ITW: Belgian champion Arnaud Wauters
In his 2e season at the BMB Nationals MX2, Arnaud Wauters took the Belgian title. Remarkable because the Latem native only really started his career at the age of seventeen. Wauters combines determination with a motivation that you rarely see in young motocross riders these days. Moreover, we have rarely had to ask so few questions in an interview. So we let Arnaud himself speak.
How it all started: “I have been crazy about motocross since I was little. As a child I would watch my cousin Nicolas Stampaert's matches. Motocross rider was just what I always wanted to be. However, my parents were not immediately keen on a cross-career. My father just thought it was way too dangerous. Even now, he does not dare to attend a match as a spectator. When I was 14 I raced for a season. However, it didn't amount to much. I rode in the VMCF training series. Actually, I wasn't really motivated at the time, I was just driving around.
After that I didn't touch a motorcycle for two years. On Wednesday afternoon I hung out in Ghent with my buddies. I had become a street runner. At the age of seventeen I realized that I finally had to do something with my life. I hadn't gone down the wrong path yet, but I was well on my way. Motocross seemed like a sensible alternative to me. I was even prepared to give up everything for that, to change my entire life for it. I started running, swimming to get in shape. In the spring of 2007 I applied for a Beloften license from the BMB. I rode my first BMB competition at the end of April 2007 in Moerbeke-Waas. It was a tough one. I actually had little driving experience. I was still able to hold my own on easy, flat circuits. It became a real learning year. A year of a lot of trial and error. Nicolas taught me a lot then; how to drive in a track, how to take turns, that kind of thing.”
About the disaster year 2008: “In 2008 I started my first full season with the necessary ambition. During the opening race in Grobbendonk I set a pretty good time in training. The start of the first series was also good, I was immediately at the front. However, a few turns later I fell and hurt my fingers. The second series was a complete disappointment when I broke my right wrist. At the end of March I was able to drive again and I was on an internship with Alain Roels in Amigny-Rouy, France. While driving I jumped the wrong way onto a table mountain and ended up in a valley about ten meters deeper. My wrist was the first thing I thought of. Because I didn't want to take any further risks, I packed up and drove back home, a distance of about 200 km. Meanwhile my neck started to get stiff. After I got home, I immediately went to the emergency room of the hospital together with my father. The doctor on duty told me after the examination that I had lost my 5e had broken a vertebra in his neck. That was of course shocking.”
To the Nationals: “At the beginning of 2009 I took the step to the Nationals MX2. Quite a step, because in such a case you skip a class. I secretly had expectations beforehand. Nicolas tried to temper that somewhat and thought a place in the top 15 was realistic. I started the season on a Yamaha, but that bike didn't really suit me. There was something going on every week. Then I got on a KTM at the end of May and things gradually started to get better. Also because a KTM is larger and therefore suited my stature better. From then on I regularly finished in the top 10. In Orp-Le-Grand I was in the top 3 of a series for the first time.”
About his title at the Nationals MX2: “It didn't matter if I missed out on the title. On the Thursday before the final of the Belgian Nationals in Tessenderlo, I trained in Lommel. When I fell, I put my right foot and my entire body weight landed on it. The knee brace I was wearing broke my fibula. But if I hadn't worn them, my right knee would have just been destroyed. Driving with a broken fibula seemed almost impossible. But I had no intention of just giving up a year of hard work and suffering and giving away the title.”
“I kept that injury quiet. Outside of my immediate entourage, no one knew anything about my fibula fracture. Moreover, on that Sunday morning it was not yet certain whether I would have to drive. After training, Danny De Baets told me that he didn't like driving on such a circuit. I had to fight back all my pain then, because I felt the break with every right bend. To be able to drive, I had put a plaster cast over it. When De Baets didn't show up for the start of the first series, people in my entourage told me that I didn't have to start. However, supporters from Ghent had come to Tessenderlo to see me become champion and I started for those people anyway, albeit cautiously.”
Over 2011: “Next year my main goal will be the ONK MX2. So far I haven't been able to show much of that. There was always something to do with injuries or engine problems. It is a pity that two ONK matches coincide with matches for the Belgian Championship. Depending on how we are classified, we will then choose ONK or BK MX2. I certainly have international ambitions. That's how I want to ride GPs one day. Although I already know that something like this is not easy. In any case, I will be doing a few European Championship races next year. Now that the European Championship MX2 is included in the GPs, the distances have also become shorter and they are also more interesting for sponsors.”
Thanks: “I would like to thank my father and mother and my cousin Nicolas Stampaert from Dirt Racing Supply for their support. Also thanks to Gerrit Peters from the MX Dream Team and Pascual Games.”
Photo Credits: Ronnysphoto, Archive Arnaud Wauters, Photo Impact/Michel Hennebert
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