Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

AVIEW FROM THE FENCE BYERIC JOHNSON he rum ors of Stefa n Everts coming to the United States in order to confron t the A mericans on their own turf were actually initia ted last Sept ember in the pits of the Jerez circu it in the south of Spain . It was there tha t Jeremy McGrath, Jeff Emig and Steve Lamson ha d just delivered a serious bu tt-kicking to the best motocross riders of Europe in the annual Motocross des Nations. From the looks on those rid ers' faces and the words from the ir m ouths , an d fro m their tasti ng of glory the previou s tw o yea rs, it was obvi ous that the y weren't very happy abou t it. Team Bel gium - the de fendin g ch a m pi ons prior to th e shellack in g had howled and complained aU weekend to anyone who would listen that the jump-filled hillsid e circuit was created purposely to suit the high-flyin g American s. Moreov er, their best rider, . Stefan Everts, had to do the 125ee class - a class he despised but competed in nevertheless, in ord er to bolster the Belgi a n effort. "N ex t year Stefan Everts will take on Jeremy McGrath on a 250 then we will se e who is t he bes t:' they cried. "Th e empire will s trike back!" Cut to the parking lo t of the Los Angles Coliseum some four months later: Dave Grant, Stefan Everts' manager and overl ord of Honda's Europeanbased Grand Prix team , motioned me o ver to the Team Honda big-rig. He had something he wanted to tell me. "Eri c," he said, "Cliff White a nd I have been talking, and we want to let everyone know that Stefan will rid e the Gainesville National this March. " As fate would have it, Ga ines vill e came and went, and the much-anticipated American showing of Everts nev er materialized. Word had it th at Everts and Grant , opera tin g their o w n race team for the first time , were attem pting to ge t th eir G P program so r te d out before the gate dropped on the series' T 30 YEARS AGO... A GUS 17, 1967 U T first race in Spain . Racing in America wou ld be out of the question. A month la ter, in Ap ril, I s po ke to Everts over the phone, an d he informed me that he would - barring any injury or misfor tu n e - show u p at the Una dilla National to battl e the Americans in their own backyard. Just prior to the Unadilla race, I got Stefan on the teleph one at Jeff Stanton's hou se in Michigan. He and Gr ant had just flown in from an impressi ve backto -b a ck GP swee p in Bra zil a n d Vene zu ela, and were ha ngi ng a t Stanton ' s a bode to rel a x a nd g e t th eir h ea d s to geth e r be fore h eadin g to Unad illa. "I' m jus t trying to rela x and have fun," Everts said, "but I know this race (Unad illa) is a big d eal because a ll of Europe is behind me. I su re hope I d o well at Unadilla, both for myself and for all of the European riders, who deserve more respect." A few days late r at Unadilla, Everts and Grant rendezvoused with American H onda's big red 18-w hee l ma chine . Parked outside wa s a brand-new factury-p repared H onda CR250 , complete with a n arm y o f su p po rt personnel. co m ma n d e d by Cliff White; Wess McCoy and Eve rts' mechanic for the weekend, Shane Drew . All of the pieces were in place . The buzz abou t Stefan Everts' American premiere began o n Satu rday during th e quali fy ing races . Everts, requ ir ed to ride a qualifyin g race in order to place himself in the field , took to the rough, sweeping Unadilla circuit and immediately put on a rid ing clinic. Smo oth, stylish , confident, and oozing immense na tural a b ility, Ev erts d espite a fla t front tir e - d isappeared in to the d is tance, win ni ng th e hea t without reall y breaking a sweat. It was now full speed ahead . That night , Everts was calm and confident, w hile Gra nt was in knots. "W e "i;;&o-;aK':::o-.. b l e r, a bike "g u a ra n teed to crank off 90-plus quarter-miles and bring home the trophies for you," if you were the lucky pers o n to win Cycle News' N ew Subscri ption Contest. Photo of a tightly bu nched gro up of A riders from a Ven- tura Sc ramble s race w as featured on th e rover of Cycle News 30 years ago. Th e photo s ho wed John ny Isaacs tagging th e rear w heel of Clut ch Cargo' s w inning BSA.. . Skip Van Leeuwen passed Eddie Mulder to win a 15-lap IT main eve nt at Ascot Park.. . Harley- David so nmou nted Cal vin Ray b o rn emerged vic torious at the Indianapolis Race wa y Park Championship Road Race, topping Dick Hammer an d Mert Lawwill. Defending champ Bart Markel suffered another D F, p ro mpting him to say, "I don't know wha t I'm doi ng wrong, but I guess l ' m not pu t ti n g them togethe r rig ht a nymore." Gary Nixon won the 2.SOcc race... You could win a brand-new Norton ~ P-ll D ual- Purp os e Scra m- 20 YEARSAGO,•• AUGUST10,1977 e tested the n ew Suzuki RM2S0C mot ocr osser a nd feat ured it o n the co ve r, with Team Yama ha's Mike Bell at th e co nt ro ls. The headline of the RM test pretty much said it all: 'The best 250cc motocrosser you can buy n-; e:.::S: zuki RM250c:· ... Sha ring is:.:th~ u the cover wa s a photo o f Mike Bast aft er winning an International Motorcvd e Speedway Qualifying round in Sacram ento, Californ ia .... H ond a introdu ced th e CM18 5T Twin Star, a mo torcycle designed to "a ppe a l to no n-bikers a nd introduce them to the enjo ym ent of travel on two wheels ." ... Jay Springsteen topped the Ca mel Pro Series' DuQu oin Mil e a nd mov ed into the GN C series point s le a d . Garth Brow was th e rli7iilr..:.. w really wan t to win:' he told me over dinner. '1 really care abo ut that kid, and we know that if he wa nts to be known as a tru e World Champ ion, he has to take on all comers. That's whv we're here. All of Europe is behind hinl. In fact, the president of the AM has asked me to call him immediat ely after the race tomorrow . I think he will do very well and surprise a lot peo ple tomorr ow." Sunday morning dawned su nny and clear, and one could feel the interes t and intri gu e in the air . The World Champion was there to tak e on the Yankees, and everyone wa s well aware of it. After a qu ick qualify in g ra ce - which Everts wa lked off with - the excitemen t began to build . As the 125

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