Press Release

Interview with Adri van Beers‏


Adri
van Beers runs the Yamaha van Beers Team from 2004 and has scored many
top ten results in his career as a team manager. This weekend the team
has their home Grand Prix in Valkenswaard and we thought that this
would be a great moment to ask him some questions.

Question: Adri can you tell us a little bit when you started the team?

Answer:
When I retired from racing I still went to the race tracks to practice
a little bit. At one day I met Huub Forschelen who was working for
Yamaha at that moment. From that moment I started thinking about
running my own team. First we started in Holland and after that we
decided to do a year in the European Championship Series. From 2004 we
are riding in the World Championship Series. We have won a few Dutch
titles in the MX1 and MX2 class and we scored several top ten finishes
in the World Championship Series. Riders who I worked with are Rui
Goncalves, Aigar Leok, Evgeny Bobryshev, Manuel Priem and many more.

Question: After a few years they were leaving the team and some of them signed factory contracts..

Answer:
Yes that’s correct. We helped them to come at a point and the teams
with more budget were picking them up. We try to help young talented
riders and after several years the teams with more budget will pick
them up. Maybe we have to change our contract a little bit. When a
rider can earn more money they have to pay something back to our team
for all the help we have given him. At this moment we haven’t done that
yet but we have to think about this for in the future. It always goes
the same. From now on we are working to have a bigger budget for the
next few years and then we hope we can hold the riders in our team.

Question: How difficult is it to run a team like yours?

Answer:
At this moment we need almost a halve million euro’s to run the team.
Sometimes it’s frustrated to see when young riders are becoming better
in our team and that we have to let them go because another team gives
them much more money. Every time we can start all over again. Both
riders of the factory Honda team have ridden in our team before. We
have also worked with Manuel Priem and he went to a factory team as
well. At this moment the budget isn’t big enough to sign a top rider in
the World Championship Series. We hope that the younger riders can give
us some results. We try to help them as good as we can. Some riders pay
us some money to ride for us. Some people don’t understand that but I
don’t see the problem because in many other sports you see that as
well. I know what the ideal situation is but at the moment that isn’t
possible.

Question: How difficult is it to find new sponsors?

Answer:
Holland is a small country. Because of this it’s difficult to find new
sponsors. Motorcross isn’t a popular sport in Holland. TV stations are
mostly not interested. In some countries motocross is much more
popular. When we signed Marc de Reuver some sponsors were interested to
help us a little bit with our budget. For a Dutch sponsor, a rider like
Marc is always interesting. We now have more spectators in front of our
race truck at the races. When he is warming himself up at his bicycle
the fans are in front of the truck watching him. In 2004 I already
talked to Marc and now seven years later we are working together. In
2004 we almost signed an agreement and now he has had already a long
career.

Question: What are your ambitions for this year?

Answer:
In the past we have finished inside of the top ten at the final World
Championship Standings. In the MX1 class we finished in eight with
Manuel Priem and we have won four or five Dutch Open Championship
titles. We have also won the Spanish Championship title with Carlos
Campano and we have won the Russian title with Evgeny Bobryshev. Every
time we come close but that’s not were we are interested in. We are not
satisfied with the results so far. Of course we are fighting for the
Dutch title this year. When one of the riders is finishing inside of
the top 15 in the World Championship that would be nice this year. In
the MX2 class we are working with Petar Petrov. He is just 16 years
old. At this moment we can’t expect that he rides inside of the top
five. It would be great if we can help him to grow in the next couple
of years. He has a lot of potential. The main goal with Herjan Brakke
is the Dutch Championship Series. He will race all the GP’s and when he
scores some points it’s ok. Marc de Reuver was injured in the pre
season so at this moment it’s difficult to say what he is going to do.
Before the season started we had hoped to finish inside of the top ten
with Marc.

Question: Is this a fulltime job for you?

Answer:
I have sold my company so at this moment all my time goes into the
team. I will try to make the step to the top with my team. I give
myself some years to try it! I know that we won’t get a World Champion
in our team but a podium position would be great. I always look up to
people who do things better than me.
 I have respect for them. I try to learn from them. At
this moment we have spend a lot of time to work on our weak points. I
try to talk to other persons how to do things better. I have a doctor,
a trainer, a mental coach and a
 dietician.
We have a lot of experienced persons around the riders. That was a weak
point to work on! Every week I spent 20 a 30 hours in the team. It can
be more because I am at the practice sessions often as well. Also at
night I spent some hours when I am busy with something.

Question: Are you already looking towards 2012?

Answer:
Yes at the moment we are in the subtop and I want to do better. I would
like to have one or two young riders and one rider who can race for
good results. I found a businessman who will help me to find new
sponsors. The contacts with Yamaha are good but we don’t get some many
support from Yamaha Europe. Because I am working with Yamaha for so
many years now I always talk to them first but I am not married with
Yamaha. I had hoped for more support when the Ricci Yamaha Team decided
to sign with Husqvarna. I am convinced that we have a good base to sign
a top rider. All the time we are trying to make our team better.

This weekend the Yamaha van Beers Team has their home Grand Prix at Valkenswaard.
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