Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

, ---=:::::::::;~::::;::J~--~~~~~~~---~L- SA Molocross des- ·o-s-Dominance Team-u----- Nali- n ------ --'-_ YUJ: 1981 __~~~~~=". 1981 1982 Emlg rolls across the fin ish li ne in Slovakia in '95, searching f or the finish ing position of Belgian Joel Smets . Smets was there and the Ame rican team lost to the Belgians by one point. 1982 1983 1983 1984 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 Note L· Denotes Trophea des N <'I!lons event back in the field and get into position to win the race for us. I remember the tra ck there was jus t awesome! It was made up of this bitchin' dir t and had a bunch of tricky off-cam ber turns in it. In the first m o t o , I ca m e fr o m b eh in d a nd ju s t missed passing one of the Italians at the fin ish line for th e moto win. I then went ou t and won the second mo to, eas ily. Jeremy McGrath. who rode the 250 in Austria, stru ggled a bi t that afternoon , didn't he? Yea h, he st ruggled a little bit , bu t he too k a hard -earned fou rth in mota one. Remember, there we re a nu mber of very good Europea ns racing the 250s th a t day. He was still wo r ki ng on his o u tdoor motocross skills back then. Here's a tough question: For six years, you have been America's good sold ier. You sh ow up ea ch and eve ry yea r, a n d ri de with all of yo ur heart an d sou l. However, Jeremy McGrath ha s see ming l y accepted an in v itation to b e a part of th e team wh enever h e felt like it. What's your take on that, Jeff? (Pa use) It' s his choice . When Jeremy feels ready to ta ke on a ch alle nge, he does it awesomely . At th e Motocross des Natio ns, you have to be th e right man for the job. You have to be read y to go over there a nd kick ass . Las t year, when Jere my made the choice to go ra ce in Spain , he was ready and just killed everyone . In fact, I think it wa s o ne of the bes t races I've ever see n him rid e. It jus t has to be his cho ice. O k ay, the downs ide of th is s to ry: In 1994, Team USA's M ike Kiedrowski, M ike LaRocco and Jeff Emig sh ow up in Sw itzerland and, a fter a mind-boggling 13-year winning streak, finally got beat. Was that a bi tte r pill to swallow? You rod e w ell that day, b ut got b eat by English m an Pa ul M alin, w ho obv ious ly had the afternoon of h is life. Yeah, it was like, Owhoooaa... we lost it. I was p retty bum med. I g uess you 're goi ng to w in so me a nd lose so m e . Eve rybody rode real we ll and put in a good e ffor t. H o w e ve r, when I think about it, I didn't do my best. I lost both mo tos to Malin. At the des Nations, you have to w in at least one of your motos. Paul and the entire English tea m were extremely fast tha t day. I was confident that I rode well in the first moto; I actua lly carne from pr etty far back and started to reel him in at the end . In th e seco nd mota , he beat me. However, I wa s st ill pretty confide nt wi th my 2-2 motos, but it jus t didn't w ork ou t at the end . The next year in Slovakia, you rod e the 250 for the United States for the first ti me and wo n the class overall, but you guys lost a close o ne to Belgium by one poi nt. Were you frust rat ed following th e race? I was ha ppy with my rides, and everybody gave it their bes t. I tho ught Steve La mso n would win on the 125; but Sebastien Tortell i (of Fran ce) a nd Stefan Everts were so fast on the track tha t da y. How eve r, Steve came back last year and wo n in Spain. It wa s nice to see him d o so well there. What did you think of S lovakia? I remember hearing from a number of people that it was a very bizarre and, at times, spooky - nation. (After a few moments of thought) Slova kia is a ve ry non -colorful country. We flew into Austria, which is a very green and bea utiful co u n tr y, a nd w e th en d rove across the bo rder int o Slovakia. Ev ery th ing then became very bland . There were no flowers, and it seem ed liked everything was co lored brown. When we came upon cities, you cou ld tell that we were in a former Eastern Bloc co untry because there we re these hu ge high -rise apartment buildings that I think all of the people lived in . It was very strange. I remember on e time, a bunc h of us ate pizza and drank Cokes for a total of three dollars. Ma n, you know something had to be wrong with their currency system and economy. It was all so different from the United States. Being in Europe is tough, and I think some of the European teams have a big ad va ntage by having all of their stu ff there. I know if I could, I'd have our Kawasaki semi-truck there, full of food. I'd have a big feast there (laughter). In August of 1996, Team USA was ch osen for the event in Jerez , Spain. However, a n d s o mew h a t amazingl y, yo u were passed over in favor of McG rath. After be ing th e good, dedicated soldier f o r s o man y . y e ar s, d id y o u fee l betrayed? Yeah , it ki nd of bu m m ed m e out . I a lwa ys th ought th at I had done w ell rep resenting the AMA and this cou ntry at the Mot ocross des Na tions. The AMA decided to pick McGrath to ride the 250 and Ryan Hug hes to ride the 500. Rhino rode a 500 well th e year before in Slovakia, and wa s riding well at the time they chos e him , but I like to think I was rid - . ing better. I should have been chosen rig ht from the beginning . After Ryan g u t hurt a t the end of the yea r, th ey chose m e. The 500 wa s n 't m y fi rst choice, but I rod e it anyway - and won th e class. After the rac e, Dave Tho rpe gave me a hard time for getting beat by tw o 125cc riders. (No te: In 1986, at the Mot ocross d es Na tio ns in Maggiora , Italy, Da ve Thorpe, who rod e the 500cc b ik e as tea m ca ptai n of the Englis h effort , was d efeated sound ly by Johnny O' Ma ra and hi s pote nt works Hond a 125. As a result, Thorpe to o k a m ajor beating in the world motocross pr ess particularly in Ame rica . To Emig's credit, Ma ggiora wa s much, much more of ahorsepowe r-ori en ted track th an th e > fc»- 2SOCl:: blk<'!s (198 1. 1984) Note II: Prom 1985 forw ard, the Mo tocross dee Natlons became a three ,man loom cvetll. Each Ic am eenda o ne 125. one 250 and one 500cc rider. Each U .S : teem Is listed In thet di!lplac emf'fl l order . Note Ill: From 1997 forward, eecn loo m's thIrd nde r cen race any bike of !heir choice , Note IV: Bold years indlCflle a loss. All ot hers wwe WillS tight -and -twi sty , cut-and-thrust, ju mpfilled Jerez circu it. Thorpe, obviously, is still trying to get over his 1986 nightmare.) Ho we ver, it was a grea t feeling to win it back. Especially w he n I took the number-one plate off of Joel Smets' bike (the 500cc rider fro m Tea m Belgium). From being on the team that loses, yo u rea lly wa nt the redemp tion. It was a very happy day for me . Is it a positive development that Roger DeCoster ha s come back in recent years to manage th e team? Yeah, it is. He knows th e political side of the race very well. He's rea l fai r with every th ing . Even tho ug h h is n ative country is Belgium, and he likes to see them do we ll, he is very good for Team USA. To th is d ay, do yo u think the teamselection process is a bureaucratic train wreck ? I think the .tea m s ho u ld n ' t be picked until later in the outdoor seaso n - like at Was ho ugal. You kn ow , the AMA could . say: "These are our guys. Yes, you' re on the team ." Boom. It's done. I mean, we just arr anged our flights to Belgiu m this week. You ju s t have to get th e bikes ready. That's the only element that takes a lot of p reparation . . What about the con tro ver s y of Ricky Carmichael not be in g included on the team in Belg iurn ? Of cou rse, I th ink RC. would be a grea t choice, and he d efini tely has th e speed. The question is his a ge an d m atu r it y level. But he could go over there and do well and throw tha t rig ht back at us. I think R.C, Windham and Lamson could all be great choices; I'm fine with lamson - he knows wha t's up. He will get his act togeth er and do fine. As a kid , who were your heroes of all th e great Am erican des Nations teams? I remember Johnny O' Mara being th e firs t rider to beat a ll of the 500cc guys on a 125 in Italy. (No te: O'Ma ra d efeated every 500cc rider - wi th the exception of his 500cc teammate David Bailey - at the 1986 Mo tocross des Na tions in Magg ior a.) You' ve always been very vocal about y o u r respect and s upport of the Motocross des Nations event. Why? You look back at all of th ose g reat pictu res and a ll of the grea t history, and yo u know it is a very im portant event. (Paus Ti t all goes back to the fact that I love to see th e American fans and specta tors ove r there, especially the men and women fro m the military. In my eyes, I'm neve r goi ng to be in the military or put my life on the line for this country . I don't like gu ns and I'm certainly not a very good fight er, but I think I can ride a motorcycle pretty well. I ge t a pa triotic feeling for th is country when I race at the Mo tocross des Natio ns, and that 's how I'contrib ute. When I'm in Europe, I realize that back home in Ame rica I can go "to Denny 'S and eat at 4 in the m orn ing, or tha t I can go out and eat a hamburger w henever I want it. You can do anything yo u wa nt in the United States, a nd you do n' t need a pass port to go anywher e. In Europe, you have all these bo r d ers a nd passport problem s . We have it all he re. Is it the most importan t race i n the wo rld? . No, i t's no t the single most import an t race. The races w here yo u are in a po ints battle a nd on th e bord er line of wra pping up a N ational Championship are more important. From th e eve n t's conception sh or tly foll ow ing Wo rld Wa r II , the grea test riders in the hi story o f motoc ro ss s u ch as D eCcs ter, Rob ert, Carlq vi s t, Mikkola, Smith, M o isseev, Ward, Q'Mara and Sta nto n · h ave b een an indelible p art of the h allowed h istory and h eritage of th e M o to cr oss de s Nations. Long after you retire, Jeff Emig will certainly be a bi g part of the event's fo lk lore. Is tha t a big stoke for yo u? Yea h - no t ne cessarily for the records, bu t for each rac e that I've do ne. This is the clos es t I get to racing agains t all of · the fa s test g u ys in the wo rld . A fte r bei ng there five o r six tim es , it's very g r a tif yi n g , bec au se I k n ow I have alwa ys given it my best. You know, you alwa ys a sk yo u rs elf, "Were m y d ecisio ns right? Did I lay it all on the line?" And wh enever I look a t wha t I've do ne with the Motocross des Nations, I think, "Yes ." Are yo u looking fo rw ard to the 1997 M otocross des Na tions in Ni smes, Belgiu m? Outside of th e fact that I' m raci ng in Belgiu m, yes. I don't wa nt to ge t shot by a crazy Belgian because of what Jeff Stanton did to one of th eir guys a few years ago a t t he des Nati ons in Belg iu m (laughter). I d on't wa nt rocks th rown at m e, or a red laser-dot pointed o n m y forehead on th e pod ium. (No te: Emig is refer ring to th e 1990 M o toc ross des Na tio ns he ld in Vimmerby, Sweden n ot Belg iu m , as Jeff men tio ns here where Jeff Stanton, who had a terrible start in th e second mo ta , it;ladvertently knoc ked down Belgian 500cc rider Dirk Guekens while ra cin g th ro ug h to th e front of the pack) . Are you r eady to cross swords with 250cc World Champion Stefan Everts ? He's going real good , but I want him to have a good day in Belgium so he has absolutely no excuses wh en I beat him. c, 19

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