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/128613
David'Bailey, Part II David Bailey focuses on the task at hand at the 1986 Motocross des Nations. That year's race has since attained fo lklore status. was complete. I re me m be r th ink ing , 'A hhh , life is good .' " The foll ow ing sea son would prove to be the " off' ye ar of David Bai ley's ra ci n g car ee r. In th e 5 0 0 cc clas s , lo n gtim e rival Broc Glov er g ot th e better of him to c l a im th e Na ti ona l Championship , w inning fiv e round s to Bailey 's four, and in Supercross , th e '8 3 c ha m p ne ve r rea ll y c aug ht fire , wi nning on ly the Lo s An g eles ro u nd in m id-May. " Go i n g int o 1985 , I p u l l e d an Emig ," ad mits Ba iley , ref err ing to J eff Em ig 's wo efu l p os t - c h a m pi o n sh i p se aso n . " I h ad w on ev e ry th ing a nd di dn 't wo rk as hard as I sh ould have during the off-se aso n. It was to be m y worst ye ar ev er. Hav in g go ne thro ugh it , I c an relate to J effs problems now . It was as if eve ryone had an ans we r for me and I wou ld be like, 'I'll fig ure it out m ys elf .' T hen , during the second half I got it all straightened ou t and wo n t he 500cc USGP at Carls b ad . Then I f in ished off t he yea r at the M ot o cro ss des Na ti o ns [ in Ga il dorf, Ge rma ny]. I got spa nked in the 500 c c class, but I help ed the t eam w in and that fe lt good . However , aft er all th e proble ms , it was a g ratifying year for m e bec ause I had tr ouble and wo rke d m y wa y t hrough it. I d id n 't win an y t it l es , b u t I had a c h i e v ed something ." PO WER TR IO The Peaks and Valleys of a Motocross Icon self fro m a wide-eyed fa ct ory roo k ie t o t h e mo st -feared r ider o n t he motocross/Supercross ci rcuit. He was the 500c c National Ch amp ion , a nd he was o n the to p te am in th e indus try . S u c c ess breed s succe ss, and ev en Bailey's personal life wa s going well. " I m et Gin a Damone [now hi s wife] at th e Seattle Superc ro ss th at year," says Ba il ey . " Fro m th ere I talked to her on th e phone a few t im es, and wh en I arr ived home fr om th e Pari s 18 MAV17 ,2000' c n B y E RIC J O HNSO N I n 1984, David Ba iley was on top of the world , ha ving transformed him - ue I e e .... 50 Superc r o ss tha t Ma rch , [B a il ey and t e amm a t e /fr i end J ohnn y O 'M a r a eac h wo n a night at th e inaugural Bercy SX] , I had to go to the Hou ston Supercross. Gina , whose siste r lived th ere, wa s at th e rac e , and w e got tog eth er for th e very fir st time. From . th er e , I c a ug ht fire and won seve n rac es in a row . I was w inning, I was fri end s wi t h J o hnn y O 'M ara , Gin a m o ved in w ith m e b ack in Vi rg in i a a nd ev ery sin g le as pect o f m y li fe Duri ng the winte r of '851'86, Da ve Arnold an d Roger DeCoster , wa nti ng m o re c ompetiti o n and diversity with in th e team , went ou t and sig ned struggli n g Yama ha rider Rick J o h n so n . Kn o wn fo r h is ag g ressi ve a pproach and in c redi bly strong will to wi n , Johnso n was ex pec ted to be the fina l ele ment req ui red to p lace the team by th en co nsidere d t o be t h e most pow erfu l m ot ocr oss effo r t o n the p lan et - in dynasty m od e. " I we nt into 1986 saying, 'I want t o win eve ry t hi n g ,' " clai m s Bailey . " T h en Ho n d a goes and signs Rick Johnson , so now I had to beat h im . J oh nn y 0 ' and I rode c ircles aro und him in pre-season pract ic e, but R.J.. wa nted to be with us and would drive all the way up to Simi Va lley fro m San Diego j us t to ri d e and t rain . It was all going well until right before t he fi r st race at Anaheim , wh en he completely turned on us . That hap pen ed becau se of Brian Lunniss