and 12 and last year Benoit finished 9 so he is on schedule. This year we want to finish between 3 and 8, he is 4th now so he is also on schedule, and next year we want to go for the top three, so we are really on schedule and last year it was a surprise. We took two podiums but okay, that’s good for the motivation. The two podiums before Matterley were not a surprise because

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we know that it should come; Benoit was a little disappointed because it took a long time for him to come, but we didn’t put any pressure on him. We said, ‘Benoit, it will come because we see what you are doing every week in practice and how you work and we know that more podiums are going to come, but yeah he was a little bit disappointed because it took until the seventh or eighth GP or something like that.’

Final word As for Benoit, there is just one thing on his wish list, and that is to be a world champion: ‘I have never won a championship in my career, from amateur until now but I work hard for my sport and with work I arrived in the world championship. I don’t have the talent, I’m not a big talent but I work hard. Working with Jacky Vimond is really nice,

he is the best person around me. I have a lot of confidence in him and we work really hard and he is there 100%.’

‘The goal for me is to be world champion, it’s clear to me since I was five years old, so I push for that. It’s a difficult goal, not many people can achieve it, but we will see. I will work for that, I will take my time, I will ride good, make progress and take pleasure on my bike and yes, normally with work it’s possible.’

From someone who started out with nothing and has so far won nothing in terms of championship titles, Benoit Paturel is the epitome of hard work and dedication, and whilst he knows that nothing is a given, hard work, determination and commitment will go a long way to making the impossible possible and he is a credit to his family and his team.

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Photo: MEYER

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Photo: T. White

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HALL OF FAME

Rene Baeten the

In Belgium, motocross and cycling are two of the most popular sports. There have been thirteen Belgian FIM Motocross World Champions with Rene Baeten setting the tone back in 1958 as the first Belgian to win the motocross world championship back in 1958 in the 500cc class.

Born in Herentals on the 10th of June 1927, Rene Baeten didn’t have the longest of careers as he started racing motocross when he was twenty years old and disappeared tragically in an accident less than fifteen years later.

Coming late into motocross, in 1947, Rene Baeten had to wait a few years before bringing home his first trophies; but when the little and talented man started to win some races two years later, he immediately switched to the International class to race against some of the most famous Belgians riders

first one!

such as Auguste Mingels, Victor Leloup or Paul Janssen.

Winning races on his home soil on a factory Sarolea, he entered the 500cc European Championship for the first time in 1953 and immediately won his first grand prix in Sweden and Belgium. Vice European champion behind Mingels and member of the Belgian Team runner up at the Motocross of Nations, Rene had a tremendous start to his international career and confirmed his potential in 1954 when he won two GP’s and finished again second in the championship behind Mingels!

had some troubles to confirm his previous results, but also claimed his first national title in 1955 and got a factory deal with FN, the famous Belgian manufacturer. His ‘56 campaign was ruined by an accident during a pre season race in Namur, but in 1957 he won another National title, collected his fourth podium at the Motocross of Nations with the Belgian team and finished runner up behind Bill Nilsson in the brand new 500cc World Championship.

Ten years after his first race, Rene entered the ‘58 season with all the pieces of the puzzle in his pocket: a facDominating the European tory and solid FN, a strong series since it’s first edition, experience after five Eurothe Belgians lost their supean or World Championship premacies in the next seacampaigns, and a strong sons, as British John Draper motivation. It was a great and Leslie Archer but also season for him and the reignSwedish Bill Nilsson started ing champion, who dominated to win GP’s and titles. It was their rivals and fought for the a tough period for the Belgian title; Namur and the GP of riders; twice vice champion Belgium will remain as one of in ‘53 and ‘54 Rene Baeten the greatest duel they nev-

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er had, as they did the last four laps of the race together on one of the most selective tracks of the series. Winner of his home race, Baeten claimed the title in the next event as he dominated Nilsson once again at Ettelbruck (Luxemburg) and became the first Belgian to get a world title. Winner of three GP’s, Belgian and world champion, Rene Baeten was also celebrated in his home country when he received the ‘Belgian Sports Merit Award.’

It was a perfect season for him, but a few weeks after the winning festivities FN announced that they stopped their racing activities. Forced to find a new ride, Rene struggled during the ‘59 season and was expecting better results when he had a terrible accident during an inter-

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national Belgian race in 1960.

At 33 years old he didn’t survive his injuries, and let Swedish, British and German riders dominate the 500cc class.

Belgium had to wait fourteen

years to see one of their riders, Roger De Coster, again on the top of the box in the main class.

Text: Pascal Haudiquert

1953: 2nd in the 500 European Championship (Sarolea), winner of 2 GP 2nd at the MX of Nations 1954: 2nd in the 500 European Championship (Sarolea), winner of 2 GP 1955: 9th in the 500 European Championship (Matchless) 2nd at the MX of Nations Belgian champion 1956: 8th in the 500 European Championship (FN) 3rd at the MX of Nations 1957: 2nd in the 500 World Championship (FN), winner of 1 GP

2nd at the MX of Nations Belgian champion 1958: 500 World Champion (FN), winner of 3 GP

Belgian Sports Merit Award 1959: 9th in the 500 World Championship (Matchless) 1960: 7th in the 500 World Championship (Matchless)

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A leader amongst men: Kiara Fontanesi is the ruler of WMX

Italy has become familiar with ownership of Grand Prix motocross in the last half a decade thanks to Tony Cairoli’s hegemony in MXGP and Kiara Fontanesi keeping a tight and often dramatic grip on the FIM Women’s World Championship. The twenty-two year old from Parma has accumulated four titles in a row and is traversing a new chapter of her career, free from Yamaha and as an independent co-team owner/athlete.

Easy company, quick to smile and revealing her femininity in what is a very male-orientated sporting pastime through little details like her hair colour or style or elaborately paint-

ed nails, Kiara talks in heavily accented English but with a high degree of thought for her answers. It is something of a contrast to our first interview when she was an eager sixteen year old and just starting to shine in Grand Prix – arguably the highest level for female motocrossers – where we needed the help of a translator.

With four FIM World Championships - and those in 2014 and 2015 won at the very last race - Fontanesi has arrived, ruled, surprised and taken profit of her discipline. Her profile and success also led to personal happiness with a link-up through social media to factory

MotoGP star Maverick Viñales and the Italian is now almost a year into a relationship with the Spaniard. X Games acclaim and a multiple event winner in the American AMA series means that Fontanesi has been perched for a while at the very highest rung of the female motocross steps.

Her surprising dissolution with Yamaha at the end of 2015 meant the end of a long-term link with ‘blue’ and a new adventure in 2016. She has been tasting some of racing’s harsher fortunes this season but the recent Grand Prix of Lombardia at Mantova was an authentic home fixture and the meeting

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that ‘8’ had been waiting for since she launched into WMX with a surprising podium finish at Lierop on a two-stroke at the last outing of 2009.

Mantova was firmly in her sights and was undoubtedly a season (if not a career) highlight as she snared her first victory since the GP of Germany last summer. There was a taste of renewed success but Kiara has almost nothing to prove anywhere else in the sport. “I have ‘two sides’ and on one I already achieved what I wanted to do in my life,” she muses. “My first goal was to be able to race in the world championship…and finally I became world champion four times! I don’t think anybody could ask for more. So I was content in one aspect. On the other side is what you feel inside and I guess what makes you succeed; that feeling that if you do something then it’s to be first and the best – not to be

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second. I had a new adventure this year and there was new motivation to win with the new bike.”

At seven rounds WMX is quite a short championship it still must be tiring due to the competitiveness that means it has gone down to the final round for the title for the last two years…

For sure it was much more tough to win last year than the first two! I got injured just before the last round in the second season but it was still nothing compared to the last two. It was tough but I think the strongest point I have is the mental side and those final races were proof. If you are not strong then you can feel the pressure and lose the championship very easily. I’m lucky to have a really good team behind me and they work all year to put things in there place and keep pressure away and not on me. Two years ago I was struggling a lot with

the bike and my head. My body, potential and confidence was not going togetherWhy? Because of some problems I had during the season my head just went. I was doing the best lap-time during practice but couldn’t push through the race because I was just giving up.

Finally I could get over it and won the championship. In 2015 I had more experience and was the season where I was feeling my best with the bike and every other aspect. I remember crashing in England – and we still don’t understand how it happened – and we thought the championship was gone. That was normal; when there is just two of you fighting for it and you end up being sixteen points behind with four motos to go.

In every race I ‘went for it’ and came as close as I could. Finally everything came down to Loket [Czech Republic] again and it

was not easy to handle. Sometimes you also need luck. I had bad luck in England but good luck in Loket [her rival Livia Lancelot could not start the final outing with a bike problem].

After winning a fourth title was there a period where you thought ‘what else can I do?’

After the European of Nations I stopped riding completely; perhaps only three times before January. It was a really big gap but after what happened with Yamaha I did not have the feeling or motivation to go out and ride that bike and especially when I knew that in the new year I’d have to get a new one ready.

Was that difficult?

It wasn’t because I went to see Maverick at a few races and my head was in another place. We then went on holiday and tied up plans for the team in December. I got myself back into work

in January and then there was a lot to do.

So there was no temptation to try and conquer America?

Well, I did the last National there last year and when I travelled I saw that it [the series] was not like it was before. Honestly, if it remains at that level then I don’t want to go back. We had a free practice without transponder or anything – like an amateur - and you don’t know how you are getting on. The level [of the competition] is not bad.

There are some girls that are quick but not like the top ones here [in WMX]. I rode with a standard bike and suspension because mine was lost at the airport and I won. I could not win a championship with that package here. The level is quite low compared to here and the [standard of] championship as well. I don’t want to go back any more until they improve it.

But what about the chance to be AMA and World Champion?

That would be the dream set…

That was part of my plan and I had a two-year schedule. I was going to do the Grand Prix of Thailand in 2015 and then fly to the U.S. to do the first rounds but it was not feasible in the end and it was not possible to mix the championships.

Has interest in you and the championship gone up or down? Do you find it easier or harder to attract more attention and sponsors?

From the beginning until now it has always been pretty good.

Every year something has always improved and honestly we are really happy to have made everything ourselves this year.

It was a big chance to group a lot of sponsors, and a lot of people contacted us to help, like the support direct from GET – which I never had. When I was in Yamaha I’m sure people

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thought I was in ‘glass bowl’ and couldn’t be touched because I had ‘everything’. When they knew we were going on our own we had a lot of enquiries. So I think there is still interest in me.

easier to ride and feels lighter than the Yamaha. It is smoother to change direction and to turn.

We have more ‘things’ that we didn’t have before like traction control and launch control and that helps a lot.

When we last spoke in December you were keen to run a production bike without any factory backing…

When I was with Yamaha it was something sure, something guaranteed. We never broke any engine. Now we are discovering a lot more new things.

We prefer to be riding standard parts and set-up at the moment to minimise risk. The support from [electronic specialists] GET meant that the bike improved a lot and is enough for what we need already this year.

I thought that the bike helps me quite a lot with my riding but I also knew that we missed a lot of time and experience with it.

I find that the Honda is much

You are one of the few athletes running out of their own team at the top level in motorsport.

Does that involve a lot of management and decision-making or do you have someone taking care of this side of it?

I’m really lucky with this because the team is not just ‘mine’; it’s also my family’s. My brother [Luca] is helping even more than previous years and nothing has really changed for me even though the team has changed quite a lot. I am still focussing totally on training because the other side goes to my brother and my Dad.

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So are you ‘the boss’ or ‘the rider’?!

I’m the rider! It is difficult because everyone is the boss. The team is my Dad’s…but it exists because of me. So if I say: “this is not good…” then we need a solution. It is a family team where everyone has a part and a say. I go along with a lot of what my Dad decides because he has always looked out for me.

You are still so young and you have achieved so much, so how much longer can you think about racing?

It is really difficult to say. I was talking to my trainer about this.

I’m used to focussing on the next race and the next championship and never really thinking about records or statistics or how many years I will go on. At the end of each year we always sit around the table and look at what went right and what went wrong. If we are happy or not and what I want to do the next year. That’s what we did in

2015 and we decided to be in the world championship again for 2016. Next year I don’t know…but I think as long as I am having fun on the bike then I will ride. Having said that I don’t think it will be too much because I don’t want to be one of these girls that lives her whole life on the bike and I have always said this to my parents. I have already got what I wanted and that was to be world champion. I don’t want to be like Livia [Lancelot] and still be racing when I am twenty-eight. I can say for sure I won’t be in Grand Prix at that age!

Sure?!

I’m sure!

Do you feel like a World Champion? Like young girls are looking up to you? Like people recognise you on the street?

That your career is where you dreamt it would be?

Honestly I feel the same as I did ten years ago because my character has always been the same: everything I do I want to win and do my best. It was like this at school, at gymnastics and finally at motocross. I did not ‘expect’ to win a race, to win a championship and for sure to win four. I’m really happy with what I reached in these many years racing because it has already been eight in the world championship. I feel older than I am! This sport makes you grow up quickly and even more when you need to fight for a title and when you find yourself all alone in some situations. Even if you have a team behind you, you are still in the gate alone. It makes you ‘harder’. And when you have to start a last race to decide a championship then this also has an effect.

So if I said to you “2016 is your last season…” would you

be frustrated or would you think ‘that’s OK’…?

I would say “that’s OK; I did it all”. I’m a person who wants to enjoy life and in my head I have many other things that I want to do that I cannot because I am racing.

Such as?

[Shyly] I’d like to do the Olympics on a snowboard. This is a big passion for me and I have always liked the mountains and wintersports. I’ve always wanted to snowboard but I could not train or take risk-of-injury because of the bikes. When I first had instruction in snowboard for riding and jumping they said to my parents that I had the capacity to do it seriously. It was the same for gymnastics!

My parents said: “we have to choose one direction!” and we went for motocross because it was the thing I was a bit more advanced in at that stage. I

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don’t expect to go snowboarding to win but just to compete at that level would be a dream.

From your current feeling and ability how long will it take to reach that level?

I think – for sure – a person that rides motocross at this level can do anything because the body is prepared for everything and when we make a triple jump then we don’t have the fear to do it. So it is not about fear it is about feeling and the amount of time to perfect technique. We will see.

Lastly tell me a bit about Maverick because it seems an unusual relationship. Not just a boyfriend but a riding partner, training partner and a kindred spirit…How is it to live that day-to-day? To have a romantic dinner one minute and then want to catch and pass him the next day on the track...?

[Smiles] We are together almost

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a year but it seems like forever.

We are already living together in Italy and we go to gym together and ride the bike together.

When he is away then maybe it is one or two weeks on the other side of the world but when he is at home then he’s at home.

We sleep and wake up together because we have the same lifestyles, the same ‘programmes’.

People say that when you spend all day with someone then you can get annoyed, bored or endup arguing but I always say to him that the good thing about us is that we have the same goals, character and personality and it is like two people are moving together as one. It is really good for me to have him in my personal life but also in my professional life because we push each other and we want to win or do the best times in training.

We help each other a lot.

It must be nice to have that common ground and under-

standing…

Yes, even when we are not home then there is that knowledge of ‘why’ we are apart and then when we are working together then it is for the same goal. We kind-of move forward together…like we are building something. I think it would be impossible to find a similar situation [with someone else]. I don’t feel like I am ‘carrying’ someone by my side.

We still have a lot of fun and even in the gym or at the track we are making a lot of jokes and we laugh at each other.

So Davide Brivio [Suzuki MotoGP Team Manager] did not plead for you to train slower so Maverick would not take risks…

[Smiles] I always tell Maverick that if he crashes then I will pay because everyone will think it is my fault.

Text & Photos: Monster Energy

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Believe the hype

Since you’re reading this magazine, you’re probably familiar with motocross, how a FIM Motocross World Championship event is run, and maybe even the timetable and race format, but what you might not be familiar with is the Monster Energy SMX Riders’ Cup, what it is and how it works, after all, it’s all new in 2016.

ly a motocross race featuring the world’s fastest dirt-bike riders, from anywhere in the world, and that includes the USA, to confirm that part to the skeptics, that will take place inside a stadium.

selected by Youthstream.

Which stadium? The VELTINS-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. A state of the art stadium that was built in 2001, and is one of the only stadiums in the world that has a fully The race is invite only, as it is retractable roof that can be also a battle between the manu- opened and closed at any time, facturers, which means that it’s even when there are people up to the manufacturers KTM, inside. Gelsenkirchen is only a 1.5-hour drive from Lommel, The Monster Energy SMX Rid- Husqvarna, Yamaha, Suzuki, Belgium, the area known to the Kawasaki, Honda and TM to ers’ and Manufacturers’ Cup select their fastest riders, with true-blue motocross fans and/ will be unlike anything you’ve or riders as the motocross ever seen before. It’s essential- the addition of 3 Guest Riders

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capital of the world. It is also in close proximity to Dortmund and Düsseldorf in Germany and is also not very far from Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, another popular motocross venue.

•

The event will round out the season on Saturday 8th of October 2016. It will be a one-day event where the main events will take place in the evening.

•

How it works:

•

• Each manufacturer, KTM, Honda, Husqvarna, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and TM, will have a team of four riders. Three main riders and one ‘Joker’. The Joker can replace any rider on the team at any time.

• There will also be 3 Guest Riders selected by Youth-

•

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stream. These riders will only be racing for individual glory; they will not be a part of the team event for the manufacturers.

There will be 24 riders on the line.

The riders can ride any bike they want between 245cc to 450cc, regardless of their age. It also doesn’t matter if the engine is 4-stroke or 2-stroke.

Each team will have ONE team captain, and that rider will race the ‘Superpole’, which is the qualifying race for the team. The 3 guest riders will not be riding the Superpole, instead they will have the 8th, 16th and 24th picks of the gate based on their laptimes in the second practice session.

The Superpole is a 2-Lap

sprint. Only 7 riders enter, 1 from each brand.

• Prize money for the individual overall winner: - 1st: €50,000 - 2nd: €30,000 - 3rd: €20,000 • The best placed MX2 rider will receive €10,000.

• The riders points system is the same as it is at the MXON: 1st: 1 point, 2nd: 2 points, 3rd: 3 points, 4th 4 points, 5th 5 points, 6th 6 points, 7th 7 points…

• Prize money for the winning manufacturer: - 1st: €50,000 - 2nd: €30,000 - 3rd: €20,000 • The manufacturers cup points system is also like that of the MXON: 1 point for 1st, 2 points for 2nd, 3 points for 3rd etc.

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• There will be 9 scores from each team on the board. The 7 best scores are counted. The worst 2 results are dropped.

• There are three riders per team. Three races will be raced. The team with the lowest score at the end of the event will win.

turn straight into a triple followed by a double. Another 180-degree lefty will line them up for a massive stepover style jump followed by a tabletop and a single, or for the ballsy, a big step-down.

The next section will have a double and a triple before another 90-degree righthander sends them into massive set of waves that has a jump face in the middle, which could launch them into the next set of waves or could The track be scrubbed. After that, a You can watch the track pre- 180-degree right-hand turn view on our Youtube channel: into a couple of tabletops and www.youtube.com/mxgptv or a dragons-back type of jump, by clicking HERE. By the looks followed by a 180-degree left of it, the track is bound to be into a ski jump and onto the sick. It has been designed and start straight to complete the will be built by MXGP’s very lap. own track crew. 24 gates will drop and the riders will head Off-track Entertainment into a 180-degree left hand What is a stadium event with

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out some epic entertainment?

While we can’t tell you exactly what is happening, this is a “watch this space” area. You can count on the fact that it will be good, especially with the title sponsor being Monster Energy, a brand that is renowned for high-energy entertainment. Just hang tight.

Trust us, we’ll entertain you.

On LIVE television Because the event is going to be so unique and awesome, we’ve already had a lot of interest from broadcasting wishing to air the event. In fact, the Monster Energy SMX Riders’ and Manufacturers’ Cup will have the same TV coverage as the MXGP series. So get out there, be a part of it and tell your friends and family who unfortunately can’t make it, to look for you in the crowd!

Photo: T. White

Bill Nilsson’s

1960 Husqvarna Albin 500

make his first race appearBill Nilsson will always go mination and a never-say-die down in history as the winner ance in 1950 on the Swedattitude that often rubbed ish speedway ovals, but afof the first ever FIM Motohis fellow competitors up the ter failing to ‘get a ride’ he cross World Championship, wrong way. In fact, it was switched his attentions to claiming the title in the 500cc alleged that his tough permotocross two years later in class in 1957 in what was a sona cost him his factory 1952 where he immediateclose run battle, edging out ride with the British-built ly started to get noticed and the Belgian René Baeten by BSA team, but sources close was part of Team Sweden a single point. But, Nilsson to him would beg to differ, would go on to claim a second that won the Motocross des and so the following year he Nations at the usually end of his decrown in 1960 it’sEuropean his went out, purchased an AJS The 125cc classand in the Championship puts a spotlight on the next but season.

1960 Husqvarna Albin 500 road bike, converted it into a big name in motocross.

In fact both of the 2015 FIM Motocross World Champions andthe first that we are featuring this scrambler and won At 5’7” Nilsson wasn’t the month. vice-world champions Romain Febvre, Gautier Paulin, Tim Gajserever and world Pauls championship.

Jonass tallest rider out there but That alone should tell us all have all won the EMX125 championship on their paths to motocross supremacy. what he lacked in stature the we need to know about the The road to glory tough Swede who inherited Bill Nilsson was born in Hallman. the nicknames Buffalo Bill or stavik, Sweden on December Wild Bill, more than made up 17th 1932 but it would take After finishing 2nd in the it with pure guts and deter18 years before he would ‘58/’59 seasons Nilsson was

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picked up by Husqvarna and he would ride a Husqvarna Albin 500 and that was one of the first truly works bikes ever entered in the world championship. It had a single-cylinder 4-stroke engine and for the time, it truly was a work of art. In fact, it was so factory that this bike only ever started life as a handbuilt factory machine; the term ‘standard’ or ‘production’ didn’t exist at that time at Husqvarna.

Full factory With the 500cc class being given world championship status in 1957 the race was on to start building 500cc machines as it was now considered the premier class, the only class where you could be crowned world champion. Ruben Helmin was the man responsible for designing the Husqvarna’s of Bill Nilsson and Rolf Tibblin, while the engines were the responsibility of Nils Hedlund.

For the 1960/’61 seasons he had built ten engines and the man responsible for bringing it altogether, the final build process was Morgan Hjalmarsson.

The frames were all onepiece handmade in chrome moly and hand welded which was unusual at the time, but interestingly Bill supplied the frame for this one only, and rumor has it that it was a ‘leftover’ from the Cresent

days but the bike was built at Husqvarna.

As for the wheels and hubs, Pränafa hubs were the preferred choice and these were married to Dunlop steel rims. This is how the bike was ‘delivered’ but the riders had a lot of freedom to change things to suit themselves. Bill often used a rear wheel straight from the BSA, but many riders of that era used a front hub from the Husqvarna Drömbågen, which was a smaller, lighter steel hub. The spokes were pulled straight out of the stock items basket, mostly from some road bike or other where there were always some standard length spokes that could be found from other brands of bike.

As for the power plant, well this was a 500cc 4-stroke engine 112 TV that originally started life way back in 1935 in the military, originally designed by Folke Mannerstedt and this was modified

by Hedlund. Special Aluminium cylinders made in Germany were also used and had a dual purpose; to save weight and to dissipate heat and with a weight of 145kg (322lb) the 500cc Husqvarna was significantly lighter than other European 4-strokes, although by now the threat of the lighter 2-stroke generation was well in the ascendancy. The gearbox was

a 4-speed item and was produced in England. When it came it came to the crankcases though, where BSA were using magnesium the Husky Boys were using aluminium … apparently! That’s what has been documented anyway, but maybe that was all part of the cloak and dagger mentality back then, in an era where pushing the boundaries and evolution was ‘top secret, classified’.

The rest of the hard parts were aluminium, which was interesting as fiberglass and titanium were on the fringes of being introduced. The fuel tank was originally taken from the Silverpilen road bike but was modified to fit the motocross bikes, and of course there were no problems with finishing the 45-minute moto’s.

With the factory being based in Sweden, other countries also contributed to the success of the Husqvarna 500 with the rear suspension units being provided by the British-based firm Girling, which were straight out of the box as opposed to the hand built items that were favoured by BSA for instance.

The front forks were also British-made Norton Roadholder units.

When it came to setting up his bikes Bill Nilsson knew exactly what he wanted as proved

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Photo: Jeff Smith Collection

by his first world championship win in 1957 on his modified AJS, transformed from a road bike to a motocross bike by himself, and from the moment he threw his leg over the Husqvarna Albin 500, according to the mastermind Morgan Hjalmarsson, Bill said ‘the bike felt really good right away.’

How meticulous was he? Very!

He was an expert machinist and a very meticulous guy, and this was proved many times throughout his career. What we need to remember here is that during this era of trial and error, de-

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spite there being an abundance of top designers and technicians, and riders who were very capable at the highest level, compared to now and this generation of engineers, all of the aforementioned were generally uneducated when it came to the most intricate of details, especially when it came to suspension set up, and talk to anyone form that era now and they will say that if it didn’t bottom out then we were generally OK! After what was another eventful season Nilsson was crowned 500cc world champion for the second time, this time by 2

points over fellow Swede Sten Lundin with his teammate Rolf Tibblin coming home third.

After he hung up his boots Nilsson went back to his speedway roots as an engine man, providing motors for the Swedish-based American and world champion, Greg Hancock, but to us in the motocross world he will always be known as the first ever world champion.

Sources: Gunnar G Lindstrom Action photo: Husqvarna AB (publ.), Husqvarna Museums Archives

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Making the differe 70

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The impact a parent can have on their child’s career in sport is often underestimated. It’s no easy task to be the parent of a young athlete, let alone knowing how to handle the ups and downs that come with competing in motorsport, for themselves and their children.

The MXGP Academy has turned up the dial and is now offering extensive support and educational seminars for the parents of young athletes. These seminars are taking place at selected rounds of the FIM Motocross World Championship where both the parents and riders are given some exclusive insight on what it takes to be a professional sportsman.

often used among athletes, the best way to explain it is; your kid may want to stay up till midnight playing videogames, but how does that want compare to his want to be a champion?

The MXGP Academy points these things out and helps the parents to learn how they can influence their kid’s career in a positive way.

“On Friday, we go over some basic riding techniques with them and we have a goal of improving their skills, even if it’s just a little bit, we want them to leave the academy being a better rider.” – John Van den Berk, MXGP Academy Trainer and former twotime FIM Motocross World Champion.

While behavior is a big part of what is taught, the theory lessons also cover safety. At the end of the day, championships are not won lying on a hospital bed, so riding safe and smart is extremely important.

So how do you get involved?

The riders and parents should already be working with their national federations. The federations work closely with the FIM, and when interest has been expressed, the national federations and the FIM do their best to offer the riders and families willing to partake in the MXGP Academy the opportunity to do so.

In addition to the theory, one of the biggest pro’s to the academy is the fact the kids get to Parenting is not easy; if you’re ride on the grand prix circuit, over-involved you create pres“It’s really cool for the kids, we sure and cause tension in and take them out on the track on around the surroundings, while Friday afternoon and work on those that are under-involved technique and certain skills, and may not provide enough support then the next day, Saturday, to facilitate the desire to race at they can watch the pro’s and a high level or even at all. Disci- how they do it, so they can learn pline is choosing between what by seeing but by also being inyou want right now and what volved.” – Jan Postema, MXGP you want most. It’s a quote Academy Trainer.

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So if you want to learn how you can get optimum results from your rider, as well as give him or her the experience of a lifetime, contact your national federation and they will do their best to assist you in participating.

PADDOCK TALKS

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Paddock Talks 01/Our fans are awesome 02/The French fans getting a piece of the champ Romain Febvre 03/Thanks to Monster Energy & Scott the media and some of our top riders were able to test the new Scott bikes 04/SELFIE! Chad Reed convinces Romain Febvre and Jeremy Van Horebeek to get in on the act 05/Italian actor Rocco Siffredi is a big fan of MXGP 06/MotoGP rider Andrea Dovizioso went to Matterley Basin to enjoy watching some MXGP racing 07/Fox signing sessions with Tim Gajser, Gautier Paulin and Evgeny Bobryshev always attract a crowd 08/Giuseppe Luongo gives Chad Reed a souvenir to take back home 09/Lisa Leyland and Chad Reed 06

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hanging out on the back of the Fiat Professional Fullback 10/Ben Townley and Chad Reed join Jeff Emig for the 2017 Shift MX gear launch 11/Tim Gajser presents his first replica Just 1 helmet 12/Tony Cairoli, Thomas Traversini and Fabio Larceri present the official Team Italy jersey for the 2016 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations 13/Fiat Professional set up a games center at the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia-Italy. It was a hit with the fans!

14&15/So cool to have Superbikes riders Jonathan Rea and Chaz Davies at the FULLBACK MXGP of Lombardia-Italy

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QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR

QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR Dear MXGP, I’m Caroline from Germany and I wish to purchase 2 tickets for the Monster Energy SMX Riders’ Cup. Are the tickets sales already online?

Thanks, Caroline Dear Caroline, Thank you for the interest in our new event. Tickets sales for the Monster Energy SMX Riders’ Cup are already online at the following link : http://smxschalke.motocross-tickets. com/10981-smx-riderscup/ Best Regards MXGP Hi MXGP, I wish to buy a season package to watch MXGP-TV premium content and I was wondering if there was some offer forseen.

Thanks, Paul Hi Paul TThe mid season offer which allow you to purchase the 2016 MXGP-TV season package with 50% discount is now online. For more info follow this link: http:// tickets.mxgp-tv.com/MXLIFE/ it/2396-mxgp-tv/ Regards MXGP

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Hi MXGP, I’m a big Motocross Fan and I found the idea of the Monster Energy SMX Riders’ Cup very interesting. Is there already a layout of the track available?

Thanks, Marco Hello Marco, Please follow the link below to watch the track preview video of the Monster Energy SMX Riders’ Cup: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=fvIY9O2UzgI&index=5&list=PLOV4XwgAnSdVdhPUfKsjLh-DZIl-eZr-6 All the best, MXGP

Hi MXGP I was wondering if the Monster Energy SMX Riders’ Cup was available LIVE on MXGPTV. Thanks, Frank Hello Frank, Thank you for your question. The Monster Energy SMX Riders’ Cup will be LIVE on MXGP-TV the 8th October and it’ll be available for purchase shortly.

Best Regards MXGP

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