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/142449
Danny LaPorte "There 's only one thing for me in the whole world and that's the World (MX) Title'." By Henny Ray Abrams Let's say you take a Iife time southern Californian who's admittedly not at the peak of , his racing career. Oh, sure he was 500cc National Champion back in "79, but he finished las t year' s ch ase in fourth" th en ninth in the T ra n s-US A Se~l·es . T h en you as k .h i rn t.o i skip town, leave behind his 26 frien ds, the beach, h is favorite Mexican foo ds, his wh ole life an d p lop him down in the Fl emish-speaking Belgian tow n of Tremelo. Then ask h im to go out to 12 different and strange -co untr ies, ~here they talk funny and have this fu nny money a nd ask you to empty your truck before coming into their country, and wi n races. Bu t not j ust races, these are the highest form of motocross racing in the world. The G ran d Prix. O h yeah, and move him down a class to the 250's and justfor fu n th row ~~m on a brand new bike, an OW Ya ma h a. What are th e odds that this guy is going to dep ort h imself admira bly? A million to one. Maybe. What are the odds that at the two-thirds point of th e season he'll be in the lead for the world title? Forget it. Right? Wrong. Just ask Danny LaPorte about beating the odds. He 's been racing for over half of his 25 years, an age deemed young to many, but considered an cient in the post-pubescent world of American motocross racing. After last season he was thinking of quitting altogether. The factor ies didn 't really want him even though he was the top scorer in America 's twin wins in the Trophee and Motocross des Nations. His close friend and confidant, Roger DeCoster, tried to get him a ride with Honda in Europe, but they said no. So they went to Yamaha, who must be laughing all the way to the winner's circle. After some early season problems, LaPorte has won the last four GP's in a row in France, England, Holland and R ussia, and now holds a six point lead over former World Champion and last year's 250cc runner-up, Belgian Georges Jobe. What has put LaPorte there is a rearrangement of priorities. Peace of mind. He came to Europe scared and homesick. His phone bills home were monstrous, as most Americans' are for their first few months away from home. But he didn't give up. He 'trained harder than he ever has. He accepted Europe the way that it accepted him, with open arms. And it has .paid off. The people love him and the press is overtly generous after a few years of the petulance of another American racing in Europe. When yo,", see him in the pits at a race he seems out of place. Classic surfer's good looks, a body that would' send Jack LaLanne back to Nautilus, and an ever-present genuine smile make him a favorite to the knowledgeable fans . He'll stand by his truck seemingly forever signing autographs and extending his hand to his growing legion of fans. "Hi, my name's Danny," which is something they surely already know, but he says it with such purity and innocence that you wonder how this guy could yell at slower riders on the track to get out of his way. We caught up to Danny on the' Grand Place in the Belgia n capital of Brussels where he was showing his mother, over for a visit, the amazing architecture that makes it a popular tourist attraction. We sat at an outdoor cafe admiring the scenery and rare good weather that had brought out the best in people. His answers were candid and honest, and al though the conversation was punctuated by his wandering eye, his objective was clear. He wants the world title. Nothing else. Danny, whatmotivated you to come over here to race? The world title is the most interesting thing for me. For 20 years there's been a MX World Champion and in Europe there are a lo t more people who know about motocross than there are in America. In Belgiu m alone there are almost 12 million people' and almost everyone you talk to knows the names of the motocross riders. Even the presentations after the race mean so m uch more. They have believable presentations. They have podiums and they have flowers and really nice things that make you apprecia te what you've done. And they give out real nice trophies that help you remember what you've done, not just trophies of soda cans.There seems to be a lot more tradition. Belgium has a tradition of ch ampions. DeCoster, Roberts, Everts, J obe, An d th ey do n't start that you n g. Why are there so many winners from one country that's about the size of Maryland? In America they start so young, wh ich is why we ha ve such strong yo ung ' riders, and then they're burned out when they're 25. But here they start when they're 18 or 19 on 125's and then by the time th ey're 25 or 26 they go into their prime and they go until they're 30 or 31. In The States there's so much more money for the young, which their fathers give them, and they have so much more availability. The fathers have these motor homes that are a mile long. They put so much into it. I think that one reason I like racing in Europe is that every track's a challenge. But you just don 't hold the ,th ro ttle wide open because some of the tracks are so fast and technical. There're big bumps, so -th a t you either go slow or you slowly learn your speed. For every track that I've raced on this year I've only raced on it one time. In 30 races there are 30 tracks that I've never been on before. It's kind of nice. Even here in Europe the Grand Prix aren't on the same track every year. They change those. So next year I may not ride o n the same tracks. How much of an ad van tage is th ere for the other riders wh o have been racing in Europe for awhile? T h ere is no advantage unless it 's the sa me track. I might have a little bit of an advantage at U nadilla as an America n over a European, bu t not for me over another American. What's the best ad vice that you'd gi ve to an American com ing over here? A lot of Americans aren't sure about co mi ng to live in another country, but it's the same. It's no different than livi ng in America. It's not so difficu lt for me to live here. When I first came here, for the first couple of months I had a dilemma. I'd wake up and say. 'What am I doing here?' I'd look around and say, 'Geez, where are all my friends?' But you get so involved in racing that I'm probably more into . motocross now than I'd ever been in the United States. I think that really helps my results. I was sidetracked in America. I had so many other things to do . I' d do so many other things with my friends besides motocross. Before, I thought to myself, 'Wow, I'm so into motocross,' but now I'm really involved. You have to be dedicated. Did th e p ress coverage h ere surprise you? That's also something that's different. The motorcycle is more a part of . sport here. They respect it more here and almost every country has a couple of magazines. Color photos. The French magazines, the Italian, the Dutch, Belgian, Flemish, Spanish. They have complete coverage of every race the next day . I wish I could read some of the things that 'they 're saying - I'm learning a little bit of French. You h aven't had any trouble with the la nguage barrier, have you? No, I always have fun trying to communicate with people in sign langu age or with the few words that I've .learned. It 's a mixture. How was Czechoslovak ia ? Was that odd? ' Czecho was really fun to me because I' d never seen anything lik e that. The firs t thin g tha t I noticed was the cars. Every car. T here were only abou t th ree different colors of cars a n d two di fferent bran ds. So it loo ks like everyone is dr iving the sa me car. It was like a cartoon or something. And th ey do n 't have the things that we have in the Wes tern co untries so at the races they come and they try to trade th ings. And one of the thi ngs that they h ave there is crystal , Bohem ian crystal. So I traded things like old goggles. gloves, o ld socks, stickers, and T -shirts. You