We’re just a few days away from the 2022 Monster Energy FIM Motorcross of Nations at RedBud, and we are sure much of the motocross world is already in transit to the centerpiece track of the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship for the big race. We’ve been counting down our favorite Team USA moments, and the one we have today really was just a moment in time, but it served as a snapshot for a whole era of ‘80s motocross.
After Team Honda revitalized American interest in the Motocross and Trophee des Nations in 1981 and ’82, sweeping both events each year. The AMA decided to open the team up in 1983 to riders from the other OEMs heavily invested in AMA racing at the time: Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha. So, one rider was picked from each brand for the ’83 team, with Jeff Ward joining for Kawasaki, Mark Barnett for Suzuki, and Broc Glover for Yamaha. The only holdover from the ’82 team was Honda’s David Bailey, the ’83 AMA Supercross and 250 Pro Motocross Champion, who was chosen over sentimental favorite Danny “Magoo” Chandler, who had dominated both races the previous year (we’ll get to that huge Team USA moment later in the week).
The Americans ended up winning both the MXoN (500cc), which was held first in Angreau, Belgium, as well as the Trophee race (250cc) which took place at Svrepec in the old Czechoslovakia (in what’s now the Slovakia part). There was very little drama in either race, as Team USA won easily, and Belgium finished second both times, despite Belgium having three FIM World Champions in the lineup in Eric Geboers, Geroges Jobe, and Andre Malherbe.
But there was a single moment that this whole period of domination by Team USA, exaggerating it even. It happened in the start of the first moto at the MXoN. Seven teams of four riders were in the finals, which meant 28 riders on the starting gate. When the gate hit the ground, the four Americans put their supercross-honed starting skills to hit the first turn 1-2-3-4! Glover had the holeshot, followed by Barnett, Ward, and Bailey. It was an astonishing display of motocross firepower and set the mood for the whole rest of the race, as well as the Trophee race.
You can see the moment here, beginning at the 6:40 mark:
There is also an amazing photo by Tom Brinkman, the future owner of Monster Mountain in Alabama, showing all four Americans in the same frame as they came around to complete the first lap. The race would not end that way—Barnett’s shock would break, though Glover would win, with Wardy second, and Bailey fourth, with only Jobe getting in between the top three Americans. In the second moto Bailey would rebound to win, and his 4-1 was good for the individual overall. Barnett would also rebound, finishing third, with Ward fourth (it was Glover’s turn to have a mechanical in this moto).
For the next decade to follow that moment in Angreau, Belgium, Team USA would win the Nations year after year. Sometimes it was much closer, others even more dominant (Italy ’86 and France ’88 for instance). But they would never be 1-2-3-4 again at any moment again, as the FIM changed the whole format in ’85, getting rid of the Trophee race and trimming each nation down to three riders.
