It was the race of generations. The young flashy US Superstar, a 20 year old James Stewart against the GP GOAT Stefan Everts who was 33 at the time and won his first world title as a teenager in 1991 when Stewart was just a toddler!
In 2006 at Matterley Basin, Everts, who had just won his record tenth world title and his 101st GP, went head to head with the next generation in the last race of his career and came out on top in a story book ending! Everts produced a display that people still talk about 20 years later and finally I got the chance to hear from James Stewart and get his perspective.
Amazingly, those two riders have influenced the next generation more than any other, a lot of riders now stand up on the pegs like Everts and everyone also does the Bubba scrub.
For one day in history both icons raced together and this is James’ perspective on that iconic day that saw him win his first MXoN title in his MXoN debut.
Stewart said: “He was in the GP’s and I knew how good he was, but he raced Ricky (before), I only raced him that one time. Yeah, I knew he was good but I didn’t know how good he was!
I was able to beat him on that Saturday but then I kind of realized how to (ride) old GP stuff and I remember racing that race not even thinking anything about him! I was so nervous on trying to bring that championship that I if I could go back and, just selfishly, I would probably never let him pass me on the outside!
I don’t want to sound the wrong way because he was good, but it was hard for me to try to race, you know? With Ricky out, Tedesco just came back and the guys telling me on the gate like just don’t blow it – if you watch my season before a lot of times where I used to blow it!!
So I was pretty tight and I knew we had a good chance of just winning if I just stayed up, so it was hard. But he did some stuff and then I remember going back and watching the race and even like when I would try to put in like a little spurt here and there, he just kept staying there but it wasn’t until I watched the race and I’m like damn like dude that was pretty good!
On Everts style, James said: “It was just the access to be able to watch GPs and stuff, you really had to like try to find it because you don’t have it like now. I’d seen him ride but I didn’t really study him until actually after the race so to be honest with you like most of the time I was in front of him and then like I crashed or something like that or I think second moto he was in front of me… I didn’t get to study him but I appreciated what he did, especially afterwards, and his style was good.”
Watch the full exclusive interview below as James talks racing Ricky Carmichael, Chad Reed and why he was so fast on a 125!
