Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

a:: w R ::; 8 ..J « l>- a z a ~ « en w z 0 .., > w z i!: I:- >< 00 O'l a::' w ..J ..J ....... W :J ~ ::; O'l ::; .... 0 I- Q.) r:i ..0 W Q.) U """' 0.. I- I- S Z w en a::' 0 Q.) l>- en Cf'J > w ..J ..J « > :5 ..J 15 « z :J . An aerial view of the famous Unadilla motocross track in New Berlin. New York. It w ill be the site for the 1987 Motocross des Nations. When countries collide By Kit Palmer - On Sunday, September 13, the United Sta tes for the first time ever - will host one of the most prestigious MX events this cou ntry has ever seen, and it will take place a t one of the world's most premier MX facilities - th e U na dilla Valley ,Sports Center in New Berlin, New York. The event is th e Motocr oss des Na tions. T he la test version of th e Mo tocross des Nations is a o ne-day team race in which as many as 25 co u ntries participate. T h ree rid ers fro m each co untry team up to determ in e which cou ntry has th e fastest motocross riders in the world. For th e past six years, the Uni ted Sta tes has dominated this h ighl y-recognized intern ational event , but thi s year's Mo tocross des Nations cou ld see the U.S. sq uad havi ng th e to ug hes t ti me earni ng a wi n since 1981. , The very Iirs t Motocr os s des Nat ions event too k pl ace 41 years ago in Italy as a Cup race and was won by the Belgian tea m ; th e race was not recognized as a World Cha mpionship 'event unt il the following year. In that year, 1947, each cou n try assi/?ned a th ree-ma n team a nd Great BriHan emerged victorious. A year lat er, fou r-m art tea ms were used, and fro m 1947 to 1970 it was usu all y a sec-saw ba ttle between G rea t Brit ian a nd Belgiu m , wit h Swede n snea king by wit h four wi ns a nd Ru ssia tak in g o ne in 1968. . Up until 1961 the Mot ocr oss des Nations was strictly a 500cc class. a nd as the 250cc class became more a nd more popular across the world, the Trop hy des Nati ons (250cc) ca me in to ex istence. T he Mo to cross (5OOcc) and T rophy des Nati ons were held as separate events, in d ifferent co un tries, ta king pl ace usuall y no more th an a week a pa rt. T he first Trophy des Nations was won by Great Britain. It wasn 't until 1981 whe n th e Co upe des Nations was formed. T he Co u pe de Nations featured th e l 25cc motorcycles and was do m ina ted by the Ital ian s for the first two years. Belgium won it in 1983, a nd H oll and in 1984. The U.S . never fielded a team. By the early '70s, th e Motocross des Nati o n s was d ominat ed by -t h e Swedes. before Belgium turned into the team to beat wh en Roger DeCos ter began his dominati on in th e 500cc GP class; eventua lly cap turing five ind ividual World Ch am pi onship tit les. Between th e years of 1976 and 1980, Belgium captured four wi ns, wi th R u ssia spoi ling the win ning strea k in 1978, In 1976, th e stro ng Belgian team co nsis ted of Worl d Ch ampions Roger DeCoster. Gaston Rahier, Harry Everts an d j aa k Van Velthoven; the last yea r Belgium won (1980) the tea m fea-: tured 500cc Wor ld Champion Andre Malherbe, Harry Everts, Andre Vro mans a n d c u rre n t 500cc World Ch ampion Georges J obe. The U nited Sta tes' initial effort in th e Motocross des Nations happened in Norg, Holland, in 1972. T he team co ns isted of Gary J ones, J im my Weinert , Br ad La ck e y a n d J im Po mero y. Unfort u na tely, th ey were no threa t to th e Europeans - th e U.S. finis hed sevent h . It wasn't until the early '80s when the Europeans started worryi ng a bo u t the U.S. presen ce, and in 1981 , Chuck Sun, Dann y LaPorte, J ohnny o 'Mara a nd Donnie H ansen made hi sto ry a nd shocked th e world when th ey captu red the first Motocross des Nations Ch ampionsh ip for the Un ited Stat es. The vic tory was suc h a shock because th e team was cons ide red second -ra te, since none of th em were AMA Na tional Cha mpions a t th e ti me. The victory happen ed in West Ger man y, and a week later, th e same U.S. team cap tur ed its first T rophy des Nati ons win in Belgium. The tide had turned - since 1981 the Un ited States has do minated the Mo tocross and Trophy des Nations. In 1982 the team co nsisted of David Bail ey, O 'M ara, Da n ny Chandl er a n d Jim Gibson . Bai le y wa s a repl acem ent for Hansen who suffered maj or head in juries during a practice cras h th ree days before th e Trophy des Nati ons in West Germa ny. T he cras h ended H ansen 's raci ng career. Man y people feltChandler wasn' t qualified enough to be on the U.S. team, since he on ly fini sh ed six th in th e 500cc Na tionals .tha t year. H owever, Chandler proved he was the perfect choice by winning every moto at bo th th e Motocross and Trophy des Nations, leading th e U.S. team to victory. Bel gium a n d C zecho sl o vakia h o st ed t he 1983 Moto cr o ss a n d T rophy des Nations, a nd th e wi nn in g U.S. team featured Su percross and 250cc Nati onal Ch ampion Bailey, 500cc Na tiona l Champion Broc G lover , Mark Barnett a nd J eff Ward. . In 1984 it wa s 250cc National Ch ampion Rick J ohnson , Supercross Champi on O ' Ma r a , 125cc National Champion Ward a nd 500cc National cham p Gl over leading th e -Arnerica n team to victory a t th e Motocro ss des Na tio ns in Finland. H o wever , Glover got inj ured in Finland and was replaced by Bailey a t th e T roph y d es N at ions in Sweden. This was also the last yea r o f th e Troph y a n d Coupe d es Nations classes. In 1985, a n all-new class forma t went into effect. Instead of havi ng three separa te races; 'the Co upe a nd Trophy des Na tio ns were combined into o ne Mo tocross des Nations event, co nsisting of three-man tea ms, ri ding three d ifferent size motorcycles: 125, 250 a nd 500cc. The overa ll team winner would tak e the Motocross , des Natio ns trophy; second pl ace, th e Tro p hy des Na tio ns trophy, and the th ird place team gets th e Coupe des Nati ons trophy.

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