Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127717
; . ·IN R IE Greg Albertyn TE V W LI By Donn Maeda here's a trend in Ame rican mot ocr oss, one that mo st acknow lege, b u t som e deny: After reachi ng see ming d ead ends in th eir racing careers, many Am eri can rnot ocrossers set their sigh ts on Europe in search of continued success. Trampas Park er, Donny Schmit and Bobb y Moore are the best exam ples - their d ecision s prov ed advantageous, as all three went on to win one or more Wo rld Ch ampionship titl es lon g a fter their racing d ays in Ame rica we re over. Others w ho mad e th e trip ac rossthe p ond in clude Billy Liles, Mike Healey, Bad er Mann eh a n d Tall on Vo hl a n d . American racers wh o are in their p rim e would tell yo u tha t the others we nt off in sea rc h o f less co m pe tit io n, whil e those wh o made the sw itch wou ld den y that claim . . Oddl y e no ugh, the trend amongst Europeans is comp letely oppos ite. On ce s uccess in th e World Cha m p io ns hi p series is achieved, man y Gra nd Prix regulars head for the States in search of big ger and better challenges. Jean-Michel Bayle is the best example. The 125 and 250cc Wo rld Champion le ft his home country in order to "race with the best" in the Uni ted States. During his fouryear stay, Bayle won all but one of the AMA's National Championship titles . Stefan Everts, the '91 125cc World Cham p ion, followed Bayle's example and contested the first few rounds of the ' 93 Su percross Series. Other red-hot Europeans who have recently tried their hands at supercross include Mickael Pichon, Frederic Vialle and Frederic Bolley. Brit is h Motocross des Nations Cha mpion Rob Herring was even spotted at a local California race a few weeks ago ... But of all the " Eu ro In vaders," it is three-tim e Worl d Cha m p io n G reg A lbe r tyn tha t h a s ca used the m o s t ruckus - not eve n Bayle was as high ly touted w he n h e fi r s t set foo t in t h e states. With the '92 125, and '93 and '94 250cc Wor ld Ch ampionships to his credit, Alber ty n h as h is s ig hts se t o n th e 250cc Na tion al and Su pe rc rossti tles. And und er th e gu idance of five- ti me World Cha m pio n Roger DcCost er, the factory Suzuki rider has the backing an d suppo rt to achieve his goals. But so far, Albertyn ' s s u pe rc ross debut ha s bee n less than stella r. The likable So ut h African openly admits tha t he is not a supercross specialist and is so far satisfied with his midpack finishes. But come March 5, expect no mid pack finis hes fro m Albertyn . The three-time champ claims that he is completely focused on his task at hand - supercross - but there's little doubt that Albe rty n is a nxio us fo r th e Gainesville 250cc National Series opener to arrive. This is where Albertyn will shine. , rl ...c: u l-; ct: ~ 14 Five races into the 1995 U.S. Supercross s e r i e s, what are y o u r impressions about racing in America? Well , I' m enjoying it a heck of a lo t. The re are a lot of new cha llenges for me, and 1 can see myself im proving every week. Maybe the results aren' t going up every week, but I'm defini tely improvin g as a rid er . And that' s good for me becau se th e last co uple of years I' ve been im proving, but not as fast a's I' d like. I'm learning a lot of new things and rea lly enjoy ing it. I like the sty le of racing, but now 1 have to learn to stay on two wheels from now on. Hopefully, the results will begi n to come as well. At the Orlando series opener, it looked as if you became mo re and more com fortable with each passing lap. In your