It was a special weekend for Jarne Bervoets as he delivered the goods in front of his home fans at a brutally rough Lommel circuit. The young Belgian impressed with a dominant opening moto and despite some crashes in the second race, still did enough to secure the overall victory—his second of the season, but this one carrying much more significance. After battling through illness mid-season that derailed his momentum, Bervoets showed grit and determination to bounce back and end his EMX125 campaign on a high. We caught up with Bervoets to reflect on the weekend, his season struggles, and what’s next as he prepares to step up to the EMX250 class.
GateDrop: Jarne, we’re here at your home GP, usually that can bring extra pressure, but this weekend it certainly didn’t look like that, that first moto, maybe the best ride of your career?
Bervoets: Yeah, it felt really good. I got the holeshot, or maybe second but it just felt really good. The crowd was amazing and all the fans, it gave me some boost for the first 10 minutes and then after I got a little bit of a battle with my teammate but I didn’t feel the pressure or anything. I just rode my own race and I won so that was good.
GateDrop: In the second moto, I would say you probably didn’t ride quite as well as the first, but you obviously still rode well, how would you talk about both motos and the differences and did you start to think about the overall at any stage?
Bervoets: No, I didn’t think about the overall actually, I knew that I was good enough for the overall since in the beginning and I knew I was the fastest. On Sunday we only have like a 10 minutes warm-up, so then I struggled a little bit with my arms and just to get into a rhythm. My start was actually quite good, I was like second and I took the lead and then I made some mistakes. I crashed one time and the handlebar hit me in my stomach, so then it was a little bit painful to ride and difficult. But then I found my flow again after for the last five minutes. I don’t know what I was doing, but I was not stressed, I was just getting tired and it was just difficult, I missed some bumps and stuff. I crashed two times after the first one, so I crashed three times in total. I thought it was still two laps to go, but then the finish flag came out, so that okay (laughs).
GateDrop: You obviously won in Cozar, but that was pretty much a lottery with the conditions, does it feel good to win at home and maybe not normal conditions because it’s extremely rough out there, but more normal than Cozar?
Bervoets: It’s really amazing with the fans. It gives a different feeling that Cozar were there was no one. Cozar was still nice because it was the first time. With this one I was a little bit disappointed with my physical for the last three laps but that was it.
GateDrop: You started the season perfect and you ended it perfect, but overall how would you describe the season? Maybe mid-season you had a little dip in form, but overall it was still a positive season probably?
Bervoets: On the Tuesday after Spain, like one and a half days after I woke up really sick and I got a virus in my blood. I don’t know how I got it and the doctors told me I needed to rest for like one and a half months. I couldn’t because I had the red plate and I still wanted to give it a push. My health went down, down and down which nobody actually knows what I got, but I struggled a lot with my physical side. I had zero recovery and stuff but I just didn’t give up and I’m happy that the last two weeks is getting better. It feels like my whole winter I did for nothing but I’m happy to end on a high.
GateDrop: Have you kept training throughout the whole season or did you take a few weeks off here or there to try and recover?
Bervoets: I couldn’t do any training, I just did the GP races and tried to do everything that the doctors told me. Like I said I had to start from zero again and it was really difficult time. It was the process and I came out on a high.
GateDrop: Are you better now and when did you start to feel better?
Bervoets: After England, we did some check-ups again and then it was getting better, but still I had it. In Finland and those weeks that we kept training hard and I did some long 30 minute motos and since then I was feeling better and better. I feel like I’m still not 100% like I was in Cozar.
GateDrop: Just on Belgian motocross, I think you guys only have like three or four tracks to ride, it’s not like back in Everts era, is that tough, where would you spend a lot of your time riding? Apart from Lommel, do you go to the Netherlands quite a lot?
Bervoets: I’m maybe 10 times a year or something in Belgium training. In Lommel sometimes we go for some testing or something. Mostly we are in France or in the winter we spend a lot of time in Spain and Italy, in Sardinia. It’s really bad that they don’t have tracks in Belgium like back in the days so it’s really sh*t. We find some solutions and we keep training.
GateDrop: You and Douwe are flying the flag for Belgium in the EMX125 class, is that fun having a fellow Belgian to battle and hopefully you guys can make steps and help Belgian motocross in the future?
Bervoets: Yeah it’s nice. I try my best for Belgian Motocross. We have the Coenen’s, Brent (van Doninck), Liam (Everts) and Jago (Geerts). I’m not alone and also in 125 class we have Douwe and Ian (Amporter). They also try to help us and with the Belgian federation, we have a good connection with them. We do a lot of trainings together but it’s just the tracks… the green people, they hate us and I don’t know why.
GateDrop: You are quite tall, so I’m assuming you’ll be racing the 250cc next year?
Bervoets: Finally because in the small corners it’s so difficult and also on the uphill’s. I weigh 75 kilos so it’s quite a lot for the 125cc so I hope the 250cc is going to be better.
GateDrop: Have you got any more races or is that your season over?
Bervoets: I’ll actually go with the 250cc next week in the MX2 class at Balen. I will ride with but names like Herlings and Febvre so I don’t know what to expect, but I’m just going to do my best.
GateDrop: Is that your last race of the year?
Bervoets: No, I’m also going to do the ADAC’s on the 250cc in the Youngsters Cup class just to enjoy a little bit, and to prepare for next year to already keep training.
GateDrop: So, basically you are on a 250cc from this moment?
Bervoets: Yeah, I will keep training. Maybe I take a little bit of rest but I think I’m still going to do like normal season and then after the last race of the season we will take some time off.
GateDrop: In terms of next year, you’re not going to tell me what team, but have you got a team or anything lined up, and is it looking like EMX, you wouldn’t jump straight up to MX2 would you?
Bervoets: No, I don’t go straight up to MX2, I will go up to the EMX250 class. For the team, I really don’t know, I didn’t get anything, so not yet. I hope after this weekend, the guys see what I can do and see my potential for the future.
