Sometimes things happen in sport that just doesn’t seem realistic, moments that make you stand still with your mouth wide open, and you can’t explain what you just saw. We have all seen those moments, but the story of two of our sports legends, Stefan Everts a 10-time World motocross champion and his four-time World motocross champion, Harry Everts is just Hollywood stuff.

The common theme of their chase to legendary status couldn’t be believed if a Hollywood director wrote it himself. I caught up with Stefan for a chat at the Spanish GP, just two old friends talking about Liam his son and the sport in general.

Having reported of the career of Stefan since his early days, I know pretty much everything, from the moments he lost titles, to the celebrations of his success. For me, pretty close to the best moments in my career as a media guy and without doubt, those 10 World titles by Stefan were some of his best memories.

What I didn’t know, despite loving looking up the history of the sport was the incredible parallels of his career and his fathers. Fortunately, a few weeks ago, I was on a Belgian website and Stefan was being interviewed by a newspaper, a video interview and he mentioned about the two careers. Below, a legend (actually THE legend) told me a legendary story. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did hearing it, and then writing it. Goose-bump stuff, for me anyway.

MXLarge: Stefan, I was listening to a Belgian interview with you the other day with a Belgian newspaper and was surprised about the common relationship between your career and your dads (Harry). Can you explain that for my readers?

Everts: Well, I mean, our careers were going parallel for a long time. Me winning my first and my dad winning his first one, then both of us having three difficult years, injuries, and bad luck. Then we both won three championships in a row, he did 79, 80 and 81 and me 95, 96 and 97, then he got second in 1982 and I got second in 1998, I lost to Tortelli, you remember (telling no lie, as Stefan told this story, Seb Tortelli walked past us). Then, he moved to Husqvarna and had a very big accident on his leg and that was the end of his career. I moved to Husqvarna and then I had my knee injury. It was oh my god, this is not going to be the end of my career, going to Husky like my dad did? But Dave Grant, my manager at the time said, we have a big deal, three years, a lot of money and you can ride any bike. I got sucked into it, to race for Husqvarna, but in the back of my head, I always thought about this parallel with my father’s career and how he ended his career with a big injury on the Husqvarna.

MXlarge: I can imagine, but surely history couldn’t repeat itself to that extent?

Everts: We both had four World titles and his story was over with the injury, but I still had so many goals in my career, the record of Joel Robert, more titles than my father. We went to the first race in Beaucaire, bang, I broke my arm. I went and got surgery.

MXlarge: A broken arm, it isn’t good, but it isn’t career ending?

Everts: No, it was serious. I thought I could be back in a couple of weeks, they put two pins it in, but it didn’t repair, 12 weeks later, it was still not healing, then another operation, then another, I don’t know, eight to 10 weeks. I tried to ride, then had that crash in Grobbendonk and did my knee. That was the lowest point of my career. At that moment, I thought it was over, was this the end. I was having talks with Michele (Rinaldi), they were still interested in having me ride for them. I had so much shit going on around me, with the situation with Dave Grant, the sponsors and companies he had dept with, riders, mechanics, sponsors putting me under pressure, it was coming from everywhere.

MXLarge: Did you still have hope that it could come good, and you could return?

Everts: I never lost confidence I could come back, focus on getting healthy again, point one, get fit, point two, having a good team, point three, then I knew I could still come back and win. This was in the back of my head, but how would we solve all of this. Thanks to my wife Kelly, who got me out of all of this (Kelly a strong influence of the departure from the terrible situation with Stefan and Dave Grant). Thanks to Kelly, I got back, I change the history of the Everts dynasty, and not ending my career like my dad did. I did the best years after that.

MXLarge: And then we moved onto Bellpuig and that amazing victory we spoke about a few weeks ago?

Everts: Yes, then we moved onto Bellpuig in Spain.

MXlarge: Tell me, the fact you were so busy with the accident of your father, on the Husky, and his career being over, could that have even played a part in your accident in France, at Beaucaire?

Everts: Yes, of course, it was my decision to work with Dave and take the Husky deal. Kelly said get out of this and do something else. But I did it, I was so much influenced by Dave and that was my own fault.

MXlarge: Did you allow that because you are a loyal person, or he just sucked you in?

Everts: I was sucked in, even though our relationship was not the best anymore. I know when I got injured in 1999, he straight away sided with Bolley, and it was like, now Everts is out, its me (Grant) and Bolley. Bolley won the title, so he did his job well, but he sort of felt my best days were over, but they were not, as I proved later.