Danny Laporte Is World Champion
Danny LaPorte is World Champion
America’s First 250cc Motocross World Champion Won It All In His First Year on the Grand Prix Circuit
Tom Mueller
When Danny LaPorte made up his mind to race the 250cc World Championship series, he had a hard time finding a bike to ride. Most factory teams scoffed at his inquiries. He was U.S. 500cc Champion in 1979, but was hampered by injuries in 1980 and 1981 and the people he talked to about a ride weren't impressed.
At the last minute Yamaha Motors N.V., the importer for Holland, took a chance and put LaPorte on a factory bike.
The gamble paid off. When LaPorte, 25, left Europe for home he carried with him the 250cc World Championship, an incredible accomplishment for an American far from home in his first year of Grand Prix competition, riding tracks he'd never seen before.
LaPorte failed to gain points in just two of 24 motos, and his season tally tells a story of amazing consistency coupled with the ability to flat-out win races. The year started in Switzerland, where LaPorte failed to finish the first moto but was second in the second moto; followed by 9-10 finishes in Spain; a second and an out-of-the-points finish in Belgium. From there the pace quickened, with LaPorte finishing 6-1 in Czechoslovakia, 5-2 in Italy, 13 in France, 2-1 in England, 1-1 in Holland, 1-2 in Russia, 42 in the U.S., 1-3 in Finland and, finally, 4 2 in Sweden to take the championship.
LaPorte adapted well to Europe, leasing a comfortable home in a nice neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, where he lived during the season with his French girlfriend.
People who knew LaPorte in the U.S. have commented on his new, calm attitude, an attitude well suited to the serious business of motocross racing in Europe. According to LaPorte, most the races are televised live, and his neighbors congregate outside his house to welcome him home and congratulate him after a good finish.
One person who probably wasn't surprised with LaPorte’s championship was Roger DeCoster, who took LaPorte under his wing when both rode for Suzuki. Many race observers felt LaPorte’s riding style resembled DeCoster’s, and that he has the same world-class potential.
LaPorte’s sole ride in the U.S. in 1982 was the U.S. Grand Prix at Unadilla, New York, where American fans roared in unison with every pass LaPorte made. The Unadilla course is laid out on hilly natural terrain and draws about 20,000 fans to the annual Grand Prix.
La Porte's 4-2 moto finishes at Unadilla gave him third overall, but he wasn't discouraged, since the finish padded his points lead over arch-rival Georges Jobe (Suzuki), who finished fifth. The race was won with 3-1 finishes by Holland’s Kees van der Ven on a KTM. Young American Rick Johnson was second overall with 2-3 finishes on his Yamaha.
The real show at Unadilla was the race between LaPorte and Jobe in the first moto, which LaPorte finished one position ahead of Jobe. The pair played bump and shove throughout the race, and it came down to the wire where LaPorte finally got the upper hand, Jobe finishing a few lengths behind. The fans went wild, grabbing at LaPorte as he returned to the pits, and only the snow fence "kept LaPorte from being mobbed.
The screams almost drowned out the sound of the racebikes when LaPorte took the lead of the second moto, and the commotion only died down a little when van der Ven passed LaPorte and powered away.
LaPorte left Unadilla with points in hand and looking forward to the next race. When all the season's dust settled, LaPorte was World Champion.
Things didn't go so well for Mike Guerra in his second season of 250cc Grand Prix competition. His season was up and down. The high point was Guerra’s overall win in the Spanish Grand Prix, a rough, rocky, hilly course that suited Guerra just fine. When the season points were tallied, Guerra was seventh in the world, one position behind the sixth he landed last year.
The 1982 Grand Prix season has made it clear that Americans dominate World Championship motocross, and that Americans are capable of winning any of the three motocross championships (125cc, 250cc and 500cc). Why have Americans suddenly spurted to the top of the world-class motocross heap? It could be that incredibly-long, incredibly-tough LJ.S. motocross season, a season that sees racers entered in event after event, one week after the other, for 1 1 months out of the year. More professional-class motocross racing is found in America, and the big pay-off is the honing of skills through constant use. BS
