Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

View From the Fence fter 22 consecutive ye a rs of dust, mud, swea t and tears (both of joy and despair), if had all spu ttered to a hapless and a pa thetic end. The d at e wa s Jul y 31, 1994, and the last United Sta tes Grand Pri x of Mo to cr oss wa s gasping for air before a crowd of rou gh ly 5000. To thousands of American motocross enthusiasts, the term "USGP" conjures up glori ous images of 20,000 fans filling up a sun-bl eac hed valley in Carlsbad, California; or legions of fanatics - the legendary " H ill Peopl e" am ong th em screaming th eir lungs out in a vi vid green meadow called Una dilla ; or standing in the mud and hanging on the snow fence while cheering on the Yankees a t Mid-Ohio . But these sp ecia l "one-off" events that help ed chart Am erica's climb to the top of global motocross were now lon g go ne and th e USGP had become, du e to cha nge and apat hy, the race that time 7 and the fans - forgot. So, after ta kin g th e measure of Jeff Emig, Mike LaRocco, Steve Lamso n and a fad ing Jeff Stanton that afte rnoon in Budds Cree k, Ma ryla nd , a Fre nchma n named Yves Dem aria - p ron ounced YVez De-Maria by ma ny fans that d ay climb ed a top the podium and basked in the glow of being the last rider to win the USGP. Too bad no one cared. O n a sunny September af ternoon in 1981 in Lornrn el, Belgi u m, Team USA, throu gh the effo rts of Johnny O' Mara, Donnie Hansen, Chuck Sun and Danny Laf' orte, won the Troph ee des Na tions ' (to d ay call ed th e Mot oc r o ss d es Nations). And from that very point forward, American mot ocross kept right on gaining vel oci ty, to the point th at no other na tion - or co n tinen t - on ea rt h could mat ch th e ir spe ed , s ty le a nd b ravado . And what re sulted w as the thawing of the "Am erica vs. Europe" ,motocross cold war . Am erica wa s on top inow and no one could tou ch them. The :end result? The USGP, the annual "us vs, i them" conflict, didn' t really mean much ' " nym ore, and the flag wa ving patrio~tism, the factory involvement and enthu" iasm, and worst of a ll, th e presti ge of w inning had faded like a bad Earl Scheib 2int job. First the 125cc USGP, despite a , noble effort put in by promoter Dave Coombs, was removed from the schedu '~e following th e 1987 even t at Steel C ty. And as a resul t of politics and escalating costs , the Roger DeCos ter-promoted -SO cc USGP at Glen He len died after O the-J 992 race, and the afo rementioned A Budds Creek race in 1994 erased the term "USGP" from American motocross vernacular for good . Fort unately, the s to ry d oe sn 't en d the re . Last year, after a fiv e- y e ar absence, original Budds Creek promoter Jo nathan Beasley was granted an FlM sanction to host the 250cc Uni ted States Grand Prix on September 12, 1999, slat ed to run at the same ve nue. Bea sley , through an undyin g love for Grand Prix motocross, h as once again decided to te m pt fate and ho ld the race th a t no doub t provided h im with a financial ass-w hipping back in 1994. Earlier this summer, Beas ley 's new and im proved .USGP wa s bei ng touted as the race of the millennium. Defend ing World Champion Sebas tien Tor telli, now in Am eri ca, wa s sla ted to ride as was former three-time World Champ G reg Albert yn . Moreover, Amer ica n 'exp atriate Ryan Hugh es wou ld be on hand to race before his countryme n, and Mickael Pich on , w ho left America las t June after an "in tern ational incid ent " at Mount Morris, would be return in g to these sh or es wit h a new Suzu ki a nd a big chip on his shoulder. Also, Jer em y McGrath was rumor ed to be in terested in running the eve n t, as we re 125cc sensati on Ricky Carm ichae l and form er GP fro n t- ru nner Ta llo n Vo h la n d . In a bizarre ye t fo rtui to us way, th e s ta rs were beginni ng to line up - literally and figu ratively - on the "second coming" of the once great race. But then fate s tep pe d in and cuffed Jonathan Beasley upsid e the head . . Tortelli -go t hurt, McGrath lost interest, and the American factory team s, init ially e n t h us ias tic a bo u t th e eve n t, began to cool to the ide a of sendi ng their b ikes a nd equ ipment to Ma ryl and . However, a nd fortun at e ly, Jonathan Beasley forged on ahead with his vision . So wha t wou ld possess a man to once again p ut h is neck o n th e ch o p p ing block and stage an in ternational eve nt tha t, if he were lu cky, would allow him to make a small profit? "The Motocross des Nations," says Bea sl ey from hi s office at Budd s Cre ek. " I w ant the Mo tocross des Nations at Budds Creek , an d the only way of getting it is by staging Grand Pri x events. The race means so mu ch to me that I'm wi lling to do the USGP to ge t it." To that end, Beasley has bee n scra mbling all summer to put all the pieces in place to ensure the success of this yea r's running of the USGP. "I have to buy 40 plane tickets - one for each rid er in the top 20 and one for each rider's mechanic. I buy all the tickets, then each rider has to have their bike and equipment at one of four airports in Europe: Fra nkfurt, Germa ny; London Heathrow ; Paris; and one other. All 'of the equipment is then flown to JFK, where it will clear customs in one day. From there it is all loaded into one massiv e tractor trailer and dri ven to Budd s Creek." The 1999 FIM 250cc World Champion ship Series has turned into a thriller. Ge rma n Pit Beirer ho lds a three-poin t advantage over Frenchman Fredric Bolley. And with on ly two rounds to be ru n (Gaild orf, Germany, and Budds Creek) all indications point to a thrilling climax in Maryland. How ever, Beasley is wor ried . With th e excep tio n o f th e Roger DeCoster-m anaged American Suzuki factory effort, non e of the other U.S. factory team s will be pr esent on September 12. " I' jn up s et ," a d mi ts Beas ley . " I expected more su ppo rt. In fact , '1 even offere d m a jor tit le s po nso rs h ips in excha nge for rid er sup port. "My guess is th at th e guys a re a ll tired . It's been a very long yea r of racing here - th e s u pe rc ross se ries we n t 16 ' ro un ds with one break!" To help put his race in a position to succeed, Beasley eve n lobbied the FIM and Actio n Grou p (ow ners of the promotion al rig hts of the 250cc G rand Prix circu it) ha rd for a season-end ing date. Rea li z in g th at America , the wo r ld 's number-on e mo to rcycle market , wa s crucia l to creating a true World Championship, the two enti ties gran ted him his desired d ate. "I chose this d ate becau se I kn ew the Nationals would be over and was hopin g all the Am eri cans w ould co me to ra ce it. I had to have th e Am ericans because the fa ns her e d on 't reall y car e about Pit Beirer . They want McGrath to sho w up and kick the crap ou t of the Europeans . With McGrath, th is ra ce becomes a tan gibl e product. It' s amazing how many tickets that guy can sell. Th e hard -cores w ou ld come here wit h or without him, but to the gu ys on the f ence, h a vin g McGra th her e wo u ld bring them out in droves." But truth be told, McGrat h was not the first car d to fall from Jonathan's deck. The only "name" European coming in the first place was Stefan Everts, but after breaking his leg back in February, he's not a contender. Then the man to who m Everts lost the championship last year, Tortelli, br oke his wrist. He mig ht or might no t be there. Doug Henry wasn't going to be the re to begin with, beca use 'he rides a YZ400. Ric ky Carmichael failed to clinch his 125cc title early, which meant no seat time on a 250, so he waived the event. And then McGr ath's sho rt-lived comeback at Washougal gave Jonathan's race a glim me r of hope that he 'd show up at 'Budds Creek, but when he passed on Millvill e (a nd th e rest of the Na tionals), it affected Jonathan's race more than anyone's . Roger DeCoster, wh o promoted the 500cc USGP from 1991 thro ugh 1992, is also left lamen ting the fact that America n factory involvem ent at Budds Creek will be minimal. "I' m disappointed that not everyone w ill be there," he admits. 'The U.S. factories s ho u ld send their riders to thi s one race. I kn ow the season is long and hard , but some time people need to look past their own interes ts - they need to look mor e lon g-term ." Motocross and supercross is currently boo ming in America. Large A.c. Nielsen TV numbers, sold-out stadi ums, un precedented mainstream interest, and an infusion of new corpora te spo nsorship money has created an atmosphere of American superiority. To a lar ge extent, that mindset is not completely un deserved. However, when it comes time to roll the bikes behind the starting gate to see just who's best, the globetrotting Gra nd Prix riders of Europe ma y now have our number. (Losing four of the five last Motocross des Na tions helps illu strate this theo ry). To that en d , crea ting a situa tion where the wo rld's best mo tocross riders - from two dramatically different world s - wage war against one anoth er for global bra ggin g right s is an intoxicating thoug ht. Sure , a number of American fans may not know mu ch abo u t Pit Beir er, Frederic Belley, Mick ae l Maschi o or four-t im e World Champion Stefan Everts, but doesn't the fact that the entire World Championship ci rcu it - th e Formula One of off-roa d motorcycle racing - is coming to America to rna tch s kills a n d speed with ou r "N ASCAR" gu ys - th e guys we see on ESPN every week - create an intriguing proposition ? Sure, going to an AMA Supercross or Nati onal is an excit ing experience, but a true international race that brings toge ther the wo rld' s best, on one track, on one da y, is something truly mesm erizin g . And for th a t, Jonathan Beasley is to be commended. CN Looking Back 30 YEAR SAGO... SEPTEMBER 9, 1969 20 YEARSAGO... SEPTEMBE 12, 1979 R 10 Y EARSAGO... AUGUST 30, 1 989 im Hart (Mon) was pictu re d on the cover as he jumped ou t of a m ud hole at the very firs t pro fessio na l motocross to be held at the fabled Ascot Park in Ga rdena , Ca lifornia. Wit h th e track laid ou t on a course through the infiel d of th e legendary half mile d ir t track, the event drew a huge crowd of spectators and en tra nts . Racing siblings Bill Sil verthorn (Hus) and Steven Silverthorn (Pen) won th e 250cc Expert and 125cc Junior classes, respectively... Jim Rice (BSA) came from beh ind to pas~ Chuck Palmgren (Tri) and Dallas Baker during th e professional d irt trac k action at the San Jose Half Mile. Don Castro (Tri) wo n the Amateur class, an d Robert Morgan (Bul) won the N ovice class ... Mike Bast pulled off an upset victory in the California Sta te Speedway Champion ships, ou t- pointing Larry Heinse lman and Sonny Nutter in the event, w hich was hel d a t th e Los Angeles Sports Arena ... Our tw o-page ph ot o feature of the SCT A Bonneville Speed Trials in Uta h fea tured a bevy of exotic mach inery, incl uding Robert Geo rge's twice-motored Harl ey Panhead . t u rg i s was ha p pen i ng , a s' eviden ced by ou r cove r, but th ere was a whol e lot more tha n th e Black Hills Rally in thi s issu e #34 ... M ike Bell (Ya m ) won the final AMA 500 cc National MX of the year at St. Pe tersburg, Florida, but it wasn't enough to earn him the championship, a s Dann y LaPorte (Su z ) finished se cond overall with 1-5 scores to edge Bell for the titl e by a scant three poin ts. Meanwhile , LaPorte 's factory Su zuki teammate, Mark Barnett, won the 125cc National held on th e sa me d ay ... Di rt track rookie sensation Sc ott Parker (H-D) cla imed his seco nd win of th e y ea r - ano ther mile - a t the In d ian a State Fa irgrounds . Hank Scott (H-D) and Ja y Springsteen (H-OJ joi ne d Pa rker on th e podiu m, wi th second- a nd third- p lace finishes , respectively ... There was a hu ge story on page 20, ou tli ning the pl ans of several of the World GP roa d racers to b reak away fr om th e FIM and sta rt th e ir ow n series, called th e World Seri es of Motorcycl e Racing. d die Law son (Ha n) took the win and the series poin ts lead at the Swed-i sh 500cc GP at Anderstorp, while title rival Wayne Rainey cra shed wit h littl e more than two laps to go, thus hurtin g his chances of taking the title aw ay from Lawson. Sito Pons won h is seventh 250cc GP race of the seaso n, and a fellow by the na me of Alex Criville (Cob ) won th e 125cc GP. .. Randy Hawkins (Su z) bagged hi s fourth w in of the year at the Speedsville National Enduro in Ith aca, New York ... Across the pond, Da ve Thorpe (Ho n) locked u p his third 500cc World Champion sh ip MXtitle - the sixth in a row for Honda - by winni ng the Luxe mbourg Grand Pri x. American Bill y Liles (Kaw) wen t 3-7 fo r th ir d overall... Jeff Ward (Kaw) won the 500cc N ational class, w h ile Damon Bradshaw (Yam) wo n the 125cc National clas s a t the combined of the AMA Naiional Championshi p MX Series a t Spring C reek Mo tocross Pa rk in Millville, eN Min nesota . T S E en en en ~ . .. E Q. (/) 83

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