Our colleagues from MXVintage did a double interview with Ivan Van Den Broeck and Brad Lackey in the past. From that we distilled a nice and true anecdote with the late Eric Geboers in a brilliant leading role. The story takes place in the Italian city of Bologna, somewhere in the first half of the 80s, during the Supercross that was held there at the time.
Brad Lackey and Ivan Van Den Broeck during the interview in question.
Supercross in Bologna
Ivan and Eric were invited after the GP season to ride it in the Bologna Supercross. There was some money to be made this way, so the two Belgians traveled to the north of Italy to participate in the race. Both were in a hotel nearby. They had rented a small Fiat to drive back and forth around the circuit. However, during training Geboers had a small crash that broke his left thumb. His hand was put in a plaster cast, and there was no longer any question of participating in the stadium cross.
On the way to the Bologna stadium, Ivan was now forced to sit at the wheel of the small Fiat with The Kid in the passenger seat. On the slippery cobblestones, Eric suddenly pulled the handbrake of the car for fun. The Fiat did roughly four donuts before finally coming to a stop against the curb of the road.
Wet cobblestones and a handbrake
Geboers had wanted to play the joker by scaring Ivan with the maneuver, but had forgotten that he could no longer press the handbrake button because of the cast around his left thumb. The result was a quadruple pirouette in the streets of Bologna that ended against the curb of the street. Ivan Van Den Broeck was so astonished that he shouted to The Kid: "Hey, little one, if you try that again I'll punch you in the face". Eric Geboers then with a broad grin: "Now you were really shocked, weren't you Ivan".
Tekst: Danny Hermans
Photos: Archive
