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/1485886
A s I was scrambling up and down the hills of RedBud MX during practice for this year's Motocross of Nations, I looked up and saw a tall figure carrying a ton of photo gear and looking equally as sacked as I was. Then it hit me. I'll be damned if that isn't David De- whurst! I knew Dewhurst from my early years as a racing photographer. He was one of the shooters I looked up to, always admiring his fabulous images in the glossy mags of the 1980s. I also knew that Dewhurst was mainly gone from motorcycling racing by the '90s, off working in the more lucrative world of automotive PR photography. So, seeing him all these years later at a motocross race was a big surprise. "David," I shouted, trying to be heard over the racing bikes. Dewhurst looked over and a big grin came across his face. "Larry my friend. Look at us, a couple old gimps out here play- ing in the dirt," he shot back. Later that day, during lunch break, we had a moment to catch up. I was eager to learn what brought him back to a motocross event like this after all these years. It turns out Dewhurst was com- ing back to his first love of motocross and enjoy- ing every minute of it. He also had a massive coffee table book project about to debut that focused on what many consider today as the golden era of motocross. Dewhurst grew up in England and was a motorcycle enthusiast and rider from a young age. He went to school to study photography, and during that period, his career as a racing photographer and correspondent began. "I gravitated towards motorcy- cling events and began shooting for Motorcycle Weekly," De- whurst said. "When I left college, I got a job at a weekly newspa- per. The boss's son became in- terested in motocross and joined a local motocross club I'd started in the area. I persuaded the boss that what the country really needed was a weekly newspaper dedicated to off-road racing, and that's how Trials and Motocross News (aka TMX) was born back in 1976. "Unfortunately, I have to report the demise of that newspaper as of a week ago," Dewhurst said. "Forty-six years later it went out of business due to lack of advertis- ing, the internet and god knows what else. It's sad because the paper was a huge success for many years and people are very upset that they aren't going to get it anymore." Dewhurst moved to America in 1980 when he was hired as the technical editor at Cycle Guide magazine. "I did the Cycle Guide thing for four or five years before branching out on my own to do motorcycle and car photography. "Working in the motorcycling CN III ARCHIVES P90 DAVID DEWHURST: Documenting the Golden Era of Motocross BY LARRY LAWRENCE Documenting the Golden Era