Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ w w '" w a: X w a: 0 z « a: w :::E ..J « c, l.!":i 00 O"l I- ;;: ....... > al '" o ~ t- I- ....... 0 a.. I ..... ... ....... 0. ~ American MX riders may be t h e best, but laPorte says that Europeans " d on ' t u ndersta nd" because the U,S . treats MX " like a m inor sport." mak c u p the difference. We th en Yo u have to be in o ne p lace more o fte n , vou h a ve to ride three or fo u r spe n t th e res t o f th e season bauling it times week, do testi ng, a nd maino u t a n d fin ish ed wi th j ust 10 p oints tain your p hys ica l co ndi tion ing . You bet ween us. I was a ble to pull it off can ' t keep £l yin g back a n d forth fro m because o f th e fact th at towards th e Europe every two week s to win a end o f a season I tend to ge t stronger, World C ha m p io ns hip. a nd th e o ther rid ers tended to ge t CN: When you sa w a ll of th ose ta lweaker . I no ticed th at th e European rider s put o u t 100% o nly fo r th e 12 ented European riders, di d yo u ha ve second th oug h ts abou t going for the races in th e GP sea son -they put o ut World Championship? o n ly wh a t th ey need to win. LaPorte: Yes. In 1983, for example, CN: When i t looked as if you had a the season was really rain y, which chance a t the Cham p io ns hip tow ards wo rried me because if I dropped one th e en d of the seas on, what were your h ea l (mota), tha t would be en o ug h to feel ings? LaPorte: I co u ldn' t believe ii, Wh en I lose th e '-"arid Cha mpions hip, AIwa s 13 or 14 years old, I read a bo u t .most every weekend it wa s raining , th e gu ys wh o won th e World Chamand whe n yo u h ave ri ders like l obe, p io ns hi p , a nd I th ought, " If I co u ld who ca n ri de as fast in a foot of mud as he ca n o n a dr y track , yo u worry. win th e Wo rld Cham p io ns h ip, .th at So, wha t ha ppen ed was th at I lost wo u ld be incredible!" Wh en I was in Am er ica , I h ad a lot of spare time o n two h ea ts in France to l obe at the m y hands to thi n k a bo u t lots of o the r heg in n ingof th e 1983 G P season, a nd th in gs ins tea d of rac ing, but when I th at wa s th e p o in t spread by wh ich I go t to Eu ro pe . I trained , th ough t, ate lost th e cha mp io ns hip. I DN F bo rh h ea ts - mud was in th e carburetor, racing a ll th e tim e. Thinkin g like that mak es yo u more hungry, marc vent tu bes, and I took so me bad lin es - th at 's a ll it tak es. Even th en I ca n crazy . So , whe n I was in Europe, I was more of a racer th an I had ever honestl y say that I wa sn ' t as co m pe titi ve as the top two or th ree g uys that been before. da y, because they we re very good in CN: When yo u and lobe were d ue lth e mu d , but a t least I co u ld ha ve in g fo r the 250cc World Championship, the Brit ish m otorcycle papers scored 75 to 80% of th e p oint s I were ca lling both of you th e "classineeded. est act " of the CPs, An'y comment? CN: Wa s '82 as difficult for yo u as '83 La Porte: I thi nk th e reason wh y I was? It took Brad La ckey 10 years to became pop u lar in Europe wa s bebecome World Champio n , but yo u cause I took th e tim e to talk to a ll th e did it in one, so di d you work harder peo p le in th e press. I always tried to to get whal you wan ted? be as truthful as possible. Wh at peo La Porte: T o be World Cham pi on in p le here don 't rea lize is th at mototh e 500cc class is defin itely more difcross in Europe is much bigger th an ficult, bu t the effo rt required in th e it is in Am erica . Wh en I see th e egos two classes is relat i ve. In th e 250s, o f so me of th e Am eri can ride rs, th ey there are rid ers who are j us t as fast as don't real ize th at m ot ocross is so riders in the 500cc cla ss, but th ey sma ll it's n ot worth havin g an ego do n' t have th e big names. Fo r me, th e a bo u t, because nob od y kn o ws who . two mo st di fficult rid ers I had to deal th ey are. wit h was l obe a nd Kees van der Ven, But in E urope, so me of th e riders wh ich reminds me of th is: In Eu ro pe , are recogn ized as top a th letes. For not a ll till' riders are fast on a ll th e exa mple, I' d see l obe on TV o nce a tracks. In Ital y, th ere are two or th ree week do in g interview s - nati onal rea llv Iast ltali an'riders, a nd in France tel evisi on! Prim e tim e! T he race rs tIH'n >s a cou p le o f reall y fas t g uys over th ere are on th e covers of maga there. All o ft hose local rid ers kn ow zi nes th at ca n be co mpared to Sports those tracks. th e co nditions, a nd what Illustra ted . In Ital y, Mich ele R in aldi lincsro tak e .. , bu t they may not be is a nati onal h ero , That 's wh y th e good a nyw he re else. So, th e most E uropea ns just ca n 't und er st and co nsisten tly fast rid ers were l obe a nd Am eri can rid ers, because th ev co me va n der Ven , , . especia ll y in th e from a co unt ry where mot ocross is sand. I kn ow th at I ca n beat a ny bo dy treat ed lik e a minor sport . . in America in th e sa nd. but I found it . CN: I sn~t that the real tragedy of the a mazi ng tha t a t a sa nd track like sport in this country, that even thoug h Hawkstone Park in Engla n d, I had to go wid e open for 45 minutes. But we cu rre n tly ha ve th e best riders in lobe co u ld be goi ng that m uc h faster. th e .world , motocross receives less CN: H ow di d you do that season? tha n 10%of the recognition it deserves? La Porte: In th e fir st three races I was LaPorte: I don 't wa nt an ybody to ge t beh ind ; I had a flat in Swi tzer la nd , me wrong, because I love Am erica, but th ere' s a lot o f th in gs abou t it that 'a nd I broke dow n in o ne h eat in Beli t isn ' t. It' s su p posed to be a fre e g i u m. But the n l o be cras he d a nd was . O U I f~r two h eats, which h elpe d .me , • •co u n rrv. ibu t it's very c1osed-mi?ded a 1982 250e e World Champion Dann): LaPorte: Baekin the U.S.A., part 2 · Danny LaPorte is perhaps one of th e most in teresting persona lities in th e sport of motocross as w ell as being o ne of its best spo kesm en. I n this seco nd , and fina l, in sta llmen t of Lal'orte's interv iew Cycle News ,.he talks about th e differen ce between American and European riders, how Europe treats motocross, and suggests how he wou ld improve motocros s in this coun try . . . Editor. CN : How did yo u r initial CP en co u n ters com pare to the first im pressions you experien ced at th e Motocross an d T'rophee des Na tio ns th e year before? La Porte: Wh en I went to the M'OlOcro ss a nd T rophee des Na tio ns , I was no t o p tim istic about -riding agai nst the European rid ers. I was really worri ed a lot, because I was n 't thi n king th at I wa s going to go over th ere and blow those guys away. I was co nfi dent of mys elf and I was strongly , conditioned and I was riding rea lly good. But what I lea rn ed at th e Motorcro ss and Trop hee des Nations is that they're eas ier to rid e than the first five or six Grands Prix of the season. I'll tell yo u why: T o Europea n riders, th e Mo tocro ss a nd Trophee des Nat io ns are just another ra ce; they don' t even really care about them. So the E uropea ns aren 't th a t orga n ized, bu t no w th ey' re starting to get m ore serious a bo u t it , fina lly , Still, they 'r e not that serio us , beca use the most im po rtant thi ng to the m arc th e World Cha m pionsh ips , CN: Does this mean that for the last four yea rs th e American teams who ha ve en tered th ose two events have been riding under a dil lusion> La Porte: No, because no t a ll o f th e Europea ns a re li ke th at; there are a lways five or six riders who a re alwa ys serio us a bo ut i t, who rea lly want to win , But , in Europe, yo u do n ' t hav e th e amo u nt o f riders th at are in America . Bel gium alo ne ha s a ll th e best riders - four or five - bu t for the Motocross a nd T ro p hee des Nations, half o f th em are o ut hu rt , so they don 't h ave a fu ll tea m . The Swedish team is Ha kan Carlqvist! 28 CN: So what you 're sa ying is th at th ere isn ' t.a real depth of motocross talent p er co u nt ry in Eu ro pe numbers of q ua lity riders available at any onetime - tha t America has. La Porte: R igh t ; th ey do n' t h a ve eno ug h good riders to fill u p one tea m . T h ey have a lot o f good rid ers from o ne co u ntry, hu t th ere aren't en o ugh of them from every co u ntry. If yo u co m bi ne d a II of these ri der s agai ns t the American s, th en th e raein g wo u ld be differen t. r learn ed in Bel gi urn th ey have incred i ble sa nd tra cks ; the sa nd a n d mud is so dee p th at you ca n get stuck i n the ru ts. And th ere a re so man y good sa n d riders in Bel gium a nd . H o llan d tha t it's incredi ble; it's ha rd to keep up with so me o f th em , a nd I was co nsi de red one of th e best sa nd riders in America. We don't rea lly have th at ki nd o f experience here, but, in th e extremes, th ev sti ll ha ve . very good riders in E urope. CN: How long did it take yo u to men tally and physicall y ad apt to racing co ndi tions in Europe? LaPorte: I sti ll ha ven 't really adap ted to it like I wan ted to, I wa nted to win more races ,' bu t there were certain sa nd track s in Belgium where I d idn 't p lace in the top five. It rea lly mak es me mad : I wa nted to do better, bu t they have 15 g uys o ut th ere who go th rou gh mud a nd sa nd as fast as th e dry, hard tra cks , C.N: Is it expe ns ive livin g th ere? La Porte: No, it's chea p . T he cos t of livi ng for Ameri ca ns in Eu rope is chea p because o f the do llar excha nge ra te, even ba ck in 1981. _ Living and raci n g in E urope is diffic u lt fo r a professiona l mo tocross rider. Road racers ha ve motorhomes, th ey tra vel around , and th en th ey co me h ome. Road racers do n ' t ride 40 races a year: th ey ride, tak e two or three weeks o ff, th en ra ce aga in . Motocross is a , differe n t sit ua tion:

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