Motocross During the '50s

The exciting and thrilling sport of motocross originated in the United Kingdom in the early twentieth century and has gone on to gain popularity all across the world thereafter. In the early days, however, the sport was better known as 'scrambles'. Derived by combining the French word 'moto' with 'cross-country', the sport of motocross is a form of all-terrain motorcycle racing that takes place on dirt or off-road tracks. These tracks could also be muddy, hilly, slushy or rocky routes including sharp turns and uneven rides.

During the 1920s and 30s, scrambles started becoming quite a rage with sporting events such as the Southern Scott Scramble held in 1924. This is the event that is said to have led to the initiation of motocross. Many other such renditions form possible origin tales of motocross.

The 1950s witnessed progress in the sport with certain steps toward its formalization and structuring. The early years of the decade witnessed Individual Motocross races generating interest rather rapidly. Towards the close of the year 1950, a proposal for the initiation of an event of international stature was submitted by the Belgian Federation to the F.I.M. (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) or the International Motorcycling Federation. It was in 1952 that the F.I.M. created the European Championship that used motorcycles with 500cc engines. This was a turning point in the history of motocross racing and the sport as a whole. In 1957, this event was upgraded to World Championship status.

Over the years, a wide variety of other motorcycle sports have branched out of motocross. One such sport that gained popularity in the 1950s was Sidecar Racing, also known as Sidecarcross. While it started off in Europe, it also went on to fetch fans in Australia, New Zealand and the United States of America. Europe, however, is the only place where Sidecarcross was actually contested at a World Championship level.

Sidecarcross involves the use of a motocross bike built with a flat platform attached on either side of the rider's seat. It also includes a handlebar that the biker on this platform, the passenger, can hold on to. The role of the passenger is to balance the vehicle as it swerves on sharp turns or bounces on rocky, bumpy terrain. This variant of motocross, has witnessed a decline ever since its glory days in the 50s.

The motorcycles used in motocross have also witness an evolution in themselves ever since the sport initiated and became popular. The major part of the decade witnessed racing in the MX3 category. While in 1952, 1953 and 1954 the winners of the Motocross World Championship were of Belgian origin, the podium gave way to British participants in the latter half of the 50s. The 1957 winner of the Motocross World Champion ship was Swedish participant Bill Nisson.

The 1950s were an era of rapid growth in motocross. It witnessed formalization of events, creation of new structures and a brand new zeal for a highly adventurous sport. It was during this decade that motocross gained its true prominence in the milieu of motorcycle racing in Europe.

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History of European Motocross

Motocross developed as a kind of motorcycle or all-terrain racing sport that took place on off-road tracks including muddy, hilly, slushy or rocky routes. It was in the early part of the twentieth century that the sport had its origin in Great Britain. Known then as 'Scrambles', motocross was a word that derived from the combination of the French word motocyclette meaning motorcycle and 'cross-country'. Since then the sport gained and grew in popularity as motocross.

The first known motocross event was held in 1924 in Camberly, Surrey and was called the Southern Scott Scramble. This is the event that led to the initiation of motocross in the sporting world. After this event, scrambles started becoming quite a rage with sporting events and this fad continued through the 1920s and 30s. Motocross racing spread wildly as a highly popular sporting event throughout Europe in the years to follow.

It was after the Second World War that the sport gained recognition at the international level. Towards the end of 1950, a proposal for the launch of a motocross event of international standing was submitted to the F.I.M. (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) or the International Motorcycling Federation, by the Belgian Federation. In 1952 the F.I.M. created the European Championship in which motorcycles with 500cc engines were used. This was a major turning point in the history of motocross racing and the sporting events associated with it. By 1957, this event had been upgraded to World Championship status.

The first of the motocross racing events of the championship series was held in 1952 in the 500cc category and had heavy Belgian dominance in that year as well as the years to follow. Auguste Mingels, Victor Leloup, Rene Baeten and Nic Jansen were some of the motocross riders that occupied the winning positions in those years. Great Britain's presence was also felt in the motocross championships during this period with Les Archer, John Draper, and Jeff Smith as some of the famous riders of the age.

In 1957, the 250cc engine category was introduced to the F.I.M. Motocross World Championships. The first series in this category was won by German motocross rider Fritz Betzelbacher, followed in second position by fellow countryman Willi Oesterle. German dominance was overtaken, in the years to follow, by the British in the first few years of the 1960s. In fact, in 1961, the first three winning positions were all occupied by British motocross riders Dave Bickers, Arthur Lampkin and Jeff Smith, respectively.

This period also witnessed Swedish dominance in the 500cc category, with motocross riders from the country winning the first three positions in three consecutive years starting 1960.

It was in 1975 that the 125cc motorcycles entered the Motocross World Championship arena. Belgium was once again the dominating country in the initial few years. This was also the period when Japanese manufacturers started entering a domain that was largely dominated by European companies. Suzuki was the first such company to enter the motocross world with their 250cc engines.

The 1960s are also best-remembered in motocross history as the era in which the sport crossed international waters to be introduced in the United States.

Over the years, motocross has become one of the most popular motorcycling events in the world. It has also led to the development of variations such as Freestyle, Superhot, Super cross and Sidecars. All these developments are manifest of the excitement and adventure the sport continues to generate among riders of all kinds.

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The Stars of Motocross

Considered one of the most exciting and thrilling motorcycling sports of all times, motocross has many ardent enthusiasts as participants as well as fans all around the world. The sport has grown in popularity in an enormous manner over the decades. What started as a simple off-road biking game in Great Britain has now become one of most-watched and loved sports not only in Europe, but in other countries as well.

This change has been evident as the premier championship event in motocross, the F.I.M. Motocross World Championship, which started a worldwide motocross series in 1952 as the European Championship, has extended across continents.

The early days of the Motocross World Championship witnessed, largely, Belgian dominance at the winning positions. Victor Leloup was the rider to have won the championship in its inaugural year. Second position was taken by his fellow countryman Auguste Mingels. This marked the first of Belgian victories in what followed as a series of motocross wins for the riders. The rider to accompany the Belgians that year in third position was Great Britain's John Avery. The Belgian dominance continued over the next few years, with Rene Baeten and Nic Jansen, apart from Leloup and Mingels as the reigning stars in motocross championships.

Some of the British stars that dominated the motocross scene in those days were Avery, along with Jeff Smith and John Draper. The championship also had some Swedish riders such as Bill Nilsson and Sten Lundin. While Nilsson won his first ever F.I.M. in 1957, and then in 1960, Lundin ruled the roost in 1959 and 1961. Both riders continued to ride high in the 500cc category during this period.

These were the days of 500cc motorcycles, and the championship continued with these until the 250cc engines were introduced in Motocross World Championship. In 1957, when the 250cc engines entered the F.I.M. it was the German riders that took the cake. Fritz Betzelbacher won first place, while his fellow countryman Willi Oesterle stood second that year. Czechoslovakia's Jaromir Cizek followed the Germans in third place. Czechoslovakian dominance grew strongly over the next few years as Cizek and his fellow countrymen Miroslav Souchek, Vlastimil ValekPetr Dobry Jaroslav Falta were seen as some of the winning stars in motocross.

Another strong presence in the Motocross World Championship series was that of Sweden. While Nilsson and Lundin were stars of the early days, in the era of the 250cc engines, some prominent names were those of Torsten Hallman, Hakan Anderson, Olle Petterson and Torlief Hansen.

1975 witnessed the introduction of the 125cc engines to the F.I.M. The first championship event was again dominated by Belgium, with Gaston Rahier in first position and fellow countryman Gilbert de Roover in second. Czechoslovakian Antoin Baborawsky took the third place in the championship that year. Rahier continued to win the championship for next two consecutive years and then take second place in 1978. Belgian dominance continued with motocross riders such as Harry Everts, Eric Geboersm and Stefan Everts.

Motocross has been a sport that has attracted riders from all countries in all its years of formalized existence. Motocross enthusiasm developed multi-fold with the sport becoming popular in the United States and the first motocross series being held there in 1972. Some of the motocross stars from the country included Brad Lackey, Jimmy Weinert, Kent Howerton, Marty Smith, Rick Burgett, Chuck Sun, Danny LaPorte and Broc Glover.

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Motocross During the '90s

The twentieth century witnessed colossal economic as well as political transformations in the history of humankind. The emergence and upsurge of information technology marks another feather in the cap of this era. Furthermore, technological enhancements extended to nearly every aspect of human life, and motorsports is just one of them.

Ardent fans of motocross would be aware of the gigantic leap that the sport had taken from its initiation as the off-road speeding game called 'Scrambles' to one of the hugest motorcycling championships at the close of the century.

By the 1990s America had safely established itself in motocross, a sport of European origin, and there were several names that were slowly gaining popularity in the motocross circuits. Bobby Moore, Donny Schmit, Tallon Vohland, Trampas Parker and Mike Brown are some of the motorcyclists that took the motocross world by storm during the 1990s.

It was also during the 1990s that the popularity and thrill of racing 500cc engines started declining. 125cc engines were the technologically advanced versions being preferred in motocross fraternity. The advent and establishment of the Japanese manufacturer, Suzuki, in the arena of motocross machines was another indication of the rapid globalization of a sport that had its inception in Great Britain and had in its early years, off-road tracks and dirt roads as the racing circuits.

In fact, in the 250cc category, which had become the most loved by this period, all the first riders in the same were supported by the factories. Yes, motocross had definitely come a long way from those early twentieth century days to a more mature and organized sport by the end of the century.

The decline in the 500cc category, however, implied a string of victories for European motocross riders, and a major part of the decade saw the dominance of Belgium in the championship.

The overall effect of technological transformations was that the manufacturers were being encouraged to produce more environment-friendly machines. This change saw the increase of four-stroke engines in motocross racing circuits as well.

Motocross, over the years, has become a sport loved across nations, as well as continents. The end of the twentieth century also brought with it rapid changes in terms of popularity of the sport to extend to women riders. Championships held exclusively for women motocross riders are exemplary of this.

Motorcycling and motocross gear is another aspect of this series of transformations. From simple cloth attire to stylish leather, motocross clothing, boots, helmets and other accessories speak the language of rising fame and growing awareness of the sport. For that matter, there are special motorcycles and motocross equipment for kids keen on the sport as well. These changes have made Europe's dirt-road, off-track game turn out to become one of the most widely liked sports of all time.

However, this does not go to say that motocross is a simple riding sport. It requires a large amount of grit and skill to actually be a motocross rider. This is so due to the possibility of dirty, muddy, hilly and uneven terrains that the rider would have to encounter during a race. Such high levels of danger and adventure are what make motocross such a demanding, yet high-intensity motorsport!

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Motocross During the '70s

Having originated as a sport among motorcycling enthusiasts in the United Kingdom in the early twentieth century, motocross grew to become a raging phenomenon in other countries in Europe as the decades progressed. It was the 1970s that marked the rising popularity of the sport at a global level. The sport that started out as a fun racing event called 'Scrambles' had steadily gained international stature.

The 1970s witnessed further changes in the way motocross emerged as the popular sport among all motorcycling enthusiasts across various countries of the world. This included rules in the game undergoing changes. Minimum weights for motorcycles were introduced, as were two heats counting points towards the Motocross World Championship, as opposed to only one previously.

The trend as far as the motocross champions themselves were concerned also underwent a drastic change in the 1970s. In the 500cc category, Belgium's Robert De Coster won the championship in 1971, marking the first of a series of five consecutive wins, broken only by Finland's Heikki Mikkola in 1974. The former half of the decade also witnessed Belgian dominance in the 250cc category, prominent names among whom were Joel Roberts, Sylvain Geboers, Roger De Coster and Harry Everts. Everts went on to win the championship in 1975, which till 1972 had been triumphed over by Roberts for five consecutive years.

1972 was also the year in which the first motocross event was held in a stadium. The venue happened to be the Los Angeles Coliseum. It was also in this era that the MX3 category of motocross racing or the 125cc category was introduced. This was in the year 1975. Belgium seemed to dominate the first few championships in this category. In fact, except for 1978, when Japan's Akira Watanabe won the championship, it was Belgium that dominated this category throughout the 1970s. Gaston Rahier and Harry Everts were two names that rocked the motocross 125cc circuit in this era.

The case was similar in the 250cc and 500cc categories, where Belgium dominated in the former half of the decade. Roger De Coster, Joel Roberts and Harry Everts remained some of the prominent winners of motocross racing championships. This decade also marked the end of Roberts' motocross world racing career, which was the result of a severe knee injury during the 500cc Belgian Grand Prix in Namur.

This decade marked the gradual dominance of Japanese manufacturer Suzuki in the motocross racing fraternity. In fact, in all the racing categories of the Motocross World Championship, Suzuki's machines were at some or the other winning position. Amid the European motorcycle makers, this brand was not only gaining recognition, but also delivering machines that had in them the winning streak.

The latter half of the 70s marked the advent of motorcycling enthusiasts from the United States into serious motocross at the championship level. This slowly developed into the American presence in the winner position as well. As far as motocross was concerned, America had finally arrived!

Formed in 1972, the American Motorcyclist Association held the first race in its motocross series, the AMA Motocross Championship. The 500cc and the 250cc categories were introduced in this championship. The 125cc category got added two years later. In the first motocross championship held by the AMA, Brad Lackey won in the 500cc category, while Gary Jones was the winner of the 250cc category.

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