by dirtgirl
Team USA's 10 Best
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 | 11:01 AM
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PrintEach year the United States sends some of its best riders to the Motocross of Nations. The picks are not without controversy, but once they’re made, the riders are expected to win. For the next few days we will showcase the ten best performers in Team USA history. Here are the first two:
Danny "Magoo" Chandler: 1982
From 1947 through 1984, two separate events determined the world’s top motocrossing nation: the Motocross des Nations (for 500cc equipment) and the Trophee des Nations (250cc). No single rider had ever won all four motos at the two events until Magoo in ’82.
At the Trophee des Nations at West Germany’s sprawling Gaildorf circuit, Danny "Magoo" Chandler, the wild child of American motocross, smoked the world’s best riders on a Honda 250, winning both motos and leading Team USA to victory. One week later in Wohlen, Switzerland, he led teammates David Bailey, Jim Gibson, and Johnny O’Mara to another victory at the MxdN, again sweeping both motos. It must be considered the most dominant fortnight in the event's long history.
Chandler passed away this year after dealing with health issues that began way back in 1985 when he broke his back at a supercross race in France. But for as long as there is a Motocross of Nations, Magoo's name will be associated with it.
Danny Chandler
photo: Racer X archives
Steve Lamson: 1995-'97
Team USA was victorious for only one of Team Honda's Steve Lamson’s three appearances—1996 in Jerez, Spain—but what Lammy did that day on his CR125 gets him on this list.
At the time, Lamson was the two-time AMA 125cc National Champion, and he was coming off a devastating loss in 1995 in Slovakia, at the hands of 16-year-old Frenchman named Sebastien Tortelli. The track in Spain was fast, hilly, and hard-packed—just like the tracks Lamson grew up on in northern California. In the first 125/500 moto, Lamson screamed around the track and passed all the way up to the rear wheel of the race leader, his teammate Jeff Emig on the 500 Kawi. Emig yielded, then watched as Lamson took off, Tortelli in hot pursuit. Winning the moto outright, Lamson became the first rider to do so on a 125.
The second time out, against the premier 250cc riders, Lamson beat everyone but his teammate Jeremy McGrath and Belgium's Marnicq Bervoets, both on 250s. The win helped Team USA get back on top for the first time in three years, and it also cemented Lamson's name among the all-time great performers in the MXoN.
Steve Lamson
photo: Racer X archives
Be sure to check back tomorrow for two more of USA's ten best MXoN performers.
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I was with team Great Britain at the Jerez race and watched a lot of the racing up close. The photo of Lamson shown above was over a downhill double that was probably the largest double in history, it was HUGE, A lot of Euro riders were afraid to do that jump. The after party celebration got a little out of hand, I think DC may still have some un-shown video and stills from that night. good times.
i miss eric johnson! racerx isnt the same without him. thanks for visiting us once in a while
motocross84, I agree with you so here is another vote for as much material from Eric as is possible. With all that DC is has going on there has been a void in respect to great journalism (the other RX guys are not back-markers, just not front-runners). ..... Does anyone recall the name of the track in England with the monster downhill that Pastrana was sailing down during his MXDN race?
I think the year Pastrana rode the MXDN it was held in France, Saint-Jean-d'Angély curcuit . We (England) just had the VET MXDN last week, I didn't go, I live in the USA now, but by all accounts there were a lot of old GP riders there and they were still pretty fast.
Pretty sure an American on a 125 smoked the 125/500 moto back in the 80's. I can't remember who did it but I remember that he soundly beat David Thorp who was the current 500 World champ at the time. I think it was the O-Show. Come to think of it now, he may have finished runner up to the US 500cc rider and beat the rest of the 500's. I know someone on here will know for sure.
bmil1 - Johny O'mara is who your thinking of. I think it was 1986, but I'm not sure. The O'Show was on 4 different teams. And yes it was david Thorpe.
bmil1 Here it is 1986 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbtwPAki5wE&NR=1
It was the 86' des Nations in Maggoria Italy. O'show beat everybody but David Bailey in that Moto.
I was at Budds in 96'. Lamson had the loudest 125 I've ever heard.
Thanks for filling in the details. I had a feeling that I had spoke too soon about O Mara winning the combined 125/500 moto. Props to Lamson for being the only man to ever and will ever win the 125/500 moto at the MXoN.
The 250 four stroke is today's "125," and RV put on a clinic against the 450s at Budds in '07. Lammy and O'Show were masters on the little bikes in their day. GoldenYears95, what does Budds '96 have to do with des Nations?
daveintheusa, you are correct regarding the location of the '00 MXdN. TP, RC and Ryno took the win.
Serf, I know that a 250f is now our 125 class but a 450 is now our 250 2 stroke so we are now left without a replacement for the 500cc 2 stroker. I know that they have an open class but all those guys are running 450f's anyways. The 3 moto's this weekend will be 1 250/450, 1 250/open(450's anyways, and 1 250/450. All day long it is just 250's vs 450's and 450's vs 450's. Not exactly David vs Goliath like a 125 vs 500 moto back in the day was. A 125 was giving up 375cc to the 500's and as much as 25hp now and over 30hp when O Mara did his deed. A 250f is only giving up 200cc to a 450f and approx 12-15hp. It's not really the same comparison. Mathmatically, a better comparison would be if Villopoto beat all the 450's on a CRF 150 with a full size chassis. I don't see that happening any time soon.
I agree, bmil1, that the difference between 250/450 is not as great as 125/500, and as I've already said the performances of the likes of O'Mara and Lamson on the tiddler were amazing, but it's not the cut and dried matter of displacement you want to claim. The 250 two stroke supplanted the 500 as the premier class in part because the 500 was a handful and the full power was unusable in most circumstances on the track. The 125, on the other hand, was a nimble, full-throttle screamer that allowed its rider to use its full potential. Your suggestion that the CRF150 would be more comparable is ridiculous.
Not really. The gap in engine performance b/w a 150f and a 450f is close to the same as that of the 125 and a 500. I did not say they ride a mini, I was talking engine performance. Read some reviews of the 150f. They are quite the screamer as well. Smaller adults love them(until they blow up). As for the 250's supplanting the 500's as the premier class, that is a whole different debate. Some would argue that it was a combination of many factors and not bike performance that led the shift away from the 500's as the premeir class in the States. Some of the factors were the importance of the 250 supercross title, the lack of support in the 500 class from the Japaneese factories and the fact that many of the factories were moving their better riders to the 125 and 250 class in the outdoor series. When the AMA dropped the class in 92, a 500 in the right hands was still faster around the outdoor tracks according to race reports and bike reviews than the 250's. The 500/Open class was still the premier class in the MX GP's for another decade as well. It took the advent of the 450's, the switch of several key riders and economics for the Open class to lose its prestige in Europe and not the 250's as you suggested. Machine rideability does not determine what is the premier class anyways. The sanctioning body and to an extent, the fans do. For an example, In Grand Prix road racing the 500 cc class was for over 60 years the premier class.
Oops I've rambled too long and had to start another post. Anyways Back to my point. By the mid 90's and into 2002 they made close to 200hp and were so hard to ride that only a few(and I mean 2-3 men) could ride them to their full potential. On the other hand the 250cc road racers made about 110hp and could on some occasions match and even surpass the 500's lap times at certain tracks. Why? Because they were real sweathearts to ride. Regardless of laptimes or rideability, the 500 class remained the premier class because the FIM said so and the best racers raced in the 500 class. Anyways, agree or not, it's all good.
I stand by what I said. A 500 two stroke could be (and was) defeated by a 125 on a full-size MX track. A CRF150 over a 450? Not a chance (assuming both are ridden by competent pros).
I really like the USA on the seat of Lammy's bike.