18 minute read
HALL OF FAME
by MXGP MAG
SECTION NAME HALL OF FAME
TITLE FREDERIC VIALLE
FATHER OF OUR DOUBLE MX2 WORLD CHAMPION, IN THE 90’S AND DURING TEN SEASONS FREDERIC VIALLE WAS ONE REGULAR CONTENDER OF THE 125CC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, WHERE HE SCORED SEVERAL MOTOS AND GP WINS. HE ALSO RACED SOME US SUPERCROSS ROUNDS, WHERE HIS SON TOM WILL NOW CONTINUE HIS SUCCESSFUL CAREER.
Born on 27th October 1973 in Avignon, Frederic Vialle had always motorcycles around him when he was a kid, as his uncle was racing Motocross at a regional level, while his father was more passionate by trial� He was a competitor but also an organiser and Fred was always with him when he went working to prepare the layout of an event� Finally Fred got a little Italjet and did his first race at La Voulte, not far from home, where he finished very far from the leaders!
Fred was eleven years old when he did his first real Motocross race on a 85cc; it was a regional event, and he finish nearly last� Then race after race he improved his results, and he created the buzz when he won a main event during a French Supercross round; he was only fifteen years old, racing on a private Suzuki with his father as mechanic! Thanks to that result he got a deal with Kawasaki France and entered the European championship in 1990, and one year later he became a Grand Prix rider scoring points in several rounds with two moto podiums as best results to finish fifteenth of the series� Racing both Motocross and Supercross, he finished runner up in both French series and from that moment he would always race MX and SX until the end of his career� In 1993 he enjoyed his first GP race win during the French GP, at a period when the riders raced three motos per round�
Hard worker but not really talented, Fred entered the top ten of the World Championship four years after racing his first GP, and the 1994 season was a good one� He had the opportunity to race a few US Supercross events in winter time, and surprised everyone when he led the main event in Seattle during ten laps! Seventh in the 125cc classification, he ended the season on the podium with the French team at the Motocross of Nations in Roggenburg, and in 1995 he confirmed all his potential in Supercross with another French title�
Moving to Yamaha in 1996, he was with Paul Malin the main rival of Sébastien Tortelli, who won the title that year; with a moto win in Bellpuig (Spain) and with six GP podiums, he did his best season and finished third in the standings only seven points behind Paul� With Tortelli moving in the 250cc class in 1997, he became the main opponent of the Italian squad (Chiodi, Puzar, Federici), and with a first GP win during his home GP at Pernes les Fontaines he was a real title contender during a few rounds� However, with three DNF’s at mid season he lost a lot of points even if he won four other motos and two GP’s in the second part of the series� But he lost his last chances with five other DNF’s…� Always racing Supercross during his career, he clinched his third national title in 1997 and missed an opportunity to move racing full time in the US� Twenty-five years later, his son did it!
1996-97 were his best seasons, as he had up and down results in 1998; moving to the 250cc class in the Champ KTM team, he came back on a 125cc in 1999 and ended his pro GP career in 2000, a few days after the birth of his first son, Tom� He continued to race the French series during a few more seasons, and then started to share all his experience with Tom� The rest, you know!
Text and Photos: Pascal Haudiquert 1988: C2nd in the French 80cc championship 1990: 11th in the 125 European Championship (Kawasaki) 1991: 15th in the 125 World Championship (Kawasaki) 2nd in the 125 French Motocross and Supercross Championship 1992: 14th in the 125 World Championship (Kawasaki) 2nd in the 125 French Motocross Championship 1993: 11th in the 125 World Championship (Kawasaki) 125 French Supercross Champion 1994: 7th in the 125 World Championship (Kawasaki) 3rd at the Motocross of Nations with Team France 2nd in the 125 French Motocross and Supercross Championship 1995: 9th in the 125 World Championship (Kawasaki) 250 French Supercross Champion 1996: 3rd in the 125 World Championship (Yamaha) 2nd in the 125 French Motocross Championship 1997: 4th in the 125 World Championship (Yamaha). Win 3 GP’s 125 French Supercross Champion 1998: 12th in the 125 World Championship (Yamaha). 1999: 41st in the 250 World Championship (KTM) 2000: 44th in the 125 World Championship (Kawasaki) 2nd in the 125 French Motocross Championship 3rd in the 250 French Supercross Championship
1PADDOCK TALKS
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1 Team USA receive a warm welcome at the Team Presentation to the crowd in
RedBud! 2 Ryan Villopoto enjoying the MXoN action in RedBud 3 Jeremy Seewer taking the time to take selfies with the American fans 4 Ricky Carmichael met fans in the VIP
Diamond and Platinum hospitalities during the Monster Energy FIM
Motocross of Nations weekend! 5 Andrea Dovizioso came to watch his very first Monster Energy FIM Motocross of
Nations 6 FMX megastar Axel Hoghes caught up with Lisa Leyland LIVE on MXGP-TV 7 Ricky Johnson presented special ‘MXoN watches’ to the overall winners in each category! 8 Infront Moto Racing CEO David Luongo presented Jett Lawrence with the Ricky
Carmichael awarded for the best overall result to the youngest rider 9 Team USA showing off their medals and their champions rings! 10 Rally driver Nani Roma enjoying the
Monster Energy FIM Motocross of
Nations atmosphere in RedBud 11 Full house! The opening ceremony in RedBud featured special guests such as Jeff Stanton and Broc Glover, organizer Amy Ritchie along with
Dave Gowland from Monster Energy,
Infront Moto Racing’s CEO David
Luongo, FIM President Jorge Viegas,
FIM Board Member and AMA President
Rob Dingman, Brad Paquette State
Representative for Michigan’s 78th
District, Berrien County Sheriff Paul
Bailey and Tim Walberg, United States
Congressman on the podium!
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AFTER WINNING THE FIM 125CC MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1992, GREG ALBERTYN WASTED NO TIME IN MOVING UP TO THE 250CC CATEGORY, WHICH WAS NOW VERY MUCH DEEMED AS THE PREMIER CLASS, AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN PRETTY MUCH HIT THE GROUND RUNNING. WHEN ALL WAS SAID AND DONE, ‘ALBEE’ TOOK THE SERIES BY STORM CLINCHING THE TITLE WITH A ROUND REMAINING, AND IT’S GREG’S 1993 HONDA CR250 THAT WE WILL FEATURE IN THIS ISSUE OF MXGP MAGAZINE. During his title winning campaign of 1992, Greg Albertyn had already made up his mind that if he won the title that year then he would waste no time in hanging around in the eighth-litre category, instead preferring to challenge himself against the very best in the world at that time� Of course, During his title winning campaign of 1992, Greg Albertyn had already made up his mind that if he won the title that year then he would waste no time in hanging around in the eighthlitre category, instead preferring to challenge himself against the very best in the world at that time� Of course, that meant moving up to the highly competitive 250cc class� The only stumbling block might have been team owner Jan de Groot’s reluctance to share that same ambition, since the tall Dutch engine tuning specialist was always considered as someone who preferred the 125cc class� With the final GP of 1992 taking place at Suzuka, Japan, Albertyn’s persuasion was infectious and before the team returned to Europe, the support package for Albee’s 250 campaign had pretty much been agreed� Jan, Greg and mechanic Ian Harrison were about to embark on their next chapter�
The starting point of Albee’s JHK Honda was the production 1993 CR250 Honda, but it wouldn’t be long before a HRC kit found its way to Holland� The kit comprised of a cylinder, cylinder head,
GREG ALBERTYN 1993 HONDA CR250
HRC piston and HRC analogue ignition for the race bikes, as well as a factory clutch cover made from magnesium, with the 5-speed gearbox also being provided by HRC, but whilst riding the production bike back home in South Africa during the winter, it became apparent there was a problem that kept rearing its ugly head, as Harrison recalls:
‘In October (’92) we went back to South Africa and basically rode there through the winter� I remember we had a lot of crank problems; we were breaking the crank, the pin�’ It was clear a solution needed to found, and eventually, Honda chipped in by supplying a factory crank, which solved the problem, immediately� The rest of the bike remained pretty standard; the chassis, swingarm, linkage, sub-frame, airbox and brakes were all stock items, and if the front forks and rear shock were ‘kit’ items from Showa, the forks remained housed in stock triple clamps� However, the race fuel was provided by Elf, the carburettor was a 38mm Keihin and even the carb was standard, it did not slip the attention from engine guru de Groot�
‘Jan used to do a little bit of tweaking to the carb; I don’t remember exactly what he did but a lot of it was just buffing and polishing,’ said ‘H’� But these were the small margins, or marginal gains as we like to call them that made a tuner like de Groot stand out from the rest� His attention to detail was second to none� the cooler items though was the HRC clutch cover, which allowed Harrison to change to power valve spring far easier than the production bike allowed:
‘The HRC clutch cover allowed you to change the power valve spring externally so you could set up the power valve, the way it opened, a little bit differently� But, I can’t remember exactly which spring we used though� The clutch cover was magnesium and you didn’t have to take the whole cover off to adjust the power valve� You just took two 6mm bolts out and it was right there,’ was Harrison’s recollection of that particular factory part�
As far as performance, according to Harrison, bike and rider were perfectly matched:
‘Greg loved it right away, I think we were using Bridgestone Tyres and it was just one of those years where everything was good� Every time he rode it, it seemed like he was happy and we never really messed with anything� The biggest problem we had was the crank, but once we got those factory cranks, 95
it put that to bed and from there we were smooth sailing, all the way through� It was really, really easy for him� And he just fit that bike; maybe kind of like Jeremy McGrath� They just really loved it and adapted to it� It was a great bike�
The most impressive thing about the power delivery was that it was really crisp off the bottom, and the transition from bottom to mid was nice and strong, but not to where you would lose the rear end� But it was strong, and pulled impressively well with an awesome overrev� Greg’s own comments were, that ‘this thing revs to the moon!’
Dream Team, Dream Season
Just as he did in 1992, Albee came away from the first round of the ’93 series in Italy with the overall win and the points lead, beating former 125cc champ Stefan Everts and defending champion Donny Schmit in the process, his 4-1-1 leaving us in no doubt that Albee was the real deal, in what according to Harrison, was quite possibly his most impressive ride of the season:
‘That first GP, you go in with low expectations; you’re not quite sure how you’re going to fit in with all these big guys of the sport - it was stacked! It was a mountain of guys in that class that year� And then to come out with the win was just unreal� The first race (when he placed 4th) I remember he came back to me and he said, “I could have won that race,” but the adjustment screw of the front brake lever was touching the throttle housing so he couldn’t use the front brake properly, so we just slid it down a little bit and then sure enough, he did win the next two races� ’
Not surprisingly, Greg also has fond memories of the opening GP at Castiglione del Lago:
‘Going to the 250 class, there was no expectations and all the ‘experts’ were saying there was no way I could win the championship� Italy was for me an eye-opener, and ‘The first moto my front brake was not working and I ended up fourth� I told Ian that if he fixed my front brake, I believed I could win� Next two moto’s I won, and for me that was a turning point as I knew there was no reason why I couldn’t win the championship; I had the speed, the bike and the fitness etc�’
Two weeks later in Jerez, Spain, he was at it again, winning two more moto’s on his way to the top step� He then won again in the sand of Valkenswaard, Holland, eclipsing Stefan Everts for the overall; Albee went 4-1-1 to Everts’ 2-1-2 and was starting to take control of the title race� These two rounds also remain firmly fixed in Albee’s mind:
‘I always enjoyed racing in Spain at Jerez; that track and atmosphere was great, and I always enjoyed beating the Dutch and Belgians in their own backyard in the sand� It was a real thrill as they were such sand specialists� ’
After 5 rounds and 14 moto’s, Albee had only placed outside of the top three on two occasions, both of those being 4th place finishes, so when he failed to score in race two at Beaucaire in France in May - where it snowed - he still maintained a 35 point advantage over 2nd placed Everts, who had now leapfrogged Schmit� Race 3 in France was cancelled to the adverse conditions� It was a pretty crazy weekend, as Ian Harrison recalls:
‘Didn’t it snow there? I think they had to cancel it because no-one could even see the track anymore, and I think Greg went off the side of the mountain; he slipped off the side of that mountain there and struggled to get back on� Greg wasn’t hurt or anything but he just couldn’t manage to get back on the track because it was so slippery� I think they cut the second race short, like maybe after 15 minutes or something� Because it was snowing! But it was just a blow losing the points at that race� ’
There was a slight wobble in Hungary two weeks later at round six where his 3-5-0 saw him lose 34 points to Schmit (1-1-1) and 15 to Everts, but despite this, his lead remained intact with a 14-point margin over the American, Schmit�
Back on Track
Kapsovar, Hungary was the kick up the backside Albee needed, because after that ‘off day’, the Honda ace went on a rampage, and from the next six rounds (18 moto’s), he only finished outside the top three on two occasions; in the final race in Lommel after winning the first two races, and a 6th place in the first race at Budds Creek, USA, when a rock flicked up and broke his finger�
‘I DNF’d the third race in Lommel because I was convinced that my shock had blown as I was pogosticking all over the show� It ended up not being blown, but it sure was not working right� I almost grenaded myself a few times,’ was how Albee remembered his race three exit in Belgium� However, during those 18 moto’s, there were 10 race wins and six 2nd places! Greg Albertyn was now pretty much unstoppable�
When he returned from the USA the series headed to Sweden, the GP where almost all of the riders boycotted due to safety reasons, a decision that was taken by the riders on Sunday morning after the Warm Up session� On the Saturday of that weekend though, Albee was fortunate to walk away unscathed after his handlebars snapped in a rhythm section, something which Harrison remembers well:
‘In practice, he broke the ‘bars with his legs� They were thinking about cancelling the Time Practice, so we told him to go do a lap just in case, and in the whoop section he landed in a hole and he went forward and the ‘bars hit him in his thighs and basically snapped one side of the handlebar off� And then when I went to go pick up the bike, the other side snapped off as well� ’ After the Swedish no-go, there were just two rounds remaining in Finland and Japan, and Albee had his first opportunity to wrap the title up at the penultimate round� The first race he placed 10th and when he took 3rd in race two, Albee crossed the line as world champion, his lead now unassailable, and to top it off, he then went out and won the final race of the weekend�
When Greg Albertyn crossed the line as world champion, he became only the fifth rider in history to win back-to-back titles in two different categories, and the third rider to do so for Honda after Eric Geboers (250cc in 1987 and 500cc in ’88) and Jean-Michel Bayle (125cc in 1988 and 250cc in ’89)� It was also Honda’s eighteenth world championship success in all classes but only the fourth in the 250cc class�
Only six riders in history have won back-to-back titles in two different classes; Tim Gajser would win MX2 and MXGP in 2015 / ’16, more than twenty years later, also for Honda� He also made history by becoming the first rider to win a world title by more than 100 points, beating Stefan Everts by 101� Impressive�
Many would argue that 1993 was perhaps the best season of his career, something that is not lost on the man himself:
‘There was so much hype and expectation for that year because the 250 class was made the premier class for the GPs, and I would say the ‘93 season was the best season in my career� That Honda was so freaking good and so easy to ride� If I was more mature I could have won with more points and have probably almost no DNF‘s�’
During the course of the campaign, Albee raced to eleven podiums, winning six grand prix� He placed 2nd on three occasions and 3rd overall twice, and won 17 races along the way� He also took ten 2nd places and four 3rd place finishes�
Photos: Pascal Haudiquert
QUESTIONS TO THE EDITOR
❝I really like the outfits that Tim Gajser wore this season, I would like to be able to buy some of them, where can I find them online? Camille: ❞ Hi Camille, Indeed, you can find them all on the website of our partner Fox Racing, by clicking on this link: https://foxracing.co.uk/men/ moto/collections/new-arrivals/ Thanks MXGP
❝How can I see old 2012 races of Antonio Cairoli? Janis ❞ Hi Janis, you will find all the old races of Antonio Cairoli on the MXGP-TV website by clicking on this link and by buying an “archive pass” here: https://www.mxgp-tv.com/ payments;packId=P822607031 Regards MXGP ❝ Hey MXGP, where can I find the latest issue of the magazine? Bernard ❞ Dear Bernard, you can check out the latest issue of MXGP Magazine HERE: https://issuu.com/mxgpmag Best Regards MXGP
❝Hi would like to know if theWWhere will the motocross of nations take place next year? Jean ❝ I saw that there were race summaries in Italian after each race weekend, will you do it next year too? Federico ❞ Hi Federico, yes of course. You can find all our News Highlights in Italian on our youtube channel! Thanks MXGP
Hello Jean : In 2023 the Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations will take place in France at Ernée track, like in 2015, where team France won! Thanks MXGP