Great Races: The 1999 Brazilian Motocross des Nations
May 12, 2006 6:14am
|
“Did it rain last night?” Windham mused aloud, trying to calm things down. The trio then walked down a hill and into the pit area. Okay, maybe this one was not such a great race, but it’s still a tale that deserves to be told.
|
The day before—qualifying day—had gone extremely well for the Rock, K-Dub, and RC. Despite falling twice in the 125cc seeding race, RC was easily the quickest in his class in Brazil. Windham (250cc) and Mike LaRocco (Open) also rode quite well, placing first and third, respectively, in their qualifying races. Things looked good for the three East Coast riders—so good that a little fear and maybe even some loathing swept through the paddock: Perhaps a good old American whitewash was in the works. Maybe that’s why they decided to turn the track into a mud bog overnight. That was the conspiracy theory on Sunday morning, anyway.
By the time the first moto was sent to the gate, the circuit had actually dried up quite a bit. But still, it was a one-lined, slot-car-type racetrack at best. When the gate dropped, new 500cc World Motocross Champion, Andrea Bartolini of the Italian team, pulled the holeshot aboard his super-trick Yamaha YZ426 four-stroke. LaRocco was in sixth, and Carmichael, after a woeful start, was way back in 22nd. Carmichael would start to come roaring back through the pack, but then Lady Luck screwed everything up.
|
Bartolini would win the moto—a great start for Team Italy—while Belgian Joel Smets was second. LaRocco, crashes and all, was fifth. Great Britain’s James Dobb placed 10th on his RM125, the first 125 rider across the finish line, while ‘99 125cc World Champion Alessio Chiodi was second. After the first moto, Italy led the event with 12 points. Team USA was ninth with 32 points.
Less than a lap into moto number two—the 250cc/125cc division—Team USA’s chances at winning the Motocross des Nations went up in smoke when Carmichael went down at the bottom of a small hill. Another bike clipped his Kawasaki KX125, shearing the bike’s brake line and throttle cable. And despite the fact that Kevin Windham rode an amazing race, just missing Belgian ace Stefan Everts at the finish line, it was all over for Team USA.
|
Stefan Everts would defeat Bartolini to win the third and final moto (Open/250cc). But with Bartolini’s teammate Claudio Federici placing fourth, Team Italy had managed to string together the best five results that sunny day outside of Sao Paulo to win the Motocross des Nations for the first time in history.
“It’s a wonderful day and everything is beautiful,” beamed team leader Bartolini after the moto. “When I was champion one month ago, I felt a lot of satisfaction, but now I feel very proud because I put my country on top of the world.” Chiodi, who rode his Husqvarna 125 to 2-1 moto scores to win the class overall, was ecstatic: “I’m so happy, so very, very happy!”
|
“Well, it’s obviously not what I wanted,” Windham lamented. “All of us came over here and gave it our best, and we all wanted to win. We all put in good rides, but I think our biggest problem was that the track was one-lined and it just didn’t work for us. A lot of the inside corners only had one line, and a guy would go down and there was really nothing you could do—that’s what happened to me and that’s what happened to Ricky. And Mike, he was the backbone of the team. He’s the only one that really held us together, and it’s quite obvious that we’re all pretty depressed here.”
Added LaRocco, “It was not the day any of us wanted to have. I know we all went out there to do what we had to do, but it just wasn’t our day. I just did what I had to do, but it didn’t work out for us.”
|
Carmichael would return to the MXdN the next year in France on a Kawasaki KX250 and lead Team USA to the win with a winning performance in the 250 class, with Ryan Hughes and Travis Pastrana backing him. He wore #11, by the way, but that’s a story for another time.