What are you doing? Heikki van den Berg
In the section #What are you doing MXMag.nl looks at what former top crossers are doing today. Their family life and their current work. How do they look back on their career, the highs and lows. This month we have former GP rider Heikki van den Berg.
MXMag: Briefly introduce yourself:
HvdB: “Heikki van den Berg, I am 39 years old and live in Oosterhout in Brabant. I am married and have two sons aged six and two.”
MXMag: What do you do for a daily living these days?
HvdB: “I have been the owner of Galvin BV for eight years now, where we apply electrolytic galvanizing or applying a corrosion-resistant layer to metal. Galvin employs around 40 people. I took over this company from my father.”
MXMag: How do you look back on your motocross career?
HvdB: “I see my cross career as a very beautiful period in my life with, of course, ups and downs. I have had the opportunity to work with many big names in cross country. At the very beginning with John van den Berk, then with Harry Nolte and Kees van der Ven as well as Dave Strijbos. I learned a lot from them during that period. Ultimately, he was unable to become a permanent fixture at Grand Prix level. At ONK level I rode in the top ten for 13 years.”
MXMag: The highlight of your career?
HvdB: “My best season was 2000, when I rode with Kenneth Gundersen and Grant Langtson in Kees van der Ven's Champ KTM Team. (Photo; Heikki in the middle of the photo) That year I won the first ONK round in Gemert. During the Dutch GP in Berghem I managed to score eighth place, my best GP result. The year that I just missed the ONK title in the open class on the KTM520 was a shame, but it is still one of the highlights because that was my best year in the ONK.”
MXMag: The low point of your career?
HvdB: “The low point and also a spearhead in the cross career was the car accident in 1998 during a training in Italy. That's where I shattered my lower leg, but I was lucky enough to save the leg. Furthermore, the rather abrupt ending at the highest level due to my heart problems. That is of course still an issue and unfortunately something will have to be done about it in the not too distant future.”
MXMag: Best bike ever ridden?
HvdB: “I have never had any complaints about equipment, but the SX125 of the Champ KTM Team was really the best bike in the field. The Heli MX-Honda 450F in 2008 was also very good for me. And so was the KTM 520 at the time, which was of course a cannon.”
MXMag: What is your view on the current motocross world?
HvdB: “I think the current motocross is very professional, but I thought the system of the past with real qualifying and the fact that the 40 fastest were at the start was better from a sporting point of view. Not for the top 20 of today because they used to be there too, but there were competitions where you had to be at least within 3 or 3.5 seconds of the fastest or you could go home. Now I sometimes see differences that I really don't think are GP worthy.”
More information about Galvin can be found via the website.
By: Steven van Kempen/KEMCO
Photo: Galvin
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