RIDERS OF THE MONTHCOOL SHOT P. 10

RIDERS OF THE MONTH

TITLE THE CHAMPIONS OF TOMORROW

AS WE ALL PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW, MANY IF NOT ALL OF THE FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE WINNERS AND CONTENDERS ENTER THIS SPORT AT A PRETTY YOUNG AGE, USUALLY AT THE AGE OF FOUR OR FIVE AND COMPETITION BECOMES JUST A PART OF THEIR CHILDHOOD AND EARLY TEENS, BEFORE THEY EVENTUALLY STEP INTO THE PREMIERE CLASSES. After all, champions are not just made overnight, a lot of work and years of sacrifice goes into it and many of the MXGP and MX2 stars that we know and love today, were already strong competitors in junior ranks take for example Jago Geerts, Conrad Mewse, Tim Gajser, Pauls Jonass, Thomas Kjer Olsen and Mattia Guadagnini who have all won at least one of the junior titles�

The EMX categories are crucial to developing the champions of tomorrow and is part of Infront Moto Racing’s pyramid scheme that aims to develop riders through the ranks starting in the 65cc and 85cc categories up to the EMX125 and the final EMX250 class before the top riders of these categories naturally

progress up to MX2 and finally the pinnacle of the sport which is MXGP!

Nowadays, Infront Moto Racing’s pyramid scheme not only includes the EMX European class, but also FIM Junior Motocross World Championship as well as the YZ bLU cRU which typically takes place at the end of the season, and now the all-new Junior e-Motocross series which was introduced in 2021�

Though the pyramid scheme is not just about the racing aspect, it also teaches the riders how to behave like an FIM Motocross World Championship rider� The EMX classes receive the same coverage on MXGP-TV and MXGP’s social channels, along with post-race press conferences which allows them to get to grips working alongside media and journalists so that they are ready for more of this as they reach the top classes�

This year, during the MXGP of Czech Republic we saw many youngsters in action, which included the finals of the EMX65 and EMX85 European Championships as well as the Junior e-Motocross series that was introduced in 2021�

JUNIOR E-MOTOCROSS SERIES RECAP…

The EMX65 and EMX85 classes are pretty self-explanatory, but the Junior e-Motocross series (MXE) is still a pretty new phenomena that sees kids between the ages of six and eighth competing on electric bikes, showcasing the capability of e-technology to a global audience�

The bikes used in the series includes the KTM SX-E 5, Husqvarna Motorcycles EE 5 and the GASGAS MC-E 5 models which provides the perfect combination of power and stability to help these youngsters take the first step in what could potentially turn out to be their careers for the future�

The series was initially set up in 2021 as part of a collaboration between KTM AG and Infront Moto Racing and after its huge success in the first year, it was a ‘no brainer’ that the series would return in 2022!

The series itself gave the youngsters a taste of what it’s like to compete at elite level events, as not only do they get the opportunity to race Grand Prix tracks, but they have full access to the paddock environment and can really understand the life on an MXGP rider�

Tobias Scharinger was the first winner of the inaugural season of the series, and after numerous GP style podium and red plate celebrations, there was no doubt that many of the youngsters

that competed previously were compelled to try again, in the hopes of being the next rider to stand on the box and lift the cool trophies!

The five round series kicked off in Spain that saw last year’s runner up, Timoteï Cez, take the victory ahead of Elias Eder and Logan Liberal Rodas� At the second round in France, Cez struggled as he could only manage seventh overall, while Cameron Berry celebrated his birthday in style with an epic podium that saw the huge crowd in Ernèe sing him Happy Birthday along with the local speaker, while Austin Edwards and Noé Mathais made their first visits to the podium!

By the third round, in Germany, Cez was back on top though both Edwards and Cameron made sure that their podium in France was no fluke as they once again placed inside the top three to finish second and third�

The final two rounds took place in Loket alongside the MXGP of Czech Republic in a special twoday event, similar to that of a real GP and for the first time ever, the kids took on the entire lap of the circuit, compared to previously short-cuts that were made specifically for the MXE group� Not only that, but the final rounds saw record-breaking entries, with the gate completely full, it was a nice moment to see how quickly this new electric series has grown and gained interest around the world�

Additionally, the races received LIVE coverage on MXGP-TV and full support from the huge crowd of fans that made their way to Loket for the weekend� In addition to this, the youngsters received the same coverage as the “big boys” being featured on MXGP’s social channels and more!

Cez ended up winning the penultimate round with John Slade making his first podium appearance to finish second overall, while Logan Liberal Rodas celebrate his third place on the box in style, as always!

The final two races were a test for the Championship leader Cez, who could only manage second on the box, as Edwards took his first victory, while Rodas made backto-back visits on the third step� But all eyes were on the champion Timoteï Cez who was ecstatic with his gold plate after finishing second the previous year, and after a year of hard work, was able to have his moment on the top step of the box!

Throughout the 2022 edition of the Junior e-Motocross series it has been a pleasure to watch the youngsters take on the GP tracks on board their electric machines, while receiving incredible support from the fans who were eager to show their excitement for the little riders!

EMX FINALS

The EMX finals is a one-day event that takes place alongside a selected Grand Prix event every year� Before the final stage, events take place in four different zones, North West Europe, North East Europe, South East Europe and South West Europe where after these events, generally 8 riders are invited to participate in the one day Championship decider� More riders could be invited which means that each youngster will have to work hard in order to qualifying during the timed sessions�

Riders who have won the EMX65 and EMX85 titles previously have gone on to have successful racing careers� For example in 2013 Conrad Mewse was the EMX85 winner and now is racing the MXGP class for Diga Procross KTM Racing Team, while the 2014 winner Jago Geerts is currently fighting for the MX2 World title and riding for one of the top factory teams in the paddock, Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing MX2/

But of course, that was not the only excitement of the weekend, as we also witnessed the crowning of the 2022 EMX85 and EMX65

winners at the finale in Loket� All eyes were on defending champions Vitezslav Marek and Lucas Leok� For Marek there was a little bit of added pressure as he was looking to defend his victory in front of his very passionate home crowd�

In the opening EMX85 race, the holeshot went to Filippo Mantovani as he led Felix Cardineau, Ryan Oppliger and Mano Faure� There were a lot of passes made in the opening lap which saw Gyan Doensen go from seventh and into the lead by the end of the first lap� Cardineau remained second while Mantovani dropped to third�

Local hero, Marek started down in ninth before make his way up to fifth and by the third lap was in third� It took Marek just over a lap to pass Cardineau and Mantovani� By that point, Doensen was 11�858 seconds ahead, though Marek was looking fast and was taking time out of the leader�

In the final few laps, we saw a close battle between first and second as Marek worked hard to pass the Dutchman� In the end, Doensen was able to manage under pressure to secure his first EMX race win� Marek was second ahead of Mantovani, Cardineau and Faure�

In the second race, Faure was the early leader ahead of Mantovani, Cardineau, Douwe Van Mechgelen and Marek, while race one winner Doensen started in 11th�

But by the end of the first official lap, Mantovani managed to find his way into the driving seat as Marek moved into third� It took the Czech rider another lap to go from third to first, which sent the local crowd wild� He then opened up a decent four second gap over Mantovani, as Doensen worked his way into fourth� Several laps later, the Dutchman climbed into third and then got by Mantovani with just four laps to go�

It took the Czech rider another lap to go from third to first, which sent the local crowd wild� He then opened up a decent four second gap over Mantovani, as Doensen worked his way into fourth� Several laps later, the Dutchman climbed into third and then got by Mantovani with just four laps to go�

Marek won the race ahead of Doensen, Mantovani, Freddie Bartlett who fought from eighth into fourth and Niccolo Mannini who rounded out the top five�

A 2-1 result meant that Marek was the winner for the second year in a row as he secured the gold medal and gold plate, while Doensen finished second ahead of Mantovani who took home the bronze medal� Marek celebrated with his team in style as the huge crowd of Czech fans lined the podium to celebrate!

This was Marek’s third EMX title, he had previously won the EMX65 category in 2019 both at the finals and at the Junior Motocross World Championship and has followed it up with a title in the EMX85cc class last year in Sardegna and now this time around in Czech Republic again� Marek is also competing in the EMX125 Presented by FMF Racing series this year and is still working towards some top results in the super competitive category�

Meanwhile in the EMX65 category, in the opening race it was Harry Dale who led Francesco Assini, Louis Morette, Jekabs Hudolejs and Jorge Salvador out of the gate� Meanwhile last year’s champion Lucas Leok started down on 17th�

There was a change in the lead quite quickly, as Alex Novak moved into first ahead of Assini who remained second with Hudolejs also moving up to third� At the same time Leok was making good progress in the first few laps, as he managed to get himself up to 11th, then eighth and sixth, before dropping back

down to 10th by the end of the race�

Assini then dropped out of second to sixth, meanwhile Ricardo Bauer was making his way up the order and was in second by the fourth lap� Bauer battled closely with Novak in the closing stages of the race, before making the pass with just two laps to go�

Bauer was the race winner ahead of Novak and Salvador who got himself up to third, followed by Pau Ruiz Caudet and Hudolejs�

In the second race, the holeshot went to Dale once again, as Rafael Mennillo followed in second ahead of Enri Lustus, Morette, Bauer and Leok� But the first lap saw a change for the lead as Bauer went from fourth to first� The Austrian then led Leok, Caudet Ruiz, Mennillo and Salvador, as Leok set the fastest lap of the race and looked to keep close to the leader� Dale dropped to sixth�

Assini then got around Hudolejs for ninth before dropping back to 13th by the end of the race�

Bauer was fully in control as Leok followed behind� Bertram Thorius managed to make a good pass with two laps to go on Salvador to take his position� In the end, Ricardo Bauer was the race winner and with it secure the gold medal in the EMX65 category, while Caudet Ruiz was given the silver medal and Salvador the bronze�

This was a big win for the 11-year-old Bauer from Austria who is already eyeing up a career in racing� Bauer competed in the EMX65 class last year where he finished 8th and has made big improvements in the last 12 months to take the victory this time around�

After finishing both of his races on top, the youngster did not hide his surprise at taking the win but also made sure thank his mum and dad for their support, who were just behind the camera as he did his TV interview with Lisa Leyland�

And that’s how this year’s EMX85 and EMX65 European Champions were decided! The next step is to decide who will win the world title and world cup with the FIM Junior Motocross World Championship which will take place on the 27th and 28th of August in Finland!

EDDIE’S LAST STAND …

TO THOSE OF US WHO FOLLOW MXGP, EDDIE HERD WILL BE FAMILIAR TO YOU AS EITHER THE GUY ON THE PODIUM WHO HANDS THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER’S RED PLATE TO THE EMX SERIES LEADER, OR THE GUY WHO GREETS YOU AT THE WAITING ZONE BEFORE THE START OF A RACE. AT THE RECENT MXGP OF ITALY IN MAGGIORA, EDDIE ANNOUNCED HE WAS STEPPING DOWN FROM HIS ROLE AS FIM EUROPE MOTOCROSS COMMISSION PRESIDENT, AND THAT THE MXGP OF GERMANY WOULD BE HIS LAST RACE IN THAT ROLE. FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN PRESENT AT THE RACES FOR 40 YEARS, WE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM TO DISCUSS HIS TIME SPENT WITHIN THE MOTORCYCLE FRATERNITY. For most people working within MXGP, you can almost guarantee that at some time or other they have ridden a motorcycle, and for Eddie Herd it was no different� For him, it started in 1960 when he was nineteen years old riding trials on a 350 Gold Star BSA, his first bike� It was about this time that Eddie also took on his first officiating role, as he recalls:

‘I was also Clerk of The Course when I was nineteen when I was doing trials with my local club, Carshalton� I wasn’t at work then, I was still in school, but when I got a proper job working for the Port of London Authority, I bought a C15 BSA trials bike on hire purchase� ’

It’s Official

With motorcycling fast becoming part of Eddie’s life, he also dabbled in motocross, or ‘scrambling’ as it was known back then, riding a Triumph 500 twin, but it was mostly trials where he got his thrills� Later on, as he neared the age of forty, Eddie turned his attentions to enduro and would often bomb around on an aircooled 420 KTM, and whilst he was occupying his free time watching or riding motorcycles, he started to become more and more interested in what was happening behind the scenes, and it wasn’t long before he found himself getting involved himself:

‘I watched a lot of scrambles back then, the British GP at Farleigh Castle, Hawkstone Park, but in the meantime, I’d made my way onto the Southeast Centre Board Management Committee, where I went to a few ACU General Council meetings� I met Albert Carter (ACU Chairman) and Dennis Slaughter (ACU Vice Chairman) and they persuaded me to go for the ACU Motocross Committee at the ACU, which I did, and got on it� This must have been around the late eighties when I got on the committee� Albert and Dennis then nominated me as a delegate for many, many sidecar GP’s, the first one being in Slovenia� ’ Whilst Eddie frequented British and world motocross events, it was sidecar racing where he initially spent most of his time, and it was sidecar which eventually led him to a more active role within the FIM Motocross world Championship�

‘I went to the first Sidecar GP in Kegums, Latvia; It was run by Salvis Freimanis before Kristers Sergis took over� Anyway, I went to the first one they ever ran as an ACU delegate in 1991, and after visiting for a second time, I became friendly with Salvis and his wife and I got to a stage where I said to him, if you ever run a motocross GP, I will come at my own expense and help you� And that happened in 2009� ’

‘I went at my own expense and met up with Andy Summers, who is now the FIM Technical Director, and Chris Warren, currently the FIM Chief Flag Steward, and whilst we were having dinner on the Friday evening in the hotel restaurant, Dave Nicoll, who was the FIM Race Director at the time, walked in in the middle of our meal and said:‘Boys, we’ve got a problem!’

‘What’s up Dave?’ I asked, and he said, ‘we haven’t got enough experienced staff here, I need help!’ I asked if there was anything I could do, and he asked if I could manage the ‘waiting zone’�

‘Anyway, I got the riders on the line, managed the waiting zone, made sure everyone was in the right positions and all that, made sure all the rules were obeyed in there, and that was the first time I was involved as an official let’s say, rather than a delegate� ’

And that kind of effort did not go unnoticed either, as by the end of the grand prix, Eddie was invited to a meeting with Youthstream’s President Giuseppe Luongo, who had nothing but high praise for the ‘new kid’ on the block, stating that he wanted Eddie to continue in the role for the rest of the season, which was another five rounds�

He rounded out the year in style by being asked to take care of the waiting zone at the Motocross of Nations at Franciacorta in Italy� By the way, what we now know as the waiting zone was a million miles from what we have now in MXGP, as Eddie recalls:

‘In those days I had to build the waiting zone, apart from Kegums, which was nicely built behind the start area, but everywhere else there wasn’t a waiting zone really� Dave Nicoll would say to the organisers we needed so much fencing and blocks blah blah blah, and if I was lucky, I would get enough; sometimes I didn’t, but I had to build a waiting zone near to or behind the backdrop of the start, which I did� ’

Top Man

‘Dr Wolfgang Srb and Mr Luongo had a very big plan for the Motocross European Championships; to make these Championships become the solid base of the pyramid with MXGP at its point, and they were very supportive to my candidature as President of the FIM Europe Motocross/Snowcross Commission�’

By the end of the 2010 racing season, and during the weekend of the MXoN at Thunder Valley, Colorado, FIM Europe had had a management council meeting and on the Monday after the event, people came to me and said ‘congratulations Eddie! You are now officially the President of the FIM Europe Motocross Commission,’ and that’s where and when it started, 2010� Prior to that from the year 2000, I was on the FIM Europe Motocross Committee, which was pushed by the ACU, so I’d already done 10 years on the Commission, with five or six years as Vice President, so becoming President was the next step� ’

However, there is more to this job than meets the eye, and it’s not just the work he does on the weekends where he was managing the waiting zone, as Eddie points out:

‘It’s a lot of work; it involves updating the rules every year, not just the European events that are combined with the world, but also 65cc, 85cc,

the Sidecar of Nations, the Quad Cross of Nations, snowcross, supercross if we have it� Updating the rules, and in some cases rewriting the rules because some of them do need re-writing� Even things like appointment of officials for the year, so things like Jury Presidents etc, because obviously I can’t go to all of the events; answering thousands of e-mails a year, some sensible and some stupid, but you get them all the time� As Wolfgang said, ‘it’s not a job for someone who already has a full-time career, you’ve got to be semi-retired, otherwise you’ll be up until 02:00am and then going to work the next day,’ and I know that; you just couldn’t do it� Especially someone like me who is not very quick with computers� So, basically that’s what’s involved, and keeping in touch with all the branches of sport including snowcross, quad cross, Quad Cross of Nations, Sidecar Cross of Nations and we have the motocross of European Nations as well which changed to focus more on the youth a few years ago� ’

Achievements

Eddie remained in the job of FIM Europe Motocross Commission President until he stepped down in Germany earlier this year, and during his time in the role, he has been influential in how off-road sport is run, whether it be sidecars, quads or motocross, and what we might see from the outside as minor changes, for someone like Eddie and the FIM, those changes are quite significant� With Eddie’s help and guidance, some of these changes have been very successful and still remain in place today�

‘One of the big ones is the Sidecar of Nations that we run, which runs every year� I started that off and developed the rules for it, and it was based on the fact we already had a Motocross of Nations, so why not run a Sidecar of Nations? Just like the MXoN, it is based on the principal of three races, each rider does two of the three races, qualifying on the Saturday for start positions on the Sunday, and ballots

‘In 2009, somebody suggested to me, should we have a Quad Cross of Nations, and I said why not? So, I wrote the rules for that and that’s been a big success now that we’ve had the American teams over the past few years, not the past two years because of the pandemic, but particularly good to see the Americans coming over, not just with a team, but their top three riders from the States; factory-backed, professional riders, so that’s been a success�

The 65cc, 85cc, building the pyramid with Giuseppe and Wolfgang so that we get youngsters going right through from the 65cc class to 125cc, on to EMX250, and hopefully a factory bike, and you can see the results of that� Can you name a rider in MX2 that has not been through the European Championship?’

‘We also started the European Women’s Championship and that led to the Women’s Motocross of European Nations, but with two riders on each team as opposed to three, and that is also quite successful� ’

Eddie’s legacy will continue from next year and beyond as well, even if he is not around, especially when it comes to the EMX65 and EMX85 championship� As you may know, the qualifying format to get to the EMX65/85 championship finals is determined by a series of regional zones� Up until this year, 2022, the zones were known as Northeast, North West, South East and South West, but with what is going on in Ukraine at present, Eddie realised that the structure of the two zones in Northern Europe was in jeopardy and the system compromised if nothing was done to redress the situation�

‘I had to sit down and think about that, because we have lost Ukraine, Russia and Belarus; that’s three countries from the Northeast Zone that we’ve lost, and that only leaves four, so I had to re-structure that� I had several meetings with David Luongo and together with Giuseppe in the background we agreed that as

from 2023 two of the zones would be re-titled, the North Europe zone will be based around the Baltic Sea and will include Sweden, Norway and Finland, and the other remaining countries that are in that, and the other zone which was the old North West will now be known as the Central European Zone� We had to react to the crisis otherwise we would have had, in a couple of years, nothing happening in the northeast of Europe because of less riders and less organisers� It’s not what we wanted to do but it was forced on us� It is vital that the integrity of the EMX65/85 zone system was protected because those two classes are the base of the ‘pyramid’ which has been so successful over the years and will continue for the future�

Forming Friendships

After forty years of life in the paddock, it goes without saying that lifelong friendships were formed, but there have been a couple of people who have been particularly influential and who clearly believed in Eddie from the beginning, Giuseppe Luongo and Wolfgang Srb:

‘Well yeah, they must have done, because Wolfgang said we will give you four years, that’s the mandate, and when that was up, he said we’re going to give you another four years, and then after twelve years I was still there, and Giuseppe still didn’t want me to stop, but I felt it was time to go; so, the thanks must go to Giuseppe and Wolfgang for believing in me and for giving me 100% support� I’ve made mistakes and I’ve been called in to see Giuseppe and he’d say what did you do that for? And when I told him he’d say ok, well the man who never makes a mistake does nothing, which is very true� And if I needed advice, a phone call to Wolfgang and I always got very good advice, and Giuseppe of course, but to do with the rules I would refer to Wolfgang, so a big thank you to those two guys� ’

Eddie also recognises the importance of teamwork within the paddock and the hard work that goes on behind the scenes:

‘There’s an incredible number of people that work for Infront, and they all work incredibly hard� Earlier this year in Italy we had the dinner for the media people and the logistics people, but everybody forgets the people from the kitchen, because they can’t have their own dinner, there’s no one to cook it for them! But they work so bloody hard; they arrive early in the morning and they’re there until late at night� The logistic guys who have to work in all weathers, hot terrible heat, cold miserable rain and mud, putting things up, taking them down, the driving they have to do … but everybody, media people, everybody� It’s a huge team, and there are some smashing people in there� ’

Thanks Eddie

Are you proud of what you achieved, and would you do it again, Eddie? was creeping up on me� I’m eighty years old now!’

There is no doubt that Eddie has seen more than most people in his forty-year journey, so if he could choose a favourite racetrack and rider, who would it be?

‘Favourite track? It has to be Argentina, but I can’t stand long haul flights� In Europe though it would have to be Loket, which I think is an old school track with modern influences on it� And of course, the town of Loket itself is just beautiful and a beautiful place to be� And as for riders, well, in the early years in the 60’s it would have been Jeff Smith, but also people like the Rickman brothers and Dave Curtis� In the 70’s Roger De Coster and Heikki Mikkola were fantastic, in the 80’s, if you were British, you followed Dave Thorpe and Kurt Nicoll�

But, if you are asking me to name my two favourite riders of all time, I can’t split them; they would be Stefan Everts and Jeffrey Herlings� Stefan because, well, he was just incredible, wasn’t he? And Jeffrey because he is just phenomenal� That year in Lierop, he won both races by two minutes, didn’t he? I used to watch him in the 85cc class when the European Championship was with MX3, and he would post lap times on his 85cc that would put him 3rd or 4th in the big class� You could see he was something special, and when he got to MX2 you saw how devastating he was� So, Stefan and Jeffrey, although not forgetting Tony Cairoli of course and Tim Gajser, but if I had to name two, it would be those two� Before I go though, I just want to say thanks to everyone at Infront; there were a lot of fun times!’

Eddie, we wish you all the very best in retirement, and thank you for your hard work, dedication and commitment to the FIM and MXGP, and no doubt we will still see you around at the races from time to time� Just make sure you stop by and say hello!

SECTION NAME HALL OF FAME

TITLE DANIEL PEAN

THIS MONTH THE MXGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP WILL AGAIN VISIT FRANCE, FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS SEASON. FRANCE HAS NOT ALWAYS LINED UP TOP RIDERS IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, BUT SINCE THE FIRST GP WIN OF A FRENCHIE, NO LESS THAN THIRTYFIVE FRENCH RIDERS HAVE WON AT LEAST ONE GRAND PRIX. THE FIRST ONE WAS DANIEL PEAN, WINNER OF THE 250CC GP IN YUGOSLAVIA IN 1977, AND HE STILL REMAINS AN EXAMPLE FOR MANY OF HIS COUNTRYMEN.

Born on 21st December 1954 in Le Gault du Perch, not that far from Le Mans, when he was a kid Daniel was fascinated by all the cars he could see in the garage where his father was a mechanic� His dream was to become a car racer, but when he had the opportunity to jump on a bike, he did it; it was not a motocross bike, but Daniel made some adjustments to use his 500 BSA on off road sections� He was fifteen years old when he entered his first race in Berchères les Pierre, and then he joined the famous Moto club of Brou, which was home of several 250cc and 500cc GP’s between 1980 and 1997� As his BSA was not the best bike to race motocross, he changed it when he turned sixteen and bought a 250cc Husqvarna� French Team and started his GP career in the 500cc class on a Maico� He raced GP’s during two seasons in that class, but in 1974 he raced a 250cc Maico in France, as the French importer had already some strong riders on the famous 490 German machinery� In 1975 he did the entire season in the ‘quarter litter’ class and entered the top twenty of the World Championship� The following season he improved his results when he won the famous Le Touquet Beach Race, claimed a second consecutive French title and ended the season twelfth in the 250cc World Championship� A few months later, in 1977, he became a French hero when he was the first rider to ever win a GP in Yugoslavia�

“I was injured at the end of 1976 and missed the first part of the season and the first GP’s, but as I beat Joel Robert in an International race in France when I came back racing in