A week or so ago, photos surfaced of the greatest Grand Prix rider of all time, Stefan Everts, riding a Honda in some very cool looking Acerbis gear. I wondered if the photos were from years ago, just after his retirement, or recent, and it turned out, Everts was part of the celebration of Maggiora, that is run once a year around the legendary circuit and some of his riding mates were Broc Glover, Alex Puzar, Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Emig, Mike Brown, Christophe Pourcel, Fred Bolley, James Dobb, Ryan Hughes and Gautier Paulin.

Not having remembered seeing an action photo of Everts in recent times, I had to give The King a call and ask, what was going on and why he decided to ride at Maggiora. We also talk about that sensational Monster Energy Motocross of Nations from Matterley Basin at the start of the month, and also the struggles the Everts family have gone through with the injury to Liam in China, where fortunately the third generation Everts will make a complete recovery, but it could have ended so much worse.

MXlarge: Stefan, how are you and are you in Portugal now?

Everts: Yes, arrived the last couple of days and its beautiful weather here.

MXlarge: I saw some photos from Maggiora, and I am surprised that nobody knew that happened, the greatest Grand Prix rider of all time racing at that legendary track. Why didn’t anyone know?

Everts: Maybe I didn’t want people to know it happened.

MXlarge: I saw the photos and I was surprised, because I can’t remember the last time, I have seen photos of you riding. It has been a long time, I know that.

Everts: It’s been a really long time, I mean, I ride sometimes when I am in Portugal, on an Enduro bike, but it is very rare that there isn’t a picture coming out from that. Yes, it’s been many years since there has been a photo of my riding, many years.

MXlarge: And you still have that famous Everts style, just like when you retired back 18 years ago.

Everts: A funny thing, one of my friends told me, “Is that a picture from when you raced, or is it from now”, I said, no, it’s from now, you don’t see the difference.

MXLarge: Obviously you have your health issues, is it difficult to race with that, or not such a problem?

Everts: I am getting used to it. On my right foot, all my toes are gone, so the feeling for the brake at the beginning was a bit strange, but I am getting more and more used to it. The biggest problem is, I get really bad arm pump, especially on my right arm, where the throttle is. So, I just take it easy, and the problem is, I just don’t ride enough.

MXLarge: Riding a track like Maggiora, must be a buzz, but can you put in any fast laps?

Everts: No, its just riding easy, because, within a lap, I have no feeling over my throttle. I don’t get tired, I could go a lot faster, but I don’t want to do something stupid.

MXLarge: Is that a pity, or you don’t really care?

Everts: It is what it is. I like to ride sometimes, but it isn’t like when I retired, the first two years (2007 and 2008), I still wanted to ride a lot. That is gone now, that is over, I don’t miss it. When we do Enduro riding in Portugal and we have done it a couple of times, it isn’t like I want to ride again the next day, it isn’t like, I want to do it again tomorrow.

MXLarge: That’s good. Tell me, I assume you watched the Nations at Matterley. Some are saying it was the best ever, or one of the best ever. I found the actual closeness of the teams and weather not as good as Maggiora in 2016, which was for me one of the best ever, but some of the racing, between the likes of Roczen, Tomac, Herlings, or Jett Lawrence and Gajser, or even the performances by Lucas Coenen and Kay De Wolf, there was a lot to like about the weekend. What did you think?

Everts: Yes, I watched the Nations, and it was great to see Australia finally getting the win. They deserved it, but it was close, and America surprised me. I didn’t expect too much from them, but Tomac, you can see what a champion he is. He just put it together and put them on the box.

MXLarge: If you could pick out what you enjoyed the most from the weekend?

Everts: Of course, the pass from Tim on Jett, which was something. You could see that Tim was no letting off. Sometimes riders get passed and just go for that position, but Tim was like, no, I want to win this. That last turn move, it was so great, but its like, Jett, why did he go so wide to the outside and it was like he was prepared to stop and surprised, but not surprised in a way. That was great and for me, the best thing about the whole Nations.

MXlarge: It seems like so many races now, if somebody stands up in a turn, your name will be mentioned and if there is a pass, then its mentioned over and over. I think Paul (Malin) mentioned you a few times over the weekend, because of that legendary pass on James Stewart in the MXoN in 2006. Many riders are racing now with your style. I think Paul (Malin) mentioned it once with Tim and once with Jett. Do you ever get sick of hearing that, or is it nice to hear it?

Everts: In one way, it is nice, it’s still respectful of my style of the past and it is nice that I could be an example and an influence for other kids, who take something over and do I get tired of it, yes and no. But I look at it in a positive way.

MXlarge: Obviously, the season didn’t end well for Liam, with his crash and injury in China. How is Liam doing and how have the family been since that day in China?

Everts: It has been tough, really tough. We have been very lucky, and we ended up in the hospital in China and the operation went well, but once we got back home, it hits you really bad. It was like a horror movie. It took me a couple of weeks to get over it and for Liam also. Those first weeks, he was nonstop sleeping. Now he is doing better and next week he has another check-up. He still uses the neck-brace, and I think he will have to use it for another couple of weeks. He is slowly doing better, and, in a way, he is motivated to come back and start over and start his revalidation. It all starts with this little crash, it didn’t look really bad, the first moments and then everything changed and for a while, we think, what will happen, is this the end of his career, yes or no. So many things go through your head and mind. At the end of the day, the biggest question for me, is why. Why did Lucas do that move. He was on the inside of Liam, then turns to the right. It was so unnecessary, to put himself and other riders at risk and danger. I am seeing more things on track, more in MX2 than MXGP, where some of these kids, they don’t think of the consequences and what can happen. Of course, you need to be free in racing, but you also need to know the limits. They go into a zone, where they bring the risk even higher, not only for them, but also for others. This of course comes from an ex-rider, older and I am more aware of the risk, more than ever. That is something the FIM need to look at and in my opinion, they need to step in and say, listen, this isn’t correct.

MXLarge: Is there a timeline on Liam, for when he can come back?

Everts: Yes, I think March, it is possible to be at a certain level. If things go well. We have that other check-up next week, to see how the bone is healing, but the doctor said in March, he could be back in shape. Anything could happen and set him back, but March is what the doctor told us.

MXlarge: We also saw when Langenfelder just T-boned De Wolf in one of the rounds.

Everts: Yes, and that is another thing, all these GP riders, they are an example, for the young kids who are racing, the new generation that will come up. Those young kids, they should not be trained, or school in things, which are not normal. Our sport needs to be fare racing and not T-bones and cross jumping, or going left to right when passing, or in the start. Our sport is dangerous, and it shouldn’t be made more dangerous from these types of moves. Just be more aware of the risk you are putting people in. It is a risky sport and don’t go into that grey zone, to make it more risk.

MXLarge: I totally get what you are saying, and I agree 100%, but on another topic with the MX2 class, what sensational talent coming through in that class. For me, maybe the most talented the MX2 class has ever seen. You are a former racer and somebody with the best technique ever, what is your opinion of the MX2 class at the moment?

Everts: Yes, I completely agree. I think the level of MX2 is extremely high and if you look at the difference in times from MXGP, at some GPs, there is nearly no difference in the times. It often takes a while for the MXGP riders to get to the times of the MX2 riders and then finally, go a bit faster. For me, the time difference in the past was two seconds, it isn’t two seconds anymore. There are a lot of good riders in there and they are pushing each other to be better and be on their limits. It is great to see the talent there, but eventually, some of them will disappear over the Ocean.

MXLarge: I actually wrote a piece on MXlarge about that, the Worldwide talent that heads to America. The whole guys going to America, it’s been happening forever, and all the all-time greats of Grand Prix motocross have given it a try, but most of them have come back to stay in Europe, yourself included. What is your opinion on it?

Everts: Yes, I was also that kid that had a dream to go to the US. Eventually, injuries set me back and I had some goals in mind in Europe, before I went there, but those goals didn’t come in time and then it was too late to go. It was in the end my luck, because I have no regrets, no regrets not going there either. Going there, and looking at the schedule, many (GP riders) look at the supercross and its all great and nice and I am also a big fan of it, but as a rider, you see retirement really soon, I mean, how young was Ricky (Carmichael) when he retired, way to young in my opinion. It is because of the schedule they have to go through. The supercross season is long, then they have the Nationals the SMX, some go to the MXoN. It is long and then testing starts, but the body cannot keep up doing that. I also experienced that, because while the GP calendar was shorter, we also had a lot of events in Europe, winter supercross races. The mind and body need a break to have a longer career and it’s a pity to see guys retire before they are 30. I mean, look at Tony (Cairoli), he went even longer. In Europe, you can go until you are 34, if you are at your best.

Images Maggiora