Stefan Everts needs no introduction but let’s do it anyway. A ten-time World Motocross Champion with 101 GP wins and our biggest legend. Everts retired in his peak, so there was much more on the table, but retirement in 2006, was something the Belgian great felt was right.

Of course, retirement came after his sensational MXoN performance at Matterley Basin, where he beat red hot American, James “Bubba” Stewart, so the perfect send-off.

With The King just back from a short skiing holiday with family, we gave Everts a call and asked him his opinion of the opening Grand Prix this weekend. So, a preview on 2025 from the greatest GP rider of all time. It doesn't get much better than that, does it?

MXlarge: Stefan, we have a new season starting this weekend. Obviously, your son Liam is racing, but what else are you looking forward to?

Everts: I mean, in general new season, new start, new chances. Over the winter, you always see some surprises. There are a bunch of new kids coming into the MX2 class, so I am looking to see how they will be doing. I saw some of them racing in France and some of them are really impressive, so let’s see how they will be doing in the GPs.

MXlarge: Tim (Gajser) would be the favourite going into Argentina and for the championship, I would imagine, he looked good in the pre-season races and going for a sixth World title. What do you think?

Everts: Tim will be one of the favourites and already a five-time World champion and he is used to being in the position of winning championships, so he has that advantage. He will also be super motivated after losing the championship the last couple of years now. I hope Maxime Renaux can stay healthy and then maybe he can be in the fight with Febvre. We have to see what happens with Jeffrey when he comes back, if he will miss one GP or more, then it will be more difficult. If he only misses one GP, then anything can happen. Things always happen throughout the year. Besides those guys, you have Lucas Coenen stepping in and he was looking good, but now with the injury, we have to see how he comes back. For sure, he will have his chances in the season to show himself and I am sure he can battle with the other guys.

MXlarge: This doesn’t really have anything to do with MXGP this year, but I wanted to mention it, because I found it amusing. When Tim won the Nations with that performance against a really strong field of riders, it reminded me of your win in 1998 at Foxhill. You both came off losing the titles a week before, you in Greece and Tim in Spain and you both put up career highlight races a week later. What did you think of his performance at Matterley Basin after the disappointment of losing the title in Spain a week earlier?

Everts: Yes, it is hard to rebuild, but what impressed me the most, is that Tim didn’t let off, he was so into it. Even though Slovenian was not a contender, it was just for him, and individual thing, it showed again, what a great champion he is. When Jett (Lawrence) passed him, you saw immediately that Tim was not happy with that, and he would fight until the finish. He did and he did an impressive pass there, in that last turn. He was on it, he was all in. That type of racing, we should see it more. For me, very important, it was fair racing, everyone stayed on their motorcycle, nobody got taken out or put in a dangerous situation. We have seen the dangerous situations a few times in the pass, and I don’t like that. I like the style we saw with Tim.

MXLarge: Lucas (Coenen) in the Italian races, looks very good, very fast, a very loose riding style on the 450 and at times a little wild and some mistakes. He is obviously very, very competitive and really wants to win, even thought at times it might not be possible. What is your opinion of Lucas?

Everts: He is a young boy, and he is motivated, and he wants to win badly and then you make mistakes. Then you have Tim or Romain, more experienced guys and they take their time with it. When you are young, you want to rush things sometimes and then you end up on the ground.

MXLarge: The MXGP class this year and in recent years, it is really lacking young talent, we had Jorge and now Lucas, but really young guys, we don’t see so often at the front, just the same faces of Gajser, Herlings, Febvre, Coldenhoff and they are all around 34, 33, 30, 29. Is this era just too good and the young kids have to wait their turn?

Everts: I think it has to do with the generation thing. At some moment, you have a strong generation, like now and then maybe we have a generation with some less guys. Don’t forget, we have lost riders to America, like Prado and Tom Vialle. Within three or four years, some of these older guys will retire and it will be the new generations turn. I am sure, new talent will arrive and the guys who will retire, those places will fill in those places. We will lose some top guys in the next five years, and we have new guys replacing them.

MXLarge: The MX2 class, so many talented riders and every year we get a handful of new young riders in the class. Obviously, Kay is the favourite, as he is the defending champion, and he won from the start of the season until the end in 2024. Who else do you think can fight with him?

Everts: I guess, more or less the same, the guy who is the most consistent and stays healthy, and Kay will be one of those guys, I think. We see a lot of injuries this year, like in America and we have seen this in the past in the GPs. For me, to race a safe season, with less injuries. For me, what I have seen in the last years, so many mistakes and these guys should learn from these mistakes. Everyone benefits if we have more riders on the track and not in the hospital. I think MX2 is going to be exciting, and I think there are a lot of strong guys, getting on the podium and getting GP wins. We will see some action there.

MXlarge: Last question. Liam decided yesterday to race in Argentina. I am not even sure if you have been close to his preparation, or have a good contact with Liam, but I assume he will want to just get through Argentina with some points and build from there?

Everts: Yes, he hasn’t had much time on the bike. He only got the green light from the doctor on February 7 or 8 and before that, he was on the bike, but not really putting in hard laps, or big jumps. He was just doing a bit of trials, a bit of enduro, so he hasn’t been putting in a lot of hard time. He didn’t do any pre-season races, and he decided last moment to go. The team has already decided to send his bike, before he decided to go, no matter what. Then it was up to him, to decide if he felt good enough to go. From what I have seen from a distance, he looks and feels good on the bike. Also, the injury hasn’t given him any issues or problems, so he decided to go. First few GPs he will see how he goes and build his confidence and speed. I don’t expect too much.