The following text/interview is courtesy of MXLarge.com.
Red Bull KTM factory rider Liam Everts is very much a chip of the old block. At the start of the 2023 MX2 FIM Motocross World Championship, there were many questions around this young, third-generation rider. Is he getting preferential treatment because of his name? Does he have what it takes to be in a factory team? Or can he even get on a podium in the world championship? Well, the mentally strong and clearly talented Belgian has answered all questions and then some.
The name Everts has been at the front of the Motocross World Championship since the 1970s, some 50 years ago, and going by the performances of Liam Everts these past few months, it will be for another decade at least.
Coming into the 2023 season, Everts was returning from an injury, but in typical Everts fashions, it wasn’t blown across the media, there were no excuses, it was just head down, bum up, and move forward. Now, as we enter the final two rounds of the 2023 MX2 championship, Everts is placed second in the MX2 Class and making big inroads into the series points lead by his team-mate Andrea Adamo.
After round eight in Latvia, Adamo held around 100 points over Everts, with the Belgian back in sixth place in the points standings.
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KTM Images/Ray Archer ![Team manager Antonio Cairoli with Liam Everts.]()
Team manager Antonio Cairoli with Liam Everts. KTM Images/Ray Archer
Since Latvia, that gap has come down to 48 points and Everts has gone 1-2 for victory in Germany, then followed that up with 2-2 in the Sumbawa GP in Indonesia and in the last four GPs has finished with 3-4-2-3-3-2-3-2 moto results, adding GP wins in Holland and Turkey. Yes, the youngster is coming and despite still a mountain to climb, he isn’t finishing climbing.
We caught up with this well-mannered, well-spoken, and confident KTM rider and as most media in the GP paddock have found, Stefan Everts and his partner Kelly have presented the world a very nice young man.
MXLarge: I cannot imagine at the start of the season, when you began the year with an injury, that you could have ever imagines you would be in this position, challenging for the world title?
Liam Everts: Yes, battling for the championship is a big word, I think, I am still quite a way behind [in the points]. I think we have seen before; things can change quickly. Good or bad. A big step with myself on and off the track. Finding my way in life and improving on the track. It hasn’t been easy all the time, but it’s been a good step.
The thing I find about you, and I hear it from more people, you are really good under pressure. Whenever somebody is on your back wheel, you generally don’t make mistakes and hold you nerve. Is that how it feels for you?
I think today, I failed in that, unfortunately. No, I don’t think it was because of that, I just made a slight mistake myself. I don’t know, I think I really got that off my dad [being able to race under pressure], if it is true. It is just trying to stay calm and focus on your own thing. I just try and do my thing.
MXGP of Turkiye (Turkey) - MX2
September 3, 2023
| Rider | Motos | Bike | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Liam Everts |  | 3 - 2 | KTM |
| 2 |  Kevin Horgmo |  | 6 - 1 | Kawasaki |
| 3 |  Jago Geerts | | 2 - 4 | Yamaha |
| 4 |  Simon Längenfelder |  | 1 - 6 | GasGas |
| 5 |  Roan Van De Moosdijk |  | 4 - 3 | Husqvarna |
This championship battle, you and Andrea are teammates, and I would assume there is some type of friendship, you always seem very friendly to each other, but now, you are in this title fight. He is making some mistakes; you are gaining a lot of points in GPs in a row. How is that for you?
From my side, there is always respect. It isn’t always easy, we are fighting for the same thing, we both want the same thing and want it very badly. I want to put him under pressure, and he wants to put me under pressure. He still has that gap and I want to reduce it. It is as simple as that. I have said it in many interviews, at the beginning of the season it wasn’t a goal of mine to be world champion this year, so that would be a very big bonus. I just want to finish strong in these last two and improve on my weak points, on the track, and I will see where I finish.
For an old guy like me, who followed your dad’s career very close and then you get your first Grand Prix win, and you think, wow, this is a pretty cool third generational thing and you keep building Grand Prix wins. Do you have any goals in that direction?
Obviously, the first one was very, very special and to now have two in a row, is even more special. To win these two, it was to be consistent and that is what I did. In the qualification race and the two races on Sunday and if I can do that in all the GPs, then you will be a champion. I missed a bit the first part of the season, I struggled a bit, but once I found my rhythm and things got going, it went well.
What have you learnt most about yourself in these last couple of months, since your dad took a bit of distance?
Just finding my own way on and off the track. Like I said, trying new things, little details, to see if they are better, with the people around me. Let’s try this, let’s try that, not only on the bike, but just in general, during the week. A lot of people help me, like my practice mechanic Marc, my best friend Axel [Roelants], obviously my dad, my grandpa, my mum. It has been a good season with results, but also a very difficult one in my personal life, to take that step away from my parents.
I hate to bring it up again, but I see photos of you, and it is so much like your dad. You must also see that a lot, because I know while he is your dad, you are also a fan of your dad, right?
Of course, and I have this one part on this track, and you go right then left and on the turn I more or less do the whole turn standing and even this morning I got the comment from Hans Corvers from Kemea, and he said it’s an exact copy. I don’t do it on purpose, it is just my style of riding. Obviously, I have my own style and my own bad habits. I look up to him, but of course, I want to improve my style as well.
We have Jett [Lawrence] now racing and winning in America and he has mentioned recently how important your dad and your grandad was for his style, very similar. Do you get a lot of pleasure from that as well.
Yes, that is nice of course and sometimes I still text him and he is the same guy from five or six years ago and we still get along and I look forward to seeing him at the [Motocross of] Nations. I course we are both competing, and he has a lot of championships already and well deserved. We are just friends, and we grew up together. It was a nice year.
Last question. Motocross of Nations on the 450 at Ernee, a circuit with a lot of history, Belgian history, and an amazing place for an event. How excited are you for that?
I am not sure if I do the 450 or the 350, so that is still a question mark. I haven’t been riding it, but in the coming weeks I will get a feel for it, and I am really looking forward for it. That place has a lot of history for a lot of riders, but for sure my dad. Three GP wins in one day, also his last ever Grand Prix, it is something special. I rode last year there, and it is a very iconic venue.
Main image by KTM Images/Ray Archer
