Interview Pierre Karsmakers

interview Pierre Karsmakers

Motocross, Money and the Mafia

PIERRE KARSMAKERS is much more than just a very successful American motocrosser. Pierre's life has been full of controversy since he left his native Holland in 1972, came to America to live, and called himself exactly what he now is-an American motocrosser. Because of the sometimes bitter attitude toward him, and also partly because of his basic nature, Pierre is very outspoken. He still speaks with a slight accent, although his English is excellent. He radiates a very rare type of inner confidence that is quite different from the boastful mannerisms some of his competitors use to display their self-assurance.

Pierre is earnest, dedicated and hon est. He is an outstandingly conditioned athlete. He believes that stamina is a motocrosser's greatest ally. Pierre began his personal training with modest, sim ple exercises and has developed his routine down to an exact ritual. We had our first of many meetings with Pierre at a track that he found and laid out for his own personal practice. It is far away from other riding places and it is usually empty. CW: Why do you practice at this place, Pierre? Wouldn't it be better to ride at a track that you will race soon, like Saddleback? PK: This track is one of my favorites. You cannot see much from here. What you see here is easy, but this track is very long and it is rougher than almost any track in the country. There is only one that is more difficult and that is a special practice track that I use near San Diego. When I finish riding my practice down there, I am really bushed.

CW: How often do you practice? PK: I do this two times a week. I get up early in the morning and go running, usually in a forest near my house. After I run a while I stop and do exercises. I use this log, a piece of an old tree. It is heavy and it is like lifting weights. I have special exercises that I do with the log that help to make my arms, shoul ders and legs stronger. Then after I am through, I run home and get ready to go to one of the practice tracks.

Usually I try to practice riding on the same days that I do my running. John R. (John Rosenstiel, Honda mechanic in charge of Pierre's practice bikes), will meet me and he keeps my lap times to tell me when I am slowing down. I do a 40-minute moto plus two laps, then rest for 20 minutes and then race another 40. CW: Why do you rest so little? Usually you have an hour and sometimes two or three between motos at an Inter-AM or Trans-AMA. PK: I always try to overtrain a little. Today is a work day. This is my job. This is very hard work and if I can do this well, then racing on Sundays is easy. It is difficult to go out there all alone like today and concentrate hard

for 40 minutes. That is why John comes out with me. When I am riding, he is keeping my lap times and if I slow down by one or two seconds he signals me. Then I get a little mad at myself and I push harder until I catch up. CW: Does John R. ever try to get you to go faster by signaling that you're slow ing down when you really aren't? PK: No. He knows that I am going my fastest always. If he makes me push too hard, then I might crash and that would not do me any good. He is the clock man, and the clock is my competition when I practice. It is very hard to ride constantly fast out here. On Sunday, when I race, I always have other people around. You make the next guy in front of you a target and you go after him. It

is much easier to ride fast in a race. On weekdays like this I work hard, but on Sunday I have fun. Racing is always fun. CW: Many times you find yourself at a local Southern California MX on a weekend. Do you ever hold back or take it easy because the competition is slow er than on the National circuit? PK: Never. I am always riding as fast as I can go. I may be way out in front, but I am still pushing. I'm not trying to really beat these other guys bad, but just pushing myself more. I always want to push myself. That is how I became good. I pushed since I was little. CW: How old were you when you started to race? PK: I was 22 when I rode my first

professional race. Now I'm 28. I had raced many times before, but this was the first time that I could win money. Before, it was just for trophies and stuff. CW: As a youngster interested in racing, who were your early heroes? PK: When I was young, I only knew my uncle. He was three times Dutch Cham pion and he was my hero. He and I have always been very close. Even today he is almost like my father. He gives me advice on financial things and I am always grateful to him. Later, Joel Robert became my hero. Joel is the greatest motocrosser of all time. He was crazy. He rode and you'd think he was out of control, but he hardly ever crashed. He was strong like a

bull. But he didn't train that hard. He smoked and drank and still he could ride G.P.s and be in good shape. I used to go to the races and watch and cheer for Joel. Then one day I was in the same race with him. This happened many times. He would mostly win, but a couple of times I would win. CW: What did that feel like, being able to outride your hero? PK: It was great. And Joel was always great fun. One time after I beat him he came up to me and he was kidding and poked me in the ribs and said, "You S.O.B., next week I'm going to really beat you." But all the time he was smiling at me and we all laughed. CW: Growing up in Holland, where most of the tracks are comprised mainly of sand, do you feel that it gave you special abilities?

PK: Maybe for sand tracks, but there were lots of tracks that I rode that were not sand. I traveled to Belgium (where his wife Denise was born), and raced at Namur, which is Roger's (DeCoster's) home track. This track is very hard and has lots of rocks. The sand tracks make you push all the time because you have to have momentum in sand to go fast. If you let up and go slower for a little, it is very hard. But you have to ride other tracks to learn about going fast with rocks and mud and other stuff. Europe is best for that because the tracks change so much from one place to another. In the U.S. a lot of the tracks are the same kind of riding. CW: What is your favorite track in America?

PK: I think Orlando (Fla.) is a very good one. It is very much like Holland and I like that. CW: Do you miss Europe very much? PK: Sometimes. I miss mostly the air. It is always fresh. I like it to rain. Not a lot, but maybe one or two days a week. It cleans the air and you can breathe deep. Sometimes I miss the food. This last time when I went, right after the end Of the Trans-AMA, I put on almost 10 pounds. I got home and I just ate all v the time. I had to come back, but Denise stayed in Belgium to have our new baby. It is a boy and we named him Jarno. Not after the road racer (Jarno Saarinen), but just because we like the name. Like my daughter. We called her Natasha. That is not a regular name for Holland, but we like the name very much so that's what we called her. CW: Have you seen your son yet? PK: No, not yet, but I hope to soon. I have to leave for Japan to do some testing at the end of this week. Maybe after I get back I can fly to Belgium and see him. It has been a while since I've seen my wife too. CW: How does Denise feel about your being gone all the time? PK: She would like me to be home more, but she understands. She knew that I was a racer when we got married. Sometimes it is a little hard for her, but she is a strong woman.

CW: Are you and she adapting well to your new life here in the U.S.? PK: Every day it gets easier. At first we were only coming for a year. Yamaha saw me race on my Husky when I came over for the Trans-AMA and they asked me how would I like to come over to the U.S. and race for them. They made me an offer and my wife and I talked it over and decided to try it for a year. We liked it here very much and decided to make America our new home. That is why we stayed.

CW: There are some people who say that you only came over here for the money and because the racing is easier, and that you shouldn't be allowed to race because you aren't really an Ameri can. What do you say to them? PK: Most of them are just jealous. I really got it my first year. The riders were angry at me because I was much faster and was winning all the time. They said I was taking their money away from them. It was not my fault that I was winning. But I have made a

cially when they made the rule that I couldn't get points last year for the National Championship. This year all that is different. I can be National Champion if I win enough races. This is one thing that Honda wants-a National Champion. CW: What was your main reason for going to Honda? PK: Yamaha had a lot of money taken away from racing. They had to offer me less for this year than I got last year. This did not make me very happy. Then Honda said they wanted to talk to me and they made me this fantastic offer. I couldn't say no.

CW: Jim Weinert, a strong racing rival of yours and also your next door neighbor, has said publicly that it is ridiculous to pay a motocrosser the kind of money you're getting. He says that it will hurt the sport more than help it. PK: I have to believe that if Jim had been made the same offer, he would have taken it immediately. Jim is a little jealous. He isn't making as much as I am. You have to remember that I know how much Yamaha had to offer him because that's how much they offered to me. I don't think that racers who earn a high salary are hurting the sport. We are paid according to our value. Besides, I have my future to think about. I won't be a top racer for always, that's for sure. I have to think of my family, my wife and our children. They are the ones that I work for.

CW: Are you getting along well with Jim otherwise? Have you gotten over your differences after the Yamaha Super Series? PK: Oh yeah. After it was all over he came to me and brought me a bottle of whiskey. He gave it to me and he apologized. He said, "I'm sorry. I was an ass to do what I did. Yamaha was pushing me real hard to win their Series and I had to do dirty things to win. Even then I didn't win." I told Jim that it was okay. But I didn't want the bottle of whiskey. Later on I accepted it. I know how it is to race when they

and another one with the Jones broth ers. How come? PK: It was Falta and Babarovsky in Kansas that first tried the dirty tricks. But the Communists are always doing stuff like that. Just look at what hap pened `to Falta in the final G.P. Another Communist kept crashing into him, and even then they couldn't stop him from winning the World Championship, so they made up this protest and they pressured a lot and finally got it passed. He got a one-lap penalty and that made Moiseev from Russia the World Cham pion. I think that in the end he got what was coming. The Jones boys were another story. I really don't want to talk about it too much because it wouldn't do us any good. We weren't friends for a long time, but I think that things are finally getting better between us. Anyway, what happened was really stupid, `cause it cost Gary (Jones) and me a 4th and a 3rd place. We lost points and a couple hundred dollars. It wasn't worth it. CW: Going back to what you said about last year's World Championship, do you think Falta will come back and take his title this year?

PK: No. Falta is too wild. He rides a lot like Joel Robert, but Joel was much stronger and he could get away with that. This year I think the 250 title will go to Harry Everts. He is just as fast as anyone is, but he is very smooth. He rides a lot like Torsten Hailman did. He doesn't crash and he never pushes be yond his limits. Falta crashes too much. He is not consistent. (Since the conclu sion of the interview, Everts has taken the opening round of the 250 G.P.s and given notice that he will be the man to beat). CW: And in the 500 class? PK: Heikki Mikkola will win again. Heikki has tasted what it is like to be the World Champion and he will be trying even harder to keep his position. Once you know what it is like to be the best, you never forget the feeling. CW: What about yourself? How do you feel you could do now in Europe if you

race in Ohio, I think. Roger came up to me and he tried to talk to me like we were friends, but he didn't apologize for what he tried to do. Roger never apologizes. CW: But wasn't the $1000 in addition to your start money and prize money? PK: Yes, it was extra, but it was still $1000. It was a bonus. Prize money you win and the start money you have to negotiate for. Some riders don't negoti ate, they have agents. CW: This brings up a delicate question. We have heard from our sources, and have had confirmation from riders, that there is a kind of Mafia that runs motocross in Europe. The most we've ever gotten is confirmation. No rider really wants to talk about it. PK: I don't mind talking about it because they don't handle me anymore. I don't think I would call it a Mafia. There are big powerful agents and they handle several riders. They will go to a promoter and say, "I can get you Roger, Gerrit, Adolf (Weil) and P.K. for your race. This is what it will cost you." Then the agent splits the money be tween the riders.

CW: Does he take a percentage? PK: Oh yes, he takes a very big percen tage. This is how they get to be so powerful. The agent I had once cheated me out of several hundred dollars, so I told him that I didn't want him to represent me anymore. I think he also handled Roger and a few other big names at that time, so he let me go. He thought I would not be able to get start money myself. But I wrote many letters to promoters and I started getting some of my own contracts for start money. Boy, was I glad to get rid of that guy. CW: Did Joel Robert try to dump his agent one year, after he had been several times World Champion? We understand that he got rid of his agent and that they threatened him and his wife if he ever became World Champion again. That's why he went from the top of the world to an almost nobody. PK: I know that these agents are powerwnoie change in my life. I brought my family to America, I have a job here, I have a house, I pay taxes, I do it just like all Americans who were born here. Lately, it has been easier. More riders accept me and we get along much better. But for a while I thought that maybe they would chase me out. Espe

put a lot of pressure on you. Jim almost. ran me off the track a couple of times. But it didn't matter because he didn't knock me over, just made me slow down a little. CW: You've had run-ins like that before. The thing with the Czechoslovakians had the machine set up just right for you and you took into account an average number of DNFs and a crash or two? PK: I know for sure that I could finish in the top five. That is for sure. Maybe with a little luck in the top three. CW: If you finished 3rd, who would you expect to be the two riders in front of you? PK: Well, Heikki for sure. Then maybe either Roger or Gerrit (Wolsink). CW: Do you think that Roger can ever win the World Championship again? PK: I don't know. He is very proud and very stubborn. He doesn't accept the fact that he is no longer the best. If he wins it will have to be because Heikki got hurt or something. Or maybe it will be a very close race. Maybe he wins it at the last race like Heikki did last year. Anyway, Gerrit will soon be close to a World Championship. He keeps getting better. Roger is past his prime, but he is still fast. He and Heikki will be close in positions for maybe another year.

(2W: He and Heikki battled closely for a while at the Carlsbad G.P. last year. You got involved in a little bit of their race. How close were you to keeping their pace? PK: At Carlsbad they caught me from behind. I was ahead of both of them and then my Yamaha started jumping out of gear. That is when I let them by. I never had a chance to really race with them. Roger was really upset after that race. He was only right behind me for about half a lap, but he couldn't get around. He tried, but he hit something in the track real hard and it broke his front brake or hub. Then my bike wouldn't stay in gear, so I let him and Heikki go by. Heikki's bike was still working right, so he just flew past Roger. Later, Roger said that Brad Lackey should get the money for Top American, not me. It was $1000 and Roger was trying to punish me because I didn't let him by right away and be cause he broke his bike trying to get around me. The next week we rode a

ful, but I doubt that they would maKe threats like that. It's not impossible, but I really doubt it. What happened to Joel is that he just got tired of racing. He was World Champion when he was 20 years old. That's incredible. Then he was again World Champion five more times. He didn't have any more reason to go on racing. He set so many records. He was the greatest. CW: There are those who believe that if he put his mind to it he could still come back and win the title again. Do you agree? PK: Absolutely. If he slowed down on his drinking and smoking and if he trained hard for three months, he could be the Champion again. Maybe more than one time. But he is married now and life for him is easy and relaxing. CW: And how about for you? You have had a pretty full life as a racer. How long do you hope to keep racing and what will you do when you retire? PK: I hope to race like I am now for maybe five more years. I think that I am in good enough shape to do this. Then I would like to own a shop. Maybe a racing specialty shop. I think that would be good. To help young American rid ers. I think that we are very close now to seeing an American World Champion. Maybe in two or three years. But for sure in five.

CW: Who are your choices? PK: Well, maybe Jim (Pomeroy) and Brad (Lackey). But we have riders here who should be in Europe. Jimmy Ellis is really in good shape and he is very fast. He is strong like Joel was, but Jimmy is smooth. Steve Stackable is also in very good shape and going fast. He could also do it. Weinert is fast enough, but he should stop all the big partying during the season and concentrate more on building stamina. CW: You mentioned Pomeroy. Did he get an offer from Honda? PK: I don't know for sure. I heard that his agent came to Honda and made a presentation, but he wanted a lot of money, a big motorhome and a bunch of other stuff, and Honda thought it was too much. Besides, Jim wants to ride in Europe and Honda isn't inter ested in racing in Europe right now. Maybe sometime in the future. CW: What about the rest of the Ameri can riders in general? Are there future G.P. racers among them? PK: For sure, but not as many as there could be. American racers get it all too easy. All you have to do is win one or two races and all of a sudden you get a sponsor and a van and bikes. They don't appreciate it as much. They should work harder at getting their sponsorships. Also, I don't think they work hard enough at getting into good physi cal shape. They have to push themselves because, at first, training hurts. It is too easy to give up right away. If they stay at the training and get into good shape, that is the best thing they could do. It is very important to be in good shape.

CW: Since you work out near your home, does Weinert work out with you? Is he, as he says, "Ready for Pierre?" PK: Once in a while, Jimmy will come running with me, but after about 20 minutes, he slows down and walks home. I think he could be in better shape, but instead of working out, he talks a lot. I have my own name for him, Jimmy Jaws. We kid him about it. CW: What would Weinert have to do in order to really be "Ready for Pierre?" PK: I won't say because he reads your magazine and then he will know what to do. CW: How about the machines? You obviously know what the Yamaha is like. How does it differ from the Honda? PK: They really aren't that different. The Yamaha has a Monoshock and the Honda uses regular suspension, but when I get my Honda set up for me, it will behave very much like my Yamaha. Maybe I will have a little more power. That is always good to have.

CW: You like high-rpm engines with lot~ of horsepower on the top end. Thc Hondas are torquers. Do you have an engine that you like yet? PK: Not one that suits me exactly. That is one of the reasons I have to go to Japan. They want me to test some new stuff and some of their new 1 25s. This year I will ride mostly 250 and 500 class, but maybe one or two really good 1 25 races. I really like 1 25s because they are so light. I can ride one fast all day long. CW: Your career has not been free from injury. What has been your worst crash? PK: Just recently at a race at Carlsbad, the swinging arm broke on the downhill and I fractured my leg. It was not a Honda swing arm. It was made by someone else and we were testing it. I went to a doctor here and he told me that I would be off my bike for 10 weeks. That was too long so I flew to Holland and saw my special motocross doctor. He had me do some special treatments in his office. They have you put your leg in a high-energy magnetic

field and it helps heal the bones and increase the circulation. I went two times a day for a week. Then two weeks later I was racing. My leg still hurt a little, but I could ride. CW: Most of the racers in Europe have special motocross doctors. What is it about them that makes them better than the doctors over here? PK: They understand motocross better. Very few doctors here know what you do when you ride motocross. They just put you in a cast and they don't let you ride. But in Europe they understand better. Many of them are big fans. They see races and they understand how much strain your body has to take. That way they can treat you better. When I went to Holland, I also visited Heikki who had just fractured two vertebrae in his back. In a few weeks they had him racing again. They can do amazing things. Heikki's doctor is different from mine, but they treat us very fair. My doctor didn't want to charge me be cause I had to pay for my plane ticket to get to Holland. But I insisted and he told me that if I wanted to pay him, to get him a bike. So I am going to get him one of those new Hondas; I think they are called MR1 75s. It is a new enduro model. He will really like that.

CW: How is your leg now? PK: It is perfect. It is getting strong again. I am still not in 100 percent shape-maybe only 75 or 80 percent. I want to be in top shape for the start of the big races. We have qualifiers to ride. I will be in good shape for them, but I want to be at my peak for the Carlsbad race this year. I will be training very hard for that race. I really want to do good there and maybe win it for Honda. I know that if my machine is working right that I can win. I ride a lot at Carlsbad and I know the track. CW: What about the other races, the Inter-AM and Trans-AMA series? And there is also the National Championship. This year they will allow you to ride and get points for that title. PK: Honda would really like that title back. They lost the 250 title last year. Gary Jones won it on his Can-Am. They want to get it back and maybe also the 500 title. They are pretty sure that they can get the 125 title again. Marty Smith is really in good shape and Tommy Croft is very fast. I know Marty wants to win it again real bad. I haven't really had enough time to get to know Tommy, but I am sure that he wants to win it too. Maybe we can win everything. Rich (Eierstedt) is getting real fast on the 250. That might be the hardest one to win because of Ellis. In the 125s we will have to beat Tim Hart. He trains hard from when I was with Yamaha. And the new 125 is starting to work good for them.

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CW: During your practice sessions you try several different shock absorber combinations. Is Honda still experimenting on shocks?

PK: Honda is always experimenting. We are trying to get shocks that will last 45 minutes at one of my practice tracks. If we can make them last and not fade at these practice tracks, then they will last at any other track.

CW: Did you have to do the same with the Monoshock?

PK: Yes. I could make the damping go away a few times with the Yamaha. Nobody really has shocks that will last all the way yet. Not if they are riding fast on a track like mine. Some of the shocks we tried didn’t last long at all. I could seize Bilsteins in a few minutes. And the Girlings I don’t even want to try because Heikki told me that his were very special. He and Brad had some specially made. They were not exactly the same as the ones on the Husky now. They say that they are, but Heikki told me different. He and I are very good friends and we talk a lot about racing and our machines. He knows what I like and what I ride and I know all about his. It doesn't matter because we don’t race against each other most of the time. Only for a little while in the Trans-AMA.

CW: After you return from your trip to Japan, what will you be doing?

PK: Mostly getting everything together with Roy Turner, my mechanic. He and I will be getting set up to go on the road. We will have everything ready and will be thinking about beating guys like Stackable and DiStefano.

CW: Will you be “Ready for Weinert?"

PK: (Chuckling) I’m always ready for Jimmy Jaws. (5j