Welcome to the Shift Number Cruncher. It’s MxoN week so let’s run some
numbers surrounding the history of the biggest and longest running race in our
sport. I can still remember the enormous hype surrounding the 1987 event at
Unadilla. Everyone was so pumped for the race to be coming to America,
especially Bob Hannah who made no bones about wanting to compete and that
he would even do it, “on a stinkin’ 125!” I had only been racing a few years by
then but I knew that we had won it the year before. I watched every episode of
Motoworld and I can still hear Larry Maiers screaming about O’Mara flying
past King David Thorpe, and then seeing the images of Johnson and Bailey
riding across the finishline side by side doing a high five. I waited for that race
every year and couldn’t wait to get my Cycle News to see how we won and
everything shook down. After taking a glance at the new 2007 FIM Red Bull
Motocross of Nations program some cool numbers jumped right at me. Enjoy.
Some of the most heroic rides in American MXoN history have been put in by
riders wearing #2. Ricky Johnson, Jeff Stanton, and McGrath all raced on
winning teams at the MXoN with the #2 on the front of their Hondas. Now it
appears that our next great American hero has made the number all his own.
Two-time defending Lites champion Ryan Villopoto will be looking for his
second consecutive class championship in his second appearance wearing #2.
RV2? Hmmm… I guess that works.
Oh yeah, Jeff Ward looked pretty cool running the #2 in 1985, which was the
first year that the two races—Motocross and Trophee des Nations—were pared
down to one MXoN. Team USA won that race, on the heels of great rides by
Wardy, #1 David Bailey and #3 Ron Lechien. But the overall winner that day?
King David Thorpe, running #7 for Great Britain. Sure, he got beaten the next
year by a 125, but so did everyone else; on this day, with his 1-2-1 in three
motos. On that day, he was the King of the entire Motocross World. click on
ozzy go to the full story on RacerX