Like Clement Desalle against Antonio Cairoli, or Sylvain Geboers against Joel Robert, 49 year old Marnicq Bervoets seemed to be born in the wrong era, or at least an era that made winning a World motocross championship very difficult.

With 19 GP victories he is just outside the all-time GP winners top 25, and with a bunch of FIM silver and bronze medals, you nearly have to have Bervoets in the legends list. Not a single World championship, but more than competitive in the Stefan Everts and Joel Smets era.

Riding for the Suzuki factory team, Bervoets finished second to Stefan Everts three times in the 250cc motocross world championships from 1995 to 1997. He switched to the Yamaha factory racing team and moved to the 500cc class, finishing in second place in 2000 (to Smets) and third in 2001 (to Everts and Smets). Bervoets was also a member of three winning Belgian teams at the Motocross des Nations, in one of the golden eras of Belgian motocross.

Bervoets is one of the friendly guys in the paddock, always time for a quick chat, or give an interview. His easy going nature maybe as much his positive as a person, but maybe held him back a little in his fights with his fellow Belgian legends.

Bervoets now works for the Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha MX2 Team as team manager, and we were lucky enough to sit down with the Belgian legend and talk about his two riders, Ben Watson and Jago Geerts.

MXLarge: We have been pretty lucky with the months of October, November, and December, but suddenly Europe has gotten very cold. That must make practice a problem if you stay in the north?

Marnicq Bervoets: Yes, it looks like it is changing a bit, November and December was good weather, but January and February, and its -8 or -10. The change maybe comes later.

MXlarge: So we look forward to going to Argentina?

Marnicq Bervoets: Yes, of course.  Ben is training in Sardinia with Jacky, and I am in Dunkirk (north France) in the sand with Jargo.

MXlarge: Oh damn, that must be cold there today?

Marnicq Bervoets: Yes, we had no other option. We leave tomorrow for Sardinia to do the race down there. We wanted to practice for the Italian race and then we stay down there for the photo shoot and some training.

MXlarge: You have to be one of the most excited team managers, because you have two riders who showed huge potential in 2018, and should only be better in 2019?

Marnicq Bervoets: That is true. At the start of 2018, we didn’t know what to expect, and also the riders didn’t know what to expect. I feel, these two are growing up and believing in themselves in the winter time, that they can do even better again. I think if we have the puzzle going in the right direction, then we can have a good season.

MXlarge: Motocross is a harsh sport, and it seems every rider gets injured during the season, be it a big or small injury. Luck seems to play a major part in being competitive.

Marnicq Bervoets: Yes, you need luck, but you have to own the luck. You need to concentrate hard, but not too hard. You need to train so your physical condition is good for the whole season. It is 20 GP’s and it’s a long way to the end of the season. You need to travel a lot, jet lag, different foods. So you need to be focused from January until October, and that is the most difficult thing. If you stay focused, you will not have crashes and the luck will be more on your side.

MXlarge: Watching the supercross, you see Tomac and Roczen haven’t won yet, but I have to admit, I am more impressed with those guys than the winners, because those two are the two best guys and are just building their season. Is that something you tell your riders, to build their season, maybe not push too hard too early?

Marnicq Bervoets: That is a difficult question. I would never tell them to not try and win, because you need that mentality. The riders need to be clever enough where they go, and if they go over their limit. You can push too hard and miss third place trying to go for second, or you can get fifth and ride in your limit. This is something where the rider needs to make the decision. You can tell them, but if you tell them to not go 100% they won’t be focused and they will crash.

MXlarge: Is that why you crashed so many times (joking)?

Marnicq Bervoets: No, seriously, I remember crashing, because I was too focused and I wanted it too much. Instead of slowing down and getting second, I wanted to win, and finished further down the points. You need to be focused, but not push too hard where you crash. You have to be smart.

MXlarge: Ben Watson, obviously he took a massive step in 2018, and it seemed like he didn’t believe in himself. That confidence grew a lot in 2018. How he now, start of 2019, is he again a totally different rider?

Marnicq Bervoets: Sure, he believes more in himself and he is training really hard. He wants it, and that is the most important thing. He wants to win, he wants to be good, and you can see that. Now the thing is to control the stress on the gate, the starts, how he will manage that, because last year he want from nothing to fourth place. Then everybody was happy. Now everyone knows he is capable of getting top three or maybe even winning a Grand Prix. The pressure will be higher and I want to see how he handles the pressure.

MXlarge: If you look at the Motocross of Nations at Redbud, the race with the highest pressure of any single race in the World of motocross, and he handles himself really well. In my opinion, riders who can handle that pressure, in the MXoN, they are capable of winning GPs and World championships (talent included).

Marnicq Bervoets: Absolutely, and I told him at that race. He attacked when battling with Hunter Lawrence. They were attacking each other and Ben believed that he could beat him, and that was the first time I saw him really battling with a top guy, and it was the perfect way to end 2018, so he could go into the winter with a good mind. We also have to see when it is going down a little, how he reacts to that. How will he face that and try and get out of that.

MXlarge: Very often we see a rider make a big break, a climb to the top five, but then he doesn’t improve on that. Who talks to him then, you, Jacky (Vimond)?

Marnicq Bervoets: Jacky is more the guy who is onto him, maybe angry, and I am the guy who supports what Jacky says, but more the other side, saying Jacky is correct, but please try and do it. Jacky and I have a good communication. Jacky is hard on him, and I am more calm.

MXlarge: Realistically, KTM and Prado are the big favourites for 2019 and the MX2 championship. Prado is the big talent in the class and that is obvious. Do you talk about that, or you tell Ben he can beat Prado no problem?

Marnicq Bervoets: Well, I talked to him about it last year. When you are next to Prado, on a KTM, you can say, ok, I can’t beat him out of the start, or you can say, if I get the start and lead him, I can beat him mentally. I can give him a bad feeling and he struggles in the first corner. This is mental, and if you go to the gate and think its Prado on a KTM, then you never beat him. You have to think even if your bike isn’t as good, or the track isn’t your type of track, you still have to think you can have a good start, lead the race and win it. Never give up, be focused and be strong in the head. Ben has the quality in his riding, he has the technique for the jumps, and he has the talent to win. For me, it is now how he will deal with all those situations, different situations.

MXlarge: I was speaking to Darian Sanayei, and I mentioned motocross is a bit like boxing, where you have to not let your opposition punch you too much, and you need to react to that and punch back as quickly as possible. Find out how to beat your opponent even if the guy is better than you, maybe get rough, or even dirty.

Marnicq Bervoets: Yes, or course and it’s also human beings. If you give up before a race, that isn’t good, but if you try, you have to do that for every single GP, every single race. I can tell you, Ben has the technique to be a top rider. A lot of riders don’t have that, but Ben does. He has everything to be a World champion.

MXlarge: I spoke to Ben a month or two ago, and we were talking about MXGP, how good he should be on the 450. Is this his last year in MX2?

Marnicq Bervoets: I hope not, we will see, but I hope he stays in MX2, and makes it completely in this class. If you go to MXGP and don’t do well, then that’s it. If you are doing top ten in MXGP, then you are doing really well. I think it is best he stays in MX2, as long as possible, then moves to the MXGP class. He should be a rider who can fight for the championship, and then when he is 23 and stronger, he moves to the 450 class.

MXlarge: He will be good on the 450.

Marnicq Bervoets: Yes, he is a 450 rider, we know.

MXlarge: Just a couple more questions. You rode in a very tough era. Stefan Everts, Greg Albertyn, Joel Smets, Sebastien Tortelli. You might not have won a world championship, but you were always competitive and won 19 Grand Prix’s and finished top three on many occasions in the championship. People are saying the Herlings and Cairoli are riding faster than anyone before them, and no doubt bike development helps that. I know it is difficult to answer, but how would you do in this MXGP era?

Marnicq Bervoets: Yes, that is a difficult question. I don’t know, I really don’t know.

MXlarge: Do you look at this class and think, WOW, this is too tough?

Marnicq Bervoets: It is really tough, because the competition is so high. Look at Tixier, he was a 250 world champion and he is fighting for 10^th place. You look at Valentin Guillod (multiple GP winner), he is struggling and its over for him I think and he was winning GPs in MX2. You have to be in shape, in a good team, and very strong. In our time, we didn’t have the age rule, so many 125cc riders stayed in the 125cc class for their whole career and made money. If you are 23 and not in the top five in MX2, then you got a problem. If I see my career, I started to race 250, I think I was 19 or 20 and I wasn’t sure if I went to the MXGP class, that nobody could see me. You need to be better younger, because you don’t have the time to progress. If you are really good, they will see you, no problem.

MXlarge: Last question, what is the plan leading into Argentina?

Marnicq Bervoets: We race this weekend, we go to Hawkstone Park and we go to Lacapelle.

MXlarge: Sorry, another question. Going to Lacapelle, racing hard pack, in freezing cold, how is that good preparation for the next weekend’s Argentina GP, two totally different conditions?

Marnicq Bervoets: Some riders need competition. That is the only reason. Also depends how the riders feel. Some riders don’t need it, some riders need the competition for arm pump or that type of thing. That is the only reason to go there.