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/128631
Motocross d es Nations MCA M oto c l"'o s s C ir-o t.rrc J ducer of motocross talent, it seemed, had reached its ignoble expiratio n. But not so quick with that death warrant , Mr. Reap er . In th e past few weeks, th ree young men from the Land of the Free have proven that not only had the news of their pass ing been greatly exa ggerated, but that fo r now , anyway, the U.S. m ust still be consid e red n umb er one in the world of motocross . One week afte r Ricky Carmichael and Travis Pastrana were officially declared National Motocross Champions by the AMA, fellow yank Ryan Hugh es j o ined them in a gutsy underdog performance at th e Olym pics of Motocross , which they won in convincing fashio n on the home turf of th e fav ored team from Fra nce . " In a w ay, it was g o o d t o be a n u nde r do g," Tea m U S A M an a g e r Ro g e r D eC o st e r said . " O n p a p er , Fran c e had two go od t eams for the race . In the U.S., support has been on the down si de ... l t f eel s rea ll y good, B y CH RIS J O N NUM PH OTO S BY S TE VE B RUHN ST. JEAN D'ANGELY, FRANCE, SEPT. 10 hear t h e scuttle butt not l o ng U ago this very season, you'd think the Grim Rea p er ha d alrea dy done h is d uty . Bot h of our outdoor titles (one of w hic h was alr eady being defended by a So uth A fri can ) we re in serious jeopardy of being t ak en by a Frenchm an , a nd one of their fellow coun t ryman h a d eve n shown the audacity to challenge the consum m a t e domina nce of our eternal Supercross ki ng. To m ak e matters worse , the St ar s and Stripes had also t ak en a few hi ts on the officia l internati on al front, with Wo rld Mot ocross Ch ampi o n sh ip and Mo toc.ro ss d es N ati on s titl e s h a v in g e l u ded t he gr asp of Am er icans since 19 94 and 199 6 , resp ectivel y . The Un it ed Sta tes ' long -held sta tus as th e unquest ionable prem iere p ro - 170 12 S EPTEM BER 20, 2000' c ue • e neVIl' s and I'm reall y' proud of th e riders and m e chani cs on eac h t ea m . They wo rked hard for th is race. It 's a tough race , believe me . I think it's th e b iggest outdoor race of the year , because you get the best riders in each class together , and it' s the only time in the year that we see that. It's the best in the world. " The w in came a bo ut thanks to a number of things , not the least among them outright moto w ins by PAMO Honda 's Hughes and Chevy Tru cks /Kawasak i's Carm ichae l, a nd a heroic c o m e- fro m- beh in d ride by MXdN rookie Pastrana of Team Suzu ki. But as Hughes hi m self pointed out befo re th e eve nt on the Cy cle News webs it e , " T h e r e' s a lo t o f lu ck invol ve d, too." T ha t lu ck has co nsis t ently evaded o ur tea m fo r th e past few yea rs , but on the beautifull y pr epared M CA Motocr o ss Circuit in St . J ean d ' Angel y , the cards fina lly fell right fo r T eam Ch ev y T ru c k s USA, Underdogs? Wh at underdogs? Team USA - Ricky Cannichael (ce nt e r!, Ryan Hughes (cent e r rig ht) , Travis Pastrana (behind Cannichael) and team manager Roger DeCoster (center left) - celebrates Its 15 th MX des Na t ions w in . an d misfortune in the su premely si mple form of a rock - q uick ly , fa tal ly and literally struck the powerho use French . In the first few laps of the first moto, 2 50cc World MX Champion Frederic Boll ey had his nose broken by a sto ne thrown from the rea r ti re of another bike, and with bl oo d gus hi ng fro m his face , the PAMO Hond a rider's day was effectively fi nished . T h is helped the U .S. t o a lo w 19 -p o in t t eam score, n ea rl y h alf th e t ot a l of defendin g cham pion and runner -up Italy. MOTO 1 [1 25/0PENJ The drama sta rted early. wi th both of the favored tea ms st ruck by m isfo rt une in th e opening la ps of the fi rst