Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126259
24 (Contin ued f ro m pag e J J) By th e beginning of Febru a ry , 196 7 Dr. DeBacker ga ve Roger the go-a head 10 re um e th e rigorous training sch edule of a mot oc ross racer. DeCost er jumped into action at th e fir st opportunit y to begin practicing again a n d improved so qui ckl y that by February 12 at Kerkom , Belgium Roger made his officia l return to competition. The result : second place overa ll. Both of Roger DeCoster's kidneys wer e functioning normally. . Roger was ab le 10 regain com plete con fidence in himself and his abilities , factors which are as critical as physical well-being in th e intense physica l-cerebral competition o f int ernat ional motocross . He seemed u na ffected by an y lingering fear of anoth er accident like th e on e a t Eksaarde . At the sa me time , a ll th at it took 10 refresh his memory . 10 remind him of th e terribl e cras h in 1966 , was carved in his flesh - a sca r eig ht inc hes long cut fro m th e top of his hip 10 th e bott om of his ri b cage. The eld er DeCosters were not as q uic k to forget that nea r ·tragi c inci dent. T hey tried in vain 10 co nv ince Roger 10 give up t he sport. The fear of re living th ose a ng uis hed hours as a resul t of a r a cing accident ke p t t he m away fro m t he co m pe tition circ ui t fo r more tha n a year. It wasn't unti l June 2 . 1968 at Steken e , a steep . diffi cult Belgi an co u rse, th at Rug-n ', pa rent s . decided 10 ag a in tread motocross terra in to wat ch their first born ra ce in intern a tio na l competiti on . Bad luck ca ught up with th e DeCosters aga in . On th at sunny Sun d ay. afte r an elbow-b anging sta rt fro m th e gate, Roger ended up in a nothe r first turn crash involving Sylvain Geboers, Torsten Ha llm an , Ake Jonsson, and th e Russian, Leb ed ev - all top -r anked int ern ati on al mot ocrossers. Sm a shed up aga inst th e fen ce , Roger was th e main cas ua lty of th e viol ent co llision . Stu nned, sprawling d azed on th e gro und , Rog er was hit by a n ou t-o f-co ntro l motorcycle tha t sm as hed int o his neck and seriouslv b ru ised and burned th e insides of h is arms . . Beside him in the amb ulance on the wav 10 the hospital were his parents, again wrack~d with fear, nea r brea kdown , re living t hose mom ent s of heart -rending anguish now over a year pas t. ' After t hat , it was again a wry lon g time unt il the DeCosters reconciled themselves to t he idea of wa tc hi ng a nother motocross. It wasn 't unt il July of 1971 th a t th ey found the mse lves amo ng the spectators at Bielsrein . site of th e West Ge rma n G ra nd Pri x fo r ' th e 500cc Motocross W orld Champion sh ip . After t ha t event , during th e final pan of th e motoc ross season, t hey wen t agai n to th e fam ed ra cing c irc u its: " T he Citadel" in Namur , Belgium : Ett elbruck . in Lux embourg ; and to St. Anthonis, Holland for th e Dutch 500 Gr and Pr ix , th e fin al World C ha m pio nship event of the season . And th ey attended for good reas on . The DeCo sters co u ld no lo nge r sta nd to m iss see ing th at exc eptio na l, unprecedented fina le of th e 500cc Moto cross W orld c ha m p io ns hi p . Parti cularly since th eir son , Roger. emerged fro m t hose ei.ght 45·minu,te·l ong races as . .. W orld Cham pion . . Next week in Cycle News - The Roger DeCoster Story continues. .