Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

it went ... ride for three laps come in ... complain ... do nothing try it now. At the end of the day, still not having mastered the power of the big Honda, O'Mara came in, parked it, pointed at one of those big brown pies and said, ''I'd rather eat that thing than ride one more lap." But he stuck with it and by Saturday practice knew a lot about riding big bores. The atmosphere at Bielstein was completely different than at Lomme!. In fact in many circles it was assumed that given equal breaks, the American team would be virtually untouchable. Donnie Hansen set the fastest time in practice. O'Mara, the unknown factor, was 10th. The qualifiers were run and any doubts that remained, vanished. Hansen took the holeshot in the first qualifier followed by Gerrit Wolsink. Wolsink stuck with him for awhile, but Hansen got faster and Wolsink didn't. LaPorte, with a bad start, followed by a first lap crash, worked his way from last to 11 tho He did it without a front brake or clutch. In the second qualifier, it was Sun first out of the gate, with O'Mara running third. On the fourth lap, Rolf Diffenbach passed Sun for the lead. O'Mara, excited and hot on Sun's tail, made a slight miscalculation and ran into Sun on a slick uphill section. When he hit the brakes, the bike stalled and O'Mara went down the hill to get it going. By the time he did, he was in 20th place. At the end of the moto, it was Diffenbach first, Tho~, an Englishman, second and Sun third. O'Mara had charged all the way to 11th. According to those that had ridden Bielstein, the track was a one-liner with no place to pass. Yet, two of the upstart American riders passed a total of 25 of the world's finest. And for the second week in a row, the American team had qualified first. The starting line at Bielstein was too small for the entire field. One rider from each team would have to start on the second row. Hansen was the fastest, so he was left in front to finish as high as he could. O'Mara was the least experienced. He staTted in front to relieve as much pressure as possible. Both LaPorte and Sun were experienced Open class riders and would be able to move through the pack. They would divide the back row positions. LaPorte in the first moto and Sun in the second. Hakan Carlqvist grabbed the holeshot, followed by Pean from France and Wolsink. Sun was in sixth, Hansen in ninth, LaPorte 20th and O'Mara in last. On the 6th lap Sun threw a chain and dropped all the way to 26th place. Hansen worked into third, and a lap later went into second. LaPorte had moved to 16th place and O'Mara was 23rd. At the 3/4 mark, LaPorte had moved to eleventh and O'Mara to 18th. Sun had steadily moved through the pack but had again thrown his chain. For all practical purposes, Sun was out of the scoring. By the end of the moto, the American tearns had passed enough riders to put themselves in second place, only one point behind England. Hansen finished second, LaPorte sixth and O'Mara eleventh. Thorpe, riding for England had finished third. The other English riders, Watson, Mayes and Noyce finished seventh, eighth and ninth. The ninth place finish by Mayes was the key. It provided a good score that meant the English team could win with two good finishes in the second moto. The American team needed three good finishes to be in contention. Strategies now were out the window. Get a holeshot, and go for it. But the holeshots weren't there. When the gate dropped for the second moto, it was again Carlqvist in the lead. The closest American was LaPorte in tenth, with O'Mara 14th, Hansen 23rd and Sun 22nd. Watson 'was in ninth, Thorpe in eleventh and Noyce in twelith. All England had to do was pass a minimal number of riders and the Motocross des Nations was theirs. On the third lap, Sun bailed off, injured his ankle and was through for the day. That meant there was no room for error. The remaining American riders would all have to finish well up in the top ten to win. Even then ... if the English team held their positions, the best we could hope for would be second. To make matters worse, it started to rain. The already slippery track turned to ice. Each pass was a gamble, and a wrong twist of the throttle would spell disaster. By the halfway point, LaPorte had passed Watson and moved into fifth. O'Mara was holding on for dear life and had moved to tenth. Hansen was 16th. Noyce was out with a mechani· cal problem and Mayes was way back in the pack. England's hopes rested on Watson in sixth and Thorpe who had fallen back to eleventh. If all the riders held, England would win 44 to 50. With fifteen laps down and four to go, the U.S. had moved to within two points of the leaders. LaPorte was fourth, O'Mara eighth and Hansen fifteenth. The score -- England 44, U.S. 46. On the 16th lap, LaPorte and Hansen each moved up another place. The score was tied. If all riders held their positions, England would win as a result of faster times in the rain-free first moto. The two lap board was up. Carlqvist, still the leader', flashed by. All eyes were on the crest of the hill preceding the finish. It was LaPorte. He'd moved into second place. The English rider held and so did O'Mara. Then came Hansen in 13th. He'd given the U.S. another point. The score with two laps to go, U.S. 42, England 44. On the final lap, the English rider Thorpe passed one more rider to move into 16th. The final score -- U.S. 42, England 43. Most of us were unaware that the U.S. was even in contention. Team racing depends 100% on the scores of every rider, with individual finishes meaningless. I had calculated the scores at the midway point and frankly was hoping we'd be able to hold on for second. With three laps to go, I saw DeCoster in the signal area jumping up and down. He was nervous ... no, he was a basket case. I later asked him which was worse, riding or managing. "Managing, by far. There is nothing you can do but wait. When you're riding, you have some control over what's going on. But when you're watching ... well, all you can do is wait." It hit me when I saw Roger jumping. It was a chill that went through my entire body. Brian Lunniss, Donnie Hansen's mechanic, heard me holler "Brian, are we in it?" "We think by one or two points, ". Suffering from an injured ankle, Chuck Sun Is helped by lrightJ Donnie Hansen and an unidentified European. lLeft to right) Hansen, O'Mara, Usa Petty - Hansen's fiancee, Sun and laPorte enjoy breakfast in West Germany. Mike DiPrete, AMA commissioner of professional racing, and Bel·Ray's J.J. Handfield accompanied the team to Europe. Brian hollered back. A second chill hit me as I became aware that the U.S. was about to capture its second World Championship MX in two weeks. When it was over, the American team had shattered the European motocross domination mystique. They met the Europeans on their soil, played their game, and came home with all the marbles. They were the youngest team ever to win and the first team to ever do it on one brand of cycle. They did it amidst controversy and tunnoil that almost dictated no team at all. They did it to the European powers, that for the most part considered the American team to be second rate. The titles earned in Europe are titles to be shared by thousands of American motocross fans. They bought T-shirts, sent donations or hung around in the rain to pay an outrageous price for a rider's sock at an auction. It was a team effort that ended with two silver cups on our side of the pond for the first time ever. An effort that saw anguish, disappointment, controversy and fulfillment. U.S. riders will go again in years to come and most certainly will win their share of the events. But it won't be the same as this one. This one was pushed by the fans, paid for by the fans and it belongs to the fans. They came ... they saw ... they conquered I • "Not everyone believed In you at tbe bealnnlna. I did. I knew bow aood y.u are .nd tb.t y.u could do w.lI. But even I could not Im. .lne tbat It would turn out alt did. I am very bappy to b. part 01 It and very proud to be ocl.ted wltb all 01 you. Tb. world tod.y ba. n.w opinion 01 American motocr " . . . .rDeC:. . . (.ttll ~Ictorrdlnnel'llol Iqlb r opb. . . . N.tl. . . I. . .I8I.m) 15

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