Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ;l '" := 0 z ....I 0 e '" 0 ~ >>- '" 0 '" >- l.!") 00 O"l 0 :r Q. ,......; ~ l.!") c-r .... iJ.) ..0 E iJ.) ..... 0.. iJ.) CfJ Bailey. Thorpe and Ward dice for the lead. but it was Thorpe the top individual rider. winning two out of three motos. (A bove) Da vid Bailey. Jeff Ward and Ron Lechien - the winning U.S. team . (Bel ow ) Bailey leads Dave Thorpe (7) at the start of thefirst mota. Motocross des Nations Americans make their mark in Germany By Tom Kolnowski GAI LDOR F, WEST G ERM ANY , SE PT. 8 T he German announcer was spot on when he summed up the day's proceedings as he passed a bottle of champagne to the victorious United States team - Da vid Bai ley, R o n L ech ien a nd ] eff Wa rd when he sa id, " Even a change in the Mo to cross des Na tio ns . _ format co u ld n o t kee p th e 20 Am eri cans from winn in g." After three 30-I!!my te mo tos o n the g rass a nd clay h ill sides o f the Mo to Sport C lub in G ai ldor f, the America n~ h ad won t ~1C Mo to c;ross de s N '~ ll 0!1 S for th e. fifth year lJl a ro w. this ll~e topping th e;. Dut ch team co m prised of Davey Strijbos, G ert -Jan va n Doorn a n d Kees van der Ven by th e margi n o f five p oints. se'..e n to 12. Host co u n try West Germany. Ita ly and Great Brita in ro u nded o u t the to p five ov erall teams , with new lycTO \~' ned 500 cc ~\' orld C~~mplO n David Thorpe pacmg the Brit ish effort as well as th e rest o f th e field, wi nning IwO o ut of the th ree m otos, In yea rs pas t. the Mo tocro ss ~ e s Na ti ons h as been a 500cc event, w ith eac h participating co u ntry' s team co nsisting o f four r~ders .~ For 1985, th e Troph ee des Nations (250cc) ~ n d Coupe des Nati ons ( 125cc) were e ~ lIn in at ed , and th e Mot ocr oss des Nations remained on th e FIl\ 1 sche d u le (in name o n ly) as th e o n ly team Wor ld Cha mpions hip mot ocross event. Each team u nder th e revised format co n sisted of three riders - one on a 125, o ne on a 250 and o ne on a 500. A tota l of 21 teams (63 riders ) were on hand for th e . in augura l running of the event, and th e ent ire field sta rte d a t the sa me time (via a double-row sta rt ) i n each o f th e th ree 30-min u te- p lus two -lap mot os. To determ in e th e fin al fin ish ing order, o n ly th e best six o ut of a team 's ni n e possi ble m or o finishes we re cou nted . Eac h class was sco red separa tely, a nd as suc h th ere were th ree " wi n n ers " p er m ota . A cla ss win was worth o ne point, seco nd two poi nts, th ird three po ints, etc., an d th e tea m with th e lo west cu m u la ti ve score was crowne d Wo rld C ha m pion . For the Am eri cans, th e win was any th in g but a ca kewa lk. " Win n ing th is event has a lways been o ne o f m y career goa ls," sai d Lech ien , wh o rode a H o nda 125 in hi s first world team event, " bu t i t wasa lot tough er tha n I th ough t it wou ld be. I had a rough tim e keepin g Strij bos behind m e in th e rain, wh ich ca me down pretty hard in th e seco nd moto , but I lo ved it when th e track dried o u t a bit in th e fin a l mo ro . Some of th e Europeans are al ot faster th an I thought." Le chi en 's ac tua l ta ll y on th e day went 12-5-4, a nd he was th e top 125cc rider in th e fina l tw o m ot os, Newlvcro w n ed 125cc World Ch ampi on Pekka Vehkone n , ridi ng a Cagiva 125 on the Finnish team, bested th e 125s in the first mo to . Wh ile Kawasaki 250-mo untcd Ward was 5-3-3 ove ra ll he was th e top 250cc rider a ll th ree ti mes . "The Eu ro peans ride the wet stu ff a lot bett er th an we do, " sa id Ward . "an d I had 10 be ca u tious a ll th e wa y. I would 've liked it better if it had been dry - that 's what we're used to." Bailey, o n a H onda 500, p laced 2-34 in class sco rin g a nd found h im self chas ing H onda 500-mou nt ed Thorpe a nd KTM 500 ri de r van der Ven (th e wi n ner of th e seco nd m oio ) most of the da y. " I co u ld n't beli eve ho w fast T h o rpe a nd va n der Ven were going," sa id Bail ey, "and I kept telli ng myself. ' We ha ve to win thi s thing.' I repl aced Broc (G lover, who withd rew due 10 a wrist inj ury ) o n th e team a nd I di dn' t wa n t 10 h ave to face him if we di d n' t p u ll i t off. I was wide o pen a ll th e way until th e la st two laps of th e fin al rno to -the track was so slic k in p laces it was lik e ice skati ng ." After th e la vish o pe n ing cere m oni es, rh e firs t mot o wa s staged . Si nce th e gale co u ld o n ly acco mmoda te 42 riders. two from eac h tea m occupied . th e front row wit h th e thi rd rider in th e second ro w. Ba ilev holes hot wit h Thorpe IW O bik el engths ba ck in seco nd as th e pack h eaded o u t of th e grassy , 100-yard- Io ng starting grid and onto the course pro per. Van der Ven took up third ahead of Ward, Italian Michele Finaldi and 250cc World Champion H einz Kinigadner of Au stria . L echi en, th e back -row starte r for th e Am eri can effo rt, rounded the first co rner in 61st SP01. " T h o rpe di al ed it o n o ff th e gat e a nd blinded me," said L echi en. " I got 10 th e fir st co rner and th ere was nowhere 10 go - th ere was just wall- IO- wall riders." T horpe nudged a hea d of Bail ey befor e the first lap wa s co m p lete, with Ward in th e thi ck o f the cha se ahead o f KTM 500-mounted Kiniga d ne r and Fren chman Jacky Vim ond .o n a Yamaha YZ490. As th e ra ce entered lap three, Bailey an d Ward , in tandem , push ed into fir st a n d seco nd ahead o f Thor pe , but by la p seven T hor pe was back in th e driver's sea t, keeping Ward , Bail ey a n d Kin igadn er a t bay as th e fo ur fo rmed a tight line. On the next la p, Ward d ropped off the p ace, strugg li ng with a brak e pe da l whi ch had ca u g h t in o ne of th e ruts. "It go t bent up around th e foot peg, " sa id Ward , ':a nd I stopped and . bent it back part way . It kep t gettin g weaker a n d weak er since I kept kicking it back in to shape, a nd it was p re tty mu ch useless." T horpe led th e rest o f the IS-lap m oro , with Bailey earni ng seco nd , a head o f a press u ri ng van der Ven , Kinigadner, Ward a nd Belgi an J acky Martens. L ech ieri 's d ri ve carried h im a ll the way 10 12th at th e fi n ish. T he U.S. led th e sta nd ings aft er m ot a o ne with six p oints, with Hoi land seco nd at II , and Czechoslovakia third a t 18. T he ra in , whi ch fell in earn est in the ear ly mornin g hours a nd satura ted th e track , h ad h eld off for most o f th e first mota but gave way to a stea dy drizzle as m ot a two began. Thorpe an d Bail ey took th eir factor y H ondas to th e head of th e pack o nce mo re as van der Ven , Kinigadner , It ali an Mi ch ele Mar gerouo , Virn ond, Ward , van Doorn a n d Swede Leif Persson followed the m th rough th e first la p . " I wa s 'coo kin g pretty good," sai d Bail ey, " bu t the re was reall y no pl ace ' I co u ld ca tch Thorpe. I followed h im (u nt il th e founh lap ) wh en van der Ven an d Kini gadner go t close. I was · tr yin g to dod ge T horpe's roost, and bo th of th em zapped me as I took a cleaner lin e." T ha t mad e th e order T horpe, van de r Ven , Kin igadner , Bailey a nd Ward with the crowd che ering as West German Rol an d Diep ol d m oved into sixth abo ard a Kawasaki 250. Kin igadner , however. was o u t o f

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