Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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9MOTOCROSS MotocrossdesNations ~. Jeff Emig (3) led the U.S. team to an unprecedented 13th-straig ht win at the 47th run ning of the Motocross des Nations in Austria. Emig recorded 2-1 moto fini sh es in the 12Scc class. earn • • • -as usua -In ustrIa By Davey Coomb s SCHWANENSfADT, AUSTRIA,SEPT. 12 t wa s too close for comfort, but for the 13th time in a row Team USA captured the overall championship at the 47th Annual Motocross des Nations, this time snagging the win from Team Belgium in the waning moments of the third and final mo to, Under the gun throughout the day from European powerhouse teams from Belgium, Italy and Sweden, the three-man American squad of Mike Kiedrowski , Jeremy McGrath an d Jeff Emig used a dramatic late-race attack by Kiedrowski to pull out a one-point win over the exasperated Belgian squad. "S hane ' (Nalley, Kied rowski 's mech an ic) put ou t th e pit board tha t said I need ed three places or else, and I could tell by the look on his face that he was serious ," said Kiedrow ski of his mechan ic's sign al, which was radioed down to the track by AMA Pro Racing Director Roy Janson, who was serving as t he team ' s m anag er . At th e ti me, Ka w asaki -mounted Kiedrows ki was sixth in the 500cc class, having suffered thr ee uncharact eristic falls in the ea rly goin g of the third moto. "I started thinkin g, 'Three more gu ys, jus t thr ee more I 8 guys.' SoI put those crash es behind me, got my head on straight and got the job done." Kiedrowski made the required passes, allowing Team USA to make it past the unlucky 13th year of their win streak. His final score of 1-3 in two 500cc races, combined with the methodical 2-1 efforts of Emig in the 125cc divisi on and the crash-induced bu t sufficient 4-9 of 250cc teamma te McGrath, allowed the American team to once again dash the hopes of the proud Belgian contingent. The Belgian team consisted of· 250cc GP star Stefan Everts who ran 1-3 in the 250cc class , individual 500cc class winner Mamicq Bervoets and 125cc entrant Werner Dewit. "I guess that's ra cing," said a frustrated Everts. "It's a shame for me and my teammates. I felt good and comfo rtable all wee kend and I felt that we ha d a cha nce to win . Everything seemed to be going well for our team, but again it just did not work out for US at the end." "T his is not an ea sy ra ce," sai d Yamaha-ri der Emig, the 125cc individual winner for two years running. "Mike ha d troubl e, Jeremy had trouble, we all had trouble . There is so much pressure on us to w in here that we can 't let our gua rd down for even one second. Every team is gunning for us , especially the Belgian team. Everyone says they're get ting faster, which they are, but they still d idn't win." "Tha t was the most nerve-wracking race I've ever rid den in my life," admitted Emig. Honda-mounted McG ra th , an MX des Nations rookie, said, "I gotta tell ya', that was more pressure than I ever felt back home. I mean, I took the su percross championship with flowers compared to this race." Going into the event, McGrath was considered to be the.one weak spot in the American lineup, hav ing seldom ridden a 250 "outdoors." McGra th turned in a sa fe rid e for . fourth in the firs t 125 /250cc moto, but went d own at the start o f the fin al 250/500 moto and could only come up to ninth 250 cc rider on th e one-lined track. Still, his fourth-place finish in race one proved to be as vit al to America' s victory as the fi n is hes of teammates Kiedrowski and Emig. Each year that th e. U.S. team w ins, the pressu re becomes grea ter and grea ter on the riders. The un precedented win streak has to be considered one of the most remarkable records in the history of motocross. It is also a particularly sore subject with the Belgians, who have now finished as the runners-up for the last four years. The format for the race calls for each country to field a three-rid er team, with one rider each on a 125, 250 and 500cc class bike. Each rider participa tes in two 3O-minute, plus two lap motos. The first he at combines 125cc and Open bikes, the seco nd is for 125 and 250cc riders, an d the third features the 250 and 500cc classes. The five best scores of each team coun t tow a rd s th e overall tall y. Iron ically, had all six scores counted, Belgium would h ave won b y th ree points. The 1.2-mile Schwanenstadt circuit is a classic natural-terra in European course, with steep, rocky uphills, downhill ski ju m ps, numerous off -camber turns, and several high-speed stra ightaw ays. Also included are se veral stadium-style jum p s and one small, manmade camelback ju m p. The cir cuit is