Trophee Des Nations
TROPHEE DES NATIONS
An Inspired Belgian Team Pleases A Rabid Home Crowd
B.R. NICHOLLS
International motocross is a feast of color: flashing ris s, swarming crowds, stunt parachuting between the acts, and "mignonettes" to catch the most jaded eye.
WITH THE Moto Cross des Nations title safely tucked under their belt, the Belgians were poised a week later to become the first nation ever to do the double by winning the Trophee des Nations in the same year. In that respect history was against them and their own performance in previous years was not encouraging; their best was in 1968 when they were 2nd to Sweden. In the senior event, Robert, Geboers, de Coster, Teuwissen and Jack Van Velthoven had been the winning team. For the Trophee, Van Velthoven was replaced by Marcel Wierz.
Thirteen nations competed. Two eliminating heats were held and each country’s best three riders, plus the 11
next fastest riders from the two heats, went into the final.
The heats were of academic interest only. When it came to the nitty-gritty, only the final mattered. The resemblance of the race pattern to that of the previous week was truly amazing. In the early stages, the Belgians just were not in the picture. Czech Miroslav Halm (CZ) led, with Kring, Aberg and Hallman in close attendance.
But the Belgians were riding in inspired manner, urged on by the screaming motocross-crazy Belgian crowd. The atmosphere was electric as de Coster led the fight back, supported by Geboers and Robert.
Halm tired, so Kring took over the lead, which he held to the end. Aberg,
pressed hard by de Coster, dropped it and let the Belgian through to 2nd place and Geboers challenged for 3rd. But with Hallman well ahead of Robert, things looked good for Sweden until a few laps from the end when Hallman retired with electrical trouble. With Robert 7th and Chris Hammargren (Husqvarna) 9th, the two teams were level on points at 13 each, and time became the all important factor. De Coster, Geboers and Robert totaled 2 hr., 18 min., 49.8 sec. to the 2:19:1.2 of the Swedes and so gained victory by the margin of 11.4 seconds.
With such a battle between the giants, it was almost incidental that the Czechs were 3rd with 24 followed by Holland in 4th with 45.
