Stark's Sebastien Tortelli talks ahead of Farleigh Castle World Vets Motocross appearance
By Words: Geoff Meyer on 19th Jun 24
Sebastien Tortelli is a name well known in the sport of motocross. A two-time world champion, Tortelli competed in the motocross world championships between 1994 and 1998 and then did a stint in America before returning to Europe for an ill-fated attempt at the MX1 series in 2006. Later that year he announced his retirement from professional racing at the age of 28. Not always the luckiest rider with injuries, Tortelli’s speed was never in question and he beat legends including Stefan Everts and Ricky Carmichael in their prime.
Now aged 45, Tortelli – who has joined Stark Future’s development program to help racers prepare for competition – has decided to come out of retirement to race in the World Vets Motocross event at Farleigh Castle on July 20/21.
TMX: Have you raced since you retired?
ST: “Not really. I raced Loretta Lynns after I retired because some of the guys I was training in America were doing it and they motivated me to join them there and I have done some smaller races for Stark. But nothing too serious – just some events here and there.”
TMX: As a former world champion, do you take this return to racing seriously or is it just for fun?
ST: “I race just for the fun of it. When you get to a certain age, you know you are not young anymore, for sure the next day when you are sore. I would say that in the last year or two, I have been riding a lot developing the Stark, but since we started racing last year, I don’t have as much time. I ride once in a while to give direction for the development but mainly I focus on the racing side of things for Stark.”
TMX: You look at home on the Stark Varg. How do you feel it’s going?
ST: “I feel super comfortable on the Stark. I think your riding style, is your riding style, no matter if you are going fast or not. From the outside, I might look like when I raced full time but I'm not. My body is in good shape and the injuries I got haven’t hurt me too bad and I am still strong and don’t suffer too much. Riding is good for getting the morning aches away and it's good medicine.”
TMX: Do you know who you will race at Farleigh Castle? There are big names like Jeff Emig, Rob Herring, Mike Brown, and Billy MacKenzie signed up but there are many classes for different ages of riders.
ST: “I have no idea. I am 45, but the boys didn’t tell me which age group I am in, they just said come on over and let’s have some fun [Seb will race in the Over 40 age group with MacKenzie while Dobb, Herring, Brown and Emig will be in the Over 50 age group].
TMX: You know Foxhill well, you won there on the 125 and the 250 in 1996 and 1998, but have you ever been to Farleigh Castle? And if not, what do you look forward to about racing on this legendary circuit?
ST: “No, I have never ridden Farleigh, but I know it is an iconic circuit and what I like about it, is that it's an old-fashioned track with a natural layout. Many of today’s tracks have too many jumps and are short but this old track is more natural, a bit narrow and you get less speed. It’s good for an old guy like me.”
TMX: Do you know if you will arrive with a big Stark set-up, or will you just arrive in a small van to fit into the whole feel of the event?
ST: “At this moment, we don’t know. We have the guys racing supercross in France and Enduro guys racing too so we need to plan it all in and obviously, when you go to the UK, it isn’t Europe anymore, so that makes it a bit more complicated.”
For more information about the World Vets Motocross visit www.worldvetsmotocross.com.
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