Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

Germany a t those Grands Prix. I didn't produce a valuable (to the fa ct ory ) perform ance with th e sole ex ception of th e Belgian 250cc Grand Pr ix . And sudd en ly. it was a lready mid-June. I was sure of ca tc hi ng hell , then . when it came to the Gr and Prix of Czechoslo vak ia at Sedlcany. I' ll always remem ber that Gra nd Prix . Su nday . the 18t h of June . My day, My winning th e seco nd moto with som e pretty spectacular rid ing made m e the her o of th e cro wd ." T ha t perform ance . to wh ich he then ad ded an end-of-season with consistently good overa ll results (seco nd in th e Belgian 500 G P at N amu r , fourth in Lu xembourg , a nd a no the r secon d a t th e seas on finale in Switzerland) and a final ranking of fifth overall in World Ch ampion shi p stan di ngs, woul d seem more t ha n eno ug h . It still di d not co nvince those in. charge at th e CZ fa ctory of th e real va lue of Roger DeCost er on th e Interna tional ra cin g market. He came to real ize this fa ct . not withou t som e stupefa ct ion. about three days before th e T ro phee des Nati on s fo r nat io na l t e a m s o f 25 0c c mor o cros sers, h eld th a t ye a r in Ho lice , Czechoslovakia . T he realization ca me about in listening to one of th e hig h -rankin g di rectors of CZ give a speech afte r a banquet held for Belgian journalists by the Czech fa cto ry in a hotel in Pilse n . The direct or began with th is affirmation : "DeCoster will never be one of th e greats of mot ocross. He' s not a rider of suffi cient sta tu re to ca rry the titl e of World Champion , He manages his bik e without int ell igen ce . He takes too many risks, As a result . he ha s to compensa te for all that , he does that is so wrong a nd lack in g in real clas s. If we ha ve picked up his co nt ract . it is only on th e strong insist ence of our Belgi an importer. " Even though Roger did not precisely exude' an a ir of sanctit y in th e neighborhood of th e CZ factory - which they did not lose any opportunity to remind him of whenever an occasion pr esented itself - he was again offered a co nt ra ct for 1968 as a m ember of the offi cial CZ factory 500 cc team, Roger a ccepted th e offer fr om CZ sin ce h e personally had no intention of cha ngi ng to another ma rque even th ough th e opport uni ty to (Opposite pagel DeCoster's successesinspired swit ch c a m ps h a d b e en offered t o him . instant fan clubs. One he learned to control accompanied by financial co nd itions much m or e his temper and stay on two wheels, DeCoster became". a hero. (AboveI The only sensation attract ive th an th ose offe red by CZ. more satisfying than winning that first Grand , However , Roger d idn't let those offers ch a nge ' Prix is winning the World Championship itself. his basic attitudes nor d id he push him self on th e motocross market. But. th e fac t th at he rem ained Roger's first Grand Prix victory came at Gallarate, Italy, in 1968, This is the trophy that wit h CZ for so lo ng was d ue . more than anyt hing commemorated it, (Below) Before every World else. to his knowin g the ma ch ine well and a sense of res po nsi bilit y to some of the m en associated Championship Grand Prix, the riders from each country are presented to the crowds in openwithJawa -CZ. ng ceremonies. Belgium 's official entry for 1970 "Mr . Deutsch and Jose Manset in Belgium , so me o f the p e o pl e wi th Mot ok ov ( t he Belgian 250cc GP included Joel Robert (sixorga n iza tio n respon sibl e for ' im po rt -expo rt of time 250cc World Champion, not shown) Sylvain Gebboers, Roger DeCoster, and 1970 m otorized vehicl es in Czech oslovaki a ) had don e so Belgian 250cc National Champion Marcel m uch , for m e tha t . to 'show my ' gratitude , I Wiertz. Years later, Marcel served as mentor to remained loya l to CZ ," remem be rs DeCoster. America's first-ever Grand Prix winner, Jim " Even d espi te the flagrant scr ewings wh ich so Pomeroy. discouraged m e th at I was a bo ut to throw in th e towel. 1 was envious, because I knew of th e effort s CZ had gone to for other riders, not exact ly ......----:,...----.:----:0-....",0::--= = because th ey wer e superi or to me but simply because th ey exercised th e art of polishing up to th e fa ctory brass, " Meanwhile, in November of 1967. Roger was selected by th e CZ factory to repla ce Paul Fried richs (who , as a m ember of the East German state pol ice. was declared persona non grata by th e U .S. and could not get a visa) a nd go with Joel Robert and Dave Bickers for the first competition series featu rin g Eu ropean motocrossers in the United States. Th is was t he forerunner of to day's TransAMA motocross series in North America. On this first U .5_ trip. Roger revealed himself to be a first class publicity a nd PR man, not only for the CZ brand ,but for th e sport of com pe tition motorcycling itself. In fact, he turned out to be the mo st spe ctacul a r of the Eu ropeans and th e OJ mo st popula r with th e Am erican fans . bn . For Roger, th is initial trip to the United States was an expe rience that marked his life with unforgettable m em ori es , H e was not only pla ying the rol e of motocross pioneer in th e U _S . , but also established n ew. long-lasting fri endships. Am eri ca pl e a sed R og e r . H e wo u ld a lwa ys r eturn a n tici pa ting a re kindling of that p leas u re . On one of these returns, in No vem be r of 1969 , he met Laurie Adams, a blonde , blu e -eyed California girl. Fou r years lat er, in cere mo nies a t b~ her ho metown of Santa Ba rb ara , she became his wife. ' " Roger ran acro ss La urie for t he first time ~;;; du ring t he riders' p resenta tion at a coc kta il pa rty ;" for th e moror sports press before an intern ational motocross in Phoenix, Arizona. Roger wa~ the hero of the pre-race party. Laurie was acting as hostess for th e public relations firm responsible for promotion of the event. It wasn't exactly a lightning affair between Roger and Laurie. It was on ly two years later that the relationship got beyond the state of being "good friends. " It's true, however, that each time he returned to the States for business or competition, he sought out Laurie and they spent time together. Meanwhile, she had become more knowledgeable and enthusiastic about motocross and , as a result , a: fan of Roger's - like many others in the U .S.A. were becoming. She was beginning to understand what he was and what he did. Included among the group of friends that Roger was enlarging with ea ch visit to the U .S . were Bud and Dave Ekins , well -known desert racers and Hollywood stuntmen, and a certain Steve McQueen. Steve had just beenlaunched in the television series "W a nt ed - Dead or Alive, " playing bounty hunter Josh Randall . He was yet to become the major star he is now, though such successful films as "T he Great Escape ," "Bu llitt ," and "Papillon." Actually, Roger had first encountered Steve McQueen in 1964. As is generally known , the American actor has a passion for racing, on two or four wheels. So it was that in '64 , he went with Dave Ekins as part of the U.S. entry in the International Six Days Trial held that year at Ehrfurt, East Germany. Roger DeCoster and Joel Robert were also there, to represent Belgium. ' McQ ueen was out of the competition with mechanical failure after the second of the six days but remained on the course, observing, until the end of the Trial. Roger went on to his first and only Gold Medal in Six Days ' competition. Both 1501' riders subsequently pursued alternate careers . "J oel Robert , who had come from winning the first of his six World Champion titles at Tikkurila , Finland (in 250 motocross ) a few weeks before was my traveling companion for the trip to Ehrfurt ," said Roger lat er . "Right away, we started getting a lot of at tention and comments due , to our a cr obatics -o n th e motorcycles. The facto ry mechanics ' kept stoppin g us all the time and aski ng us to 'conserve the m achines' during our litt le demonstrations of cross-country riding. R e all y , we were j ust ' ' t est ing and getting accusto med to our Jawas . Steve rapidl y became one of our staunch est admirers. "A few hours after ou r arrival in Ehrfurt , we found ourselves sitting down to dinner in the com pa ny of Steve McQueen and Dave Ekins. On th e m enu wer e suc h items of co nversa tion as the 1501' m achines themselves , how they should be ' ridden. and so on until late in the. evening. And th e following days of the Trial , he was the same way . Stev e sa id he wouldn't for anything have missed the scene when Joel and I made our entry ont o the track in th e Ehrfurt stadium. W e came 't h ro ugh the gate for the special test completely sidewa ys in best "Class A" speedway style, on our 1501' Jawas . We were crazy and he loved it. "He had the same attitude after he was out of the Trial. He would .come watch us as we got on with th e job, each day, at different places on the 100 -plus m ile ci rcuit. Later, in the U.S . , he swore to me that he had, at the Ehrfurt ISDT, one of the most beautiful experiences he 'd ever had as a motorcyclist . And he maintained that he had learned quite a bit , through our brief contact , about how to pilot a competition bike. , " Bu t, he hadn't learned enough to actually ride that audacious sequence in The Great Escape when he tries to jump over a barbed wire fence on a motorcycle. Steve, and no doubt the studio, p referred to leave the riding of the bike in the film to Bud Ekins. On most of my trips to th e States, I look up Steve, who often invites me to stay with him . Steve is a very up front, straightforward guy, always ready to help you out. I remember in 1968, he did everything necessary, even while he was working, to have me treated by his personal physician. This was after a bad crash in Kansas tha t I cam e ou t of with a separated shoulder," Both Roger and Steve are unconventional men within their separate professions - as eviden ced by th eir overlappin g interests. It's also clear that Steve McQueen admires Roger's style and skill on an off-ro a d motorcycle . Roger has ne ver ventu red an opi nion on _ cQ u een 's ac ting, b ut DeCoster M recognizes a nd ad mires su ccess in any competitive field. Desp ite the significa nt persona l successes he achieved all d uring that first American series , 29

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