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/776700
CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE I t had to happen sooner or lat- er—the Americans couldn't just keep on winning the Motocross des Nations forever. In 1994 the Brits finally did it. In Roggen- burg, Switzerland, the squad of Rob Herring, Paul Malin and Kurt Nicoll held off Team USA and ended America's MX des Nations win streak at 13. It's not a story American racing fans love to hear, but you have to admire the gritty trio of British riders who pulled off the huge upset. Their story is even more compelling since Great Britain has yet to again claim the top spot in the international competition. Until another Brit- ish team takes the Chamberlain Trophy, for better or worse, the '94 squad of Herring, Malin and Nicoll will remain etched in the minds of fans as the last Brits to win the competition the country domi- nated for so long. Their win represents both pride and frustration for the British motocross faithful—pride, of course, for taking the historic win, but also frustration for being unable to duplicate the feat in last 22 years. The British had a long and rich history in moto- cross, with the sport being born there in the 1920s. It was almost natural that when Motocross des Nations began in Wassenaar, Netherlands, in 1947, it was a British team of Bill Nicholson, Bob Ray and Fred Rist that came away with the victory. For the first two decades of the competition, it was Great Britain that dominated. From 1947 to 1967 the Brits won 15 times. The run included a stretch of five wins consecutively from 1963 to '67 with motocross legends like the Rickman brothers Derek and Don, Vic Eastwood and Jeff Smith. But after 1967 the winning suddenly stopped. The late 1960s saw the rise of the Belgians, Russians and Swedes. That lasted through the entirety of the 1970s and into the first year of the 1980s. Then came the Americans, and boy did the Yanks ever come on strong. This is the part of the story American racing fans know so well. The Euros brought over motocross in the mid-1960s and we got trounced, but like the unflappable Americans, we took our lumps, learned, prac- ticed, morphed the sport into something more technical than the founders had ever dreamed and created a monster. Starting with Donnie Hansen, Danny LaPorte, Johnny O'Mara and Chuck Sun in 1981, the Americans were off and running in the Motocross des Nations. By the mid-'90s we were winning so much we were getting sick of winning. Ha! Not re- ally. Americans loved the taste of victory and it never got old, but believe me, the Euros were flat sick of it. Every year Team USA showed up from '81 on, it was us against the world. European fans wanted anyone, it didn't matter who, to beat the Americans. That was the backdrop of the 1994 Motocross des Nations. There were indications that the Americans were beatable. The year before in Austria, Team USA's Mike Kiedrowski, Jeremy McGrath and Jeff Emig eked out a one-point victory over the Belgian squad led by Stefan Everts. So when Kiedrowski, Emig and Mike LaRocco showed up for the 1994 edition of the event, they were taking nothing for granted. The main challenge to Team USA was expected to come again from the Belgians or perhaps the French. The Brits were not really on the radar. Nicoll THE STREAK BUSTERS P120 The headline says it all.