Interview: Marc De Reuver 06-09

grand prix lierop 6 & 7 September 2008
 

Marc De Reuver is one of those riders who can make magic happen and his magic is often in the sand. Last season he finished with a classic moto win at the Lierop round of the MX1 championship. His rider at the 2003 Motocross of Nations at Lierop was something special, battling hard with 10 time world champion Stefan Everts.
 


Only a week or so ago he travelled to America and was the second fastest rider in the qualification, and finished third in the opening moto.

There are not too many riders who have the speed of De Reuver when it comes to sand racing and it was at his beloved Lierop last year that he showed amazing speed and even won a moto, despite having a terrible season until Lierop.

While it was a year ago it is still a race that gets the dutchman excited and he knows he has the talent to do it again this year.

"People went nuts on the track and I have never seen Dutch fans so wild so that made me happy. In the sand I can always do a bit more and I am known as a good sand rider but both my GP wins were on hard-pack."

"In the first heat (last year) I wanted to go to the front desperately but I got a bit of arm-pump. I relaxed my speed but then found a better rhythm after about twenty minutes and got back to third. I was happy with that and thought it would be a result to build on."

"I was fifth at the start of the second moto and I did not want to lose the front-runners. I pushed really hard when I got into the lead to see if I could break away but Steve stayed within five seconds all the time. I decided to let him pass and Kevin was close so he went through too! Steve made some mistakes and then it was just Kevin and I. I knew I was quicker along the whoops section so I overtook there and went flat out for that last lap."

De Reuver who is 11th in the MX1 points standings didn't enjoy the best races in Ireland last weekend. He couldn't come to terms with the circuit and struggled all weekend. Just eight points from the weekend was a big disappointment.

“I didn’t feel good on the bike all weekend – the bike was perfect and the problem was with me. The first heat was okay but I had a problem with sweat inside my goggles and I eventually finished 13th which is not satisfactory for me. I have nothing to say about the second moto – I just wasn’t riding well and riding around in 23rd place is just not my style so I pulled in.”

In Loket three weeks earlier he didn't do much better and again struggled to put together two good motos, this time scoring just 10 points. The Dutchman is known to struggle at times, and Loket was one of those times. A slight ankle injury didn't help his cause.

“On a track like this if you’re confident you can do well but when you have the slightest amount of fear then it’s over. I just didn’t feel confident all weekend and I didn’t ride well. In the first and second practice I was lower than 20th position but then in qualifying I was 13th and that was a little bit better. That was okay because the start is quite fair here and there are many places you can get a good start from.

“But I messed up the start both times and I had a lot of work to do to try and pull through. I struggled to find a good rhythm and I found it tough to find the extra I needed to come through the pack – I was just following and not riding so well and that was it. I’ve not been able to ride much with my ankle injury and for sure it gives me more problems on the hard tracks than on the sand tracks. The bike was working great though and that’s one positive thing from the weekend – the only problem was with me.”
 

Source: Youth-Stream - Geoff Meyer

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