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MARCH 23, 2007: It’s strange how things work out.
A year ago, Taradale’s Maarty van Booma was hunting down a podium spot on the national motorcycle road-racing scene – and he succeeded too, finishing third in the 125GP class with his Yamaha TZ125.
Twelve months later and he’d given away racing altogether and was instead helping the young man who had been trying so hard to take that glory from him in 2006, Invercargill schoolboy Gregor Stevens.
The story gets even more remarkable.
Not only was van Booma managing and mentoring his former rival in 2007, he was sponsoring the teenager too. And the bike 16-year-old Gregor rode this season was the very same Yamaha TZ125 that had propelled van Booma to the No.3 spot.
The five-round 2007 series wrapped up at Pukekohe just a few weeks ago with Stevens finishing his second season of road-racing in the No.7 spot.
“Gregor was pretty down about his season actually,” said van Booma. “But I think he did remarkably well. If he hadn’t broke his collarbone at Timaru (round two) and run out of petrol in one race at Manfeild (round four), he would have done a lot better.
“This season was a learning experience for both Gregor and myself,” the 41-year-old van Booma explained. “It was my first time as a race team manager and only his second year of racing.”
The unique relationship began last season when van Booma was gunning for glory on the race track.
“This young bloke kept putting his front wheel up beside me and I was thinking ‘who is this?’ When I had to give the racing side of things away following a heart operation at the end of last year, I decided to help this young man who had so impressed me. I’ve been racing for 25 years and I couldn’t just walk away from the bike scene altogether.
“I rang Gregor and made him an offer to join Team vB Racing,” said van Booma. “At the time he was racing a ratty, old, underpowered Honda. I offered him my own Yamaha.”
It was a classic case of ‘if you can’t beat him, join him’ for Stevens, the Invercargill High School pupil happy to accept the support from Yamaha, van Booma’s sponsors such as Kiwi Rider magazine and Dunlop and, of course, the wisdom of his former foe.
“We struggled a bit this season but he never once complained,” said van Booma. “He missed six races this season because of injury and had a couple of minor set-up problems. This left Gregor with all the work to do during the races and he excelled in all departments. He showed that he has what is required to push himself to the limit, and a couple of times, a little beyond. He showed courage and riding skill that far surpasses his 16 years and he showed that in future he will be a great talent.”
Team vB Racing hopes to continue supporting young Stevens next season too, the team possibly expanding to include another young star of the future. Those details have yet to be ironed out but, regardless, the name Gregor Stevens is likely to appear near the top of results sheets more often in the next few years, especially if his former adversary has anything to do with it.
