Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eINTERVIEW IF Motocrossers Trampas Parker and MickyDymond By Davey Coombs or the last two years, the Orlando Supercross has marked the beginC'f ning of the AMA motocross racing season. With almost every major ~ off-road publication in the world on ....... hand to witness the event, new bikes and new riders are debuted for all to l.t':l. see. The pit area is highlighted by all ....... the factory teams, with their bright, ..- multi-colored canopies and hand• ~ painted box vans. This year, virtually unnoticed in the .....c middle of this parking lot of fluores........ cents, sat a plain blue American van with two red bikes placed on crates behind it. There were no banners or flags, no technicians or team managers . On the back bumper of this anonymous truck sat a two-time Worl d Champion and a two-time Nationa l Champion - Lo uis iana's Trampas Parker and Ca lifornia's Micky Dymond were slumming. ~ Cl. and ultra-competitive AMA National and Supercross tours. While Parker left America in 1987 as an unknown underachiever, Dymond's past experience racing in America was more notorious than obscure. As one of Team Honda's disposable l25cc National champs, Dymond went from being a two-time title winner with a Honda factory ride still not doing well. Dymond finished 17th in the final standings, although he was sidelined ai the beginning of the season with a knee injury. "After the season nobody was banging my door down with offers," said Dymond, a l7-year native of Yorba Linda, California. "I had met Trampas at the French GP last summer. We got to talking about racing, sponsors Two for the road ***** 22 Trampas Chad Par ker should be the hero of every privateer in motocross. Once a Team Green wash-out from Shreveport, Parker emerged from the shadows of self-sponsored obscurity to win the 1989 l25cc World Championship on a KTM. Whereas Parker was shunned by fans in America, his following in his adopted country of Italy was large and enthusiastic. Two years later, Parker pulled off another upset when he won the '91 250cc World Championship aboard a Honda, and fans across Europe elevated him to hero status. The championship titles made the 25-year-old Parker the first American motocrosser ever to win two World crowns, placing his name a step above those of such American Grand Prix legends as jim Pomeroy, 1982250cc World Champion Danny Laf'orte and 1982 500cc World Champion Brad Lackey. But the one thing Parker lacked that the others possessed was success at home. After clinching his second title in the final round in japan late last summer, Parker knew it was time to come home. " I hadalways wanted to come back over and ride," said Parker, who left for Italy five years ago to ta ke up racing with fellow ex-patriot, Georgian Billy Liles. "Last year I built up a pretty good lead early in the GP series and started thinking about returning, but then I lost the lead and just quit thinking about it all together. After japan I decided that I was going to do it once and for all. " Parker originally planned to ride the 500cc Nationals in the fall, but instead stayed in Italy for that country's championship series. It proved to be a smart move, as Parker became the first rider in the history of Italian motocross to win the 125,250 and 500cc titles in the same season. It also paid off financially, as many of Parker's main European sponsors - Emmepi, the Italian Honda importer; Chambers, a casual clothing outift: UFO, a motocross clothing and accessories business; Boeri Helmets, and StylMartin Boots - do big business in Italy. So Parker made p lans to revisit the American racing scene at the outset of the 1992 AMA Camel Supercross Series, arguably the most prestigious and toughest motocross series in the world. And he would be taking a new teammate with him. During the off-season Par ker was joined by two-time l25cc National Champion Micky Dymond, another Euro G P refugee , but one who had already put in his time on the rigorous ride anyway,' " remembered Dymond. "Until then I had my doubts, because I didn't exactly have the best season ever. Bu t Trampas came through because he knows that th is will work. We had a friendship first, not a business deal, which means that the trust is built in a lready." Parker finalized the deal late last year and the two presented their new G P team at an Italian international race in early March. It is a n HR Csu pported team with factory bikes, mecha nics, etc. They will also ha ve a ma nager in Par ker's dad, Keith, who joined his son when the 250cc World Championships started on in Valkenswaard, Holl an d. Bu t before that, there was other racing to be done; Parker and Dymond joined the Camel Supercross tour. The first move for any racing team is ' to secure some machinery. Park er spoke to Hon da Europe abo ut the idea with th e understanding that the company would get in touch with American Honda abo ut the team's needs. H owever, the lines of communication beca me gar bled and nothing was secured. "Trampas thought that Honda Europe had taken care of everything bu t it didn ' t happen," says Dymond. "He just had too much to do, trying to be a rider, a manager and everything else. The people in America weren't notified in time and they just didn't have the resources or the time to do too much for us. They eventually came through with some parts and setups, but for the most part we had to rough iL" in 1987 to the role of America's most notorious also-ran. He next spent two mediocre seasons with Yamaha, where he was frustrated by injuries and an inability to adjust to his new bikes. Dymond also got a bad reputation when he grew his hair long and began socializing with some hard-core rock stars. With poor results on the track and, perhaps, concerned about Dymond's questio nab le image off the track that might reflect negatively on the company, Yamaha sent him packing at the end of '89. Dymond quit racing after that and retu rn ed to school, then he resurfaced in Italy at the beginning of last year with an importer's ride for the 250cc GPs. As irony would have it, he was still on a Yamaha ... and and everything, and Trampas said it might be fun if we were teammates in '92. That struck me as a great idea because I was looking for some way to get back on a Honda." The two went over the idea of teaming together again late la s t summer after Dymond came on strong in the fina l part of the season, q ualifying fastest in the last two GPs. Par ker went to the people at Honda with the concept and started the ball rolling, but before a deal was sealed Dymond injured himself at a race in Italy. "I was sitting there next to the trac k with the medics, hurled over in pain, when Trampas walks up and says, 'Don't worry, I'm going to get you that Par ker, came home from Italy just before Christmas with his Italian-born wife Lea and two-year-old son Ricky. -Still in need of bikes, Parker first went to H&W Cycle in Marshall, Texas, and bought a new CR250. He later bought the second bike - Dymond's machine - from Seminole Honda in Winter Par k, Florida. So what kind of break on the CR 's $4199 price can a two-time Wor ld MX Champion expect from his dealer? " I paid $3300 for the bike at H&W and then $3700 over at Seminole," says Park er. " Both of those shops were real nice and seemed p leased to be working . with me." Par ker borrowed a van from his friend Barry Kern s and headed for Florida. Before the first supercross Parker took on the locals at the second round of the Florida Winter AMA MX Series in Cocoa Beach. It was Par ker's first race in a couple of months, havi ng taken a well-earned vacation through November and December. He didn't fare well. "I had some problems there with the bike and the sand and all, but with everything working right I still don 't think I could have outrun Timmy Ferry that day," said Parker with a touch of respect in his ' voice. "That kid's a pretty unbelievable sand riPer and he impressed me a lot. At a sand GP in Europe, I wouldn't bet against hi m, at least not the way he rode that day." (Ferry, a l6-year-old Team Green rider from West Palm Beach, Florida, was eventuall y crowned the series champion in the 250cc Pro and A classes.) The next race on the schedule was the Orlando Supercross, the first 250cc AMA supercross of Parker's life. He qualified for the main by finishi ng third in his heat race and then finished a respectable 13th in the feature. He also had the distinction of being the last rider not to be lapped by winner Mike La Rocco . Dymond's night didn't go so well. "Orlando was an intimidating

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