I love the 80's: Motocross of Nations 1988
In September 1988, the renewed Motocross of Nations visits France for the first time. The place of action is Villars-sous-Ecot, a small village in the Doubs, a department bordering Switzerland.
France was not yet the motocross powerhouse which it is now, but it was one in the making. The home country had the brand new 125cc world champion Jean-Michel Bayle, a strong asset in hand. Former 250cc World Champion (in 1986) Jackie Vimond was the 500cc rider of the French. There were no options for the role of 250cc rider Yannig Kervella fallen.Here you can see a great video of that legendary MX des Nations.
The French team exceeded the wildest expectations of the chauvinistic home crowd when Jean-Michel Bayle managed to finish second in the first heat behind the untouchable Ron Lechien, the 500cc rider of the American team. Vimond finished fifth in that first confrontation and held off Jeff Ward. The Dutch also do it with a 7e place for Kees van de Ven and a ninth for Dave Strijbos still decent.
In the second series, Jean-Michel Bayle crashes during the opening phase. The Frenchman loses precious seconds and can only get back on the road at the very end. Excited by the crowd, the Honda rider leaves again at 15 p.me overall finish. Kervella in turn limits the damage as 9E to finish. Ricky Johnson brilliantly wins the round ahead of 250cc world champion John van de Berk. Ward finished eighth, recording the worst American result of the day.
The final round again culminates in a demonstration by Ron Lechien. The Californian wins easily ahead of the surprising Rob Herring. Ricky Johnson still finishes third after a missed start. Just like in the opening heat, Vimond finished fifth, Kervella tenth and that was enough for the French to end up on the podium. They may not have won, but the French are still going crazy because they kept the rest of Europe behind them.
It was remarkable that no Belgian managed to get into the top 10 of a heat. Big names Georges Jobé and Eric Geboers were absent from Villars-Sous-Ecot due to injuries.
Facts:
– Yannig Kervella, the 250cc rider of France in Villars-sous-Ecot was the son of then FFM chairman Hervé Kervella.
– With 35.000 spectators, the organizing club, MC Villars, achieved great success.
– During the 1988 Nations, the Americans made the first use of small transmitters built into the helmet to maintain contact with the pits during the heats.
– France also entered a B team. Yves Demaria (125cc), Christian Bayle (250cc) and Patrick Perrier (500) competed for Andorra. Yves Demaria made his debut in the Motocross of Nations at the age of 16. However, the 'Andorran team' was disqualified afterwards.
– The Belgian team competed in Villars-sous-Ecot in the colors of the Italian jeans manufacturer El Charro. Sylvain Geboers was the BMB national coach at the time. Due to a bad draw (23e) the Belgians were always the last to go to the starting gate.
– Australia was without a doubt the revelation of the 1988 edition of the Motocross of Nations. The driving of Jeff Leisk (3-4) in particular caused a stir. Leisk had ridden two 500cc GPs that summer and would switch to GPs full-time in 1989.
Results Motocross of the Nations 1988:
1e heat (125/500): 1. Ron Lechien – USA, Kawasaki 500; 2. Jean-Michel Bayle – FRA, Honda 125; 3. Jeff Leisk – AUS, Honda 500; 4. Hakan Carlqvist – SWE, Kawasaki 500; 5. Jacky Vimond – FRA, Yamaha 500; 6. Jeff Ward – USA, Kawasaki 125; 7. Kees van de Ven – Ned, KTM 500; 8. Kurt Ljunqvist – FIN, Yamaha 500; 9. Dave Strijbos – NED, Cagiva 125; 10. Kurt Nicoll – GBR, Kawasaki 500cc;
2e heat (125/250): 1. Ricky Johnson – USA, Honda 250; 2. John van den Berk – Yamaha 250; 3. Roland Diepold – GER, Kawasaki 250; 4. Giuseppe Andreani – ITA, Honda 250; 5. Pekka Vehkonen – FIN, Cagiva 250; 6. Peter Johansson – ZWE, Yamaha 250; 7. Rob Herring – GBR, Yamaha 250; 8. Jeff Ward – USA, Kawasaki 125; 9. Yannig Kervella – FRA, Honda 250; 10. Sören Mortensen – DEN, Kawasaki 250;
3e heat (250/500): 1. Ron Lechien, USA – Kawasaki 500; 2. Rob Herring – GBR, Yamaha 250; 3. Ricky Johnson – USA, Honda 250; 4. Jeff Leisk – AUS, Honda 500; 5. Jacky Vimond – FRA, Yamaha 500; 6. Giuseppe Andreani – ITA, Honda 250; 7. Pekka Vehkonen – FIN, Cagiva 250; 8. Hakan Carlqvist – SWE, Kawasaki 500; 9. Kurt Ljunqvist – FIN, Yamaha 500; 10. Yannig Kervella – FRA, Honda 250;
Country classification: 1. USA (Ward, Johnson, Lechien), 2. France (Bayle, Kervella, Vimond), 3. Finland (Kouki, Vehkonen, Ljunqvist) 4. Australia (Bell, Dack, Leisk), 5. Netherlands (Strijbos, van den Berk, van de Ven) 6. Sweden (Petterson, Johansson, Carlqvist), 7. Italy (Maddii, Andreani, Rossi), 8. Germany (Ott, Diepold, Siegel), 9. Great Britain (Bennet, Herring, Nicoll), 10. Belgium (Godfroid, Dirkx, Jacky Martens).
Photos: Archive MXMAg.be,
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