VOLUME ISSUE APRIL , P121
away, but the rider LaPorte cared
about most was Jobe, who took
second. Dutchman Kees van der
Ven, who mathematically was
still in championship conten-
tion, took third, and LaPorte took
fourth after a midpack start.
Going into moto two, LaPorte
led Jobe by just 11 points. All
the pressure was on the factory
Suzuki rider, Jobe. He had to win
and hope for the best. But his
hopes were quickly dashed just
a few turns into the race when he
had a run-in with Heinz Kinigad
-
ner and went down. With LaPorte
running in the top five and Han-
sen again running away up front,
the title was all but ensured for
LaPorte, especially when he
moved into second place.
Now worried about losing
second in the championship
to van der Ven, Jobe got right
back up and made a spectacular
charge through the field, pass
-
ing 32 riders. He actually had
LaPorte in his wheelhouse when
the checkered flag came out. But
that didn't matter.
Amazingly, after 10 agoniz-
ing years, America celebrated
its second Motocross World
Championship just three weeks
after its first. LaPorte's cham
-
pionship-winning season was
quite the contrast to Lackey's
since LaPorte's came in just his
first year of trying. But, no doubt,
Lackey blazed a trail on the
European circuit that certainly
helped LaPorte, and many things
had changed since Lackey's
first full season across the pond
many years earlier. Still, LaPorte
was the first person ever to win a
Motocross World Championship
in their first attempt.
"I can't believe it. It'll take a
couple of days to sink in," La
-
Porte said after the race. "I was
so nervous going into that sec-
ond moto thinking of what could
happen, but when I saw that
Georges was down, I relaxed and
just rode conservatively. This
is something that I've always
wanted, to be World Champion."
LaPorte also won the title in
his first year aboard a Yamaha.
Before 1982, LaPorte rode a
factory Honda in the U.S. Be
-
fore that, he won his only AMA
National MX title (in the 500cc
class, though some say he
should have a 125cc title, as
well), where his professional
racing career started with Su
-
Former 250cc and 500cc MX World
Champion and then Yamaha Racing
Manager Heikki Mikkola is the first
to spray LaPorte with champagne.
(L-R) LaPorte, Mikkola and
Jobe moments after LaPorte
wrapped up the title.
