Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

INTERVIEW As the 51 st annual running of the prestigious Motocross des' Nations approaches, Team USA leader , Jeff Emig reflects on his six-y ear tour of duty. "Another goal after .winning the National Championship is the Motocross des Nations, " declared Jeff Emig shortly after winning his eighth conserutive AMA250cc National moto at Washougal, Washington. "I know I'm going to have to beat the four-time World "Champion (Stefan Everts of Belgium) this year. Everything I'm doing here in' America is not only to win I'0\ championships, but 0\ ,..... . to begin 1'-' ,..... .... preparations for III ..0 E racing the III 0.. III Motocross des Nations. " 18 ~ (f) Jeff Emig on the Motocross des Nations ment and desire required to travel thou sands of mi les in order to take on th e wor ld's best motocross racers - we cornered jeff in his heat-scorched stomp ing grounds of Riverside, California. Happy.and anima ted after claiming h is second co ns ec u ti v e AMA 250cc National Championship a few days earlier, Emig had plenty to say abou t his now annual post-season foray into hostile overseas territory. When j e ff Emig goes to do n h is brig ht blue helm et - comp lete wit h classic American white skunk stripes - in Ni srnes, Belgium, on Septem ber 14, 1997, and lead s intrepid teammates john Dowd and Steve Lamson out onto the bat tlefield, you can be sure that we have the best man on the job. jeff Emig is th e Mo tocross d es ' Nations. Jeff Emig (center) celeb rates the Amer ican Motocross des Nation s win last year in Spain with team manager Roger DeCoster (left). Jeremy McG rath (hidden) and Steve Lamso n (right). after two years of close second-plac e finishes. By Eric Johnson rom this s tatement alo ne, it is qui te obvious tha t the Motocross des Na tions means a lot to 1997 AMA Su p erc ross a n d 250cc N at io na l C ha m p io n j eff Emi g . Fir st drafted into service in 1992 - primarily due to a nu mber of established sta rs at the time declining invitations to rid e for the American mo tocross cause - Emig has been a member of Team USA for the last six years. " While Em ig - a former min icycle superstar from Ind ependence, Misso uri . has experienced dramatic emotional peaks and valleys throughout his sixyear tenure of fighting off the advances of Europe's best motocross riders, his enthusiasm and dedication to the effortand, more importantly, his country - has never wavered. Upon being approached by the AMA to represent both the sanctioni ng body and the American na tion, he' s a lways said "yes" a nd, unlike a num ber of ot her riders in recent years , has neve r d od ged the as signment by staling that he was feeling burned out or o ff h is ga me - nor di d he: co mplai n abo u t w ho h is tea mmates w ou ld be; bitch in regard to w hat bike he had to r ide: wa nt to g iv e so meone else a cha nce; or d emand pa yme n t to ri de. Instead, year in and year out, Emig gradously accepted his assignment to represen t th e Uni ted Sta tes of America even throughou t a pressu re-filled era in w hich ev~ry single motocrossing na tion o n earth wa s g u n ni ng for the Red, White and Blue. This year marks the 51st runn ing of the Wo rld Tea m Cha m pio ns hip of Mot oc ross, an d no pres ent-da y rid er personifies the spirit a nd gra ndeu r of the great-gathering-of-th e-tribes event mo re than Emig. In. fact, did you know tha t Emig - th rou gh appeara nces that range from the axle-deep sand of Manjimup, Australia, to the omin ous, coal dusted hills of Sverepec, Slovakia, to the ju m p-filled ha ng -ti me circui t in [erez, Spain - is the only rider in the history of the Motocross des Na tions to win a class overall in th e 125cc, 250cc a nd 500c c div isio ns? With that in m ind and to gi ve eve ryo ne an idea o f the com mit> Th e first ti me you rode for Team USA was in Australia in 1992. There wa s a lot of controversy tha t year due to the fact th at all th e b ig American names didn't want to be a p art of the team. However, upon being inv ite d to ride in the 125cc divisi on , yo u were honored and went d o wn there and smoked eve ryo ne. Wha t do y o u remember about that day? Tha t was the year tha t (Damo n) Brad shaw and (je ff) Stanton d id n' t want to go, so Mike Lakocco an d myself were asked to ride by the AMA. At that lime, bo th Mike and I we re hot an d in a big battl e fo r th e AMA 125cc Na tio na l Cha m p ions hip . (N o te: Em ig w ould clai m the ti tl e at th e last ra ce o f t he series at Budd s Creek , Ma ry lan d .) The A MA chose Mike to rid e th e 250 because o f his strong supercross experience. We did n' t have a 500cc gu y, so the AMA chose a European-ba sed Ame rica n Gra nd Prix ride r na med Billy Liles to ride tha t bike. Were you nervous about being a rookie member of Team USA and upholding the win streak? . Yea h, I was nervous! I never thou ght I would ge t the cha nce to go. The first time on the team was very special to me, you know, to be carrying the flag and all tha t. We go t a lot of a ttention in Australia for being the B team, because they thou ght we we re low -level ri ders. But w e w ent there and won. It was a great feeling. Did you look up to the race as a kid? I did, bu t I d id n' t know a lot about it. In fac t, wh en I rode on the team for the first time, I wasn' t tha t far away from the mi n i classes . I d o re m ember the dothes bei ng very cool - all red , white and blue... And the blue helmets wi th" white stri pes... Yeah, I also thou gh the h elmets wer e very cool. You came back in 1993 and rode for the team in Schwanenstadt, Austria, whe re yo u g uys pu lled off th e w in by on e po int. You rode very well that aftern oon and k ep t the team i n it with strong 2-1 moto scores. I got to wa tc h the third m ota , a nd I remember standin g there and watching ' Mi ke Kiedro wski (ridi n g th e bi g Kawasaki 500) having to ride from way j

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