There are some sportsmen who simply will not be denied their place in history.  Donny Schmit, RIP, is one of those riders.  And it was a happy moment when compiling this list to see that he got in here off the back of the AMA section of his career. From 1990 onwards his numbers go absolutely through the roof, but his 1980s results were enough to see him at number 41 in our 1980s list.

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Words: Ben Rumbold | Images: Various

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So just to give you all a little bit of house-keeping right here… this is a 1980s list, and we will be running a Top 50 Riders of the 1990s (By The Numbers) series next year, so that’s when we will go through Donny’s 1990s story – it was radically different!  I know that with other riders – such as Robbie Herring – we have gone through their 1990s results, but that’s when they really are not going to feature in our 1990s Top 50.

There is no doubt that Donny will be well up in that list, but that feature will be written closer to the time, so for now let’s concentrate on the AMA exploits of the skinny blonde kid from Minnesota who fought the West Coast machine the whole way from 1986 to 1989 in the 125cc class.

CAREER SUMMARY:

Born: January 1967

Years Professionally Raced: 9 – 1986-1994 (1986-89 – 125cc AMA, 1990-91 125cc GPs, 1992-1994 250cc GPs)

Machines Raced: Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha

AMA National Wins: 3      Podiums: 14     AMA National Moto Wins: 6     Top 3 Moto Finishes: 30

GP Wins: 15        GP Podiums: 27     GP Moto Wins: 34      GP Top 3 Moto Finishes: 59

Nations Selections: 0

Championship Medals:

2 x Gold – 1990 125cc World Champion, 1992 250cc World Champion.

1 x Silver – 1988 AMA 125cc Nationals.

1 x Bronze – 1993 250cc GPs.

Winner – 1986 AMA 125cc West Region Supercross Championship.

Donny picked up the Motocross bug from his elder brother Dave, getting an XR75 from his father so he could play around on the land around the family’s lake cabin. “Dad would give me 20 bucks a week – 5 for food, 5 for gas, and 10 for whatever! He taught me to appreciate things”. Ten years his senior, Dave would wrap a kidney belt three times around Donny because he was so skinny, and bombing around with the older kids certainly toughened up the younger Schmit.  He even endured the nickname “Peanut” and had to use a milk crate on the start line in his early races.

There was no denying his speed however, and in his teens he got picked up by Team Green for the major youth races of the time, which bought him a ticket to the professional ranks for 1986.

One tribute paid to Schmit not long after his untimely death in 1996 was from our own Kurt Nicoll, who in his book calls him “the most determined rider I’ve ever known to lead on the first lap.”  And this is exactly what Donny did from the off, one day after his 19^th birthday in the opening round of the 125cc “Pro-Am” West Region Supercross series.  This was the famous 1986 Anaheim event that went down in history, due to the 250cc Main Event being one of the best ever between Ricky Johnson and David Bailey.  Before that famous duel, Schmit had fought past early leader Dean Matson to put his Kawasaki in front of the 125cc race.  He had moved down from Minnesota in the north of the country to race the West Region series with support from Kawasaki.  In the opening round, Schmit was overhauled by another green bike, that of Tyson Vohland, but 2^nd in his first indoor event was a very good start. Donny would go on to win the third round at San Diego and take a narrow points lead from Vohland. Then he got a little closer to home with the two-night double-header in Seattle, and took 2^nd behind “Wild” Willie Surratt on night one. Then he won a fantastic battle with a rider called Carroll Richardson to claim the Sunday night win!

Although his initial forays into the AMA Nationals returned some patchy results, in the stadia Donny started to show the consistency that would become a hallmark. Two 4ths and a 3rd in the last three rounds were enough to withstand the late charge of Surratt to tie up the Western Region Supercross title.  The outdoors was a tougher nut to crack, although a fighting 3^rd in the second moto at the Lake Sugartree National in Virginia showed that the potential was there.

Donny was fanatical about training, and as wife Carrie says, “he never let himself have the luxury of anything that might make him a wimp in a race”.  That included never turning the air conditioning on in the van after a day at the track! “Gotta get ready for those hot and humid summer races!” he would say as he kept his gear on, wound up the windows and turned the heating up!  Ever supportive to his cause, Carrie endured the heat to help her husband’s belief that it would give him an advantage over his rivals.

Picked up for Suzuki in 1987 as the yellow brand aimed for sweeping both 125cc regions, Donny broke his collarbone just before the season and ruled himself out of the first three Supercross events. He returned with a solid 4^th overall at the outdoor season opener in Florida, then a win at his first Supercross back – Pontiac again!  Sadly, he came up short over a double jump on the second night at Pontiac.  The resultant crash was a nasty one as he got ploughed into by Matson and several others, being pinned to the ground by another bike, and he had to admit that the title was gone.

The big crash knocked some confidence out of Schmit, but in his beloved Fox gear – they backed his efforts massively for the rest of his days in America – he got back to the top to take his fourth and final Supercross win in Tempe, Arizona.  Suzuki did ultimately sweep both 125cc series with Surratt and Ronnie Tichenor.  In the outdoor arena, Schmit was enjoying the results of his training methods and won his first National in 90+ degree heat at Anderson, South Carolina. Taking advantage of problems for reigning champ Micky Dymond, his 7-1 scoreline was enough to seal the deal ahead of Guy Cooper and George Holland.

Schmit had to wait until the end of the year to get up there again, however, as the factory Honda of Dymond romped to his second straight title. He did impress at the one-off 125cc USGP at Steel City, beating reigning World Champ Davy Strijbos to 5^th in the second moto, once again in raging heat that made that year’s champ John van den Berk pass out!

In the Nationals, Donny would usually have one good moto then issues in the other, but by round 11 at Troy, Ohio, he finally stitched two good races together.  With a 3^rd and a 2^nd he grabbed 2^nd overall behind Honda-mounted Cooper.  Better was to come, and at his home-state round at Millville he grabbed the holeshot in race one and cleared off, winning by 16 seconds.  In race two his start was only matched by new champ Dymond, and as the pair tangled, Schmit’s teammate Erik Kehoe snuck through.  The pair put a distance between themselves and the pack, and 2^nd place was enough for Donny and his home crowd to celebrate his second overall win for the year, proving that his 7-1 at Anderson was no fluke!

For the 1988 season Donny moved up to the 250cc class for Supercross, but with the Nationals being split through the year in the bigger classes (6 rounds for 250s, 6 for 500s), and no 500cc Suzuki available, he stayed on a 125 outdoors for their 12-round championship. He was a contender all year in the Nationals, 3^rd at the opening round at Gatorback, and climbing the podium steps at 7 rounds, including another loudly-cheered win at Millville!

Once again driving his home fans wild, he survived an initial dogfight with Cooper, which ended with “Airtime” experiencing some serious “ground-time” from an over-the-bars crash through the whoops!  Schmit powered to another runaway win, 15 seconds clear by the finish.  The second moto was much tougher, however, as two crashes in the first five laps put him behind Cooper and Yamaha-mounted young guns Damon Bradshaw and Mike LaRocco.  With four laps to go, Schmit was still 5 seconds behind LaRocco, before the Indiana man hit a rock in a corner and went down! He remounted still in the lead, but Donny was on him.  He shot past and took a popular win, saying afterwards, “I’m thrashed! That had to be my best National moto ever. I had to work, but the fans were cheering me the whole way! It was great!”

That result, along with 3^rd overall at the final round at Washougal, saw Schmit narrowly hold off Cooper for 2^nd in the 1988 series. George Holland took the title with amazing consistency, finishing top three at every round bar one, to take Honda’s 4^th straight 125cc National title.

Sadly for Donny, his Supercross results didn’t live up to his outdoor ones.  A best of 12^th as further crashes knocked his confidence indoors put pressure on his place. It didn’t help that in the absence of a 125 GP, Donny entered the 250cc USGP at Unadilla, battled with Peter Johansson and Soren Mortensen, and had a less than stellar day with 7-13 motos for 9^th overall. He was eventually dropped by Suzuki despite being their best rider in any outdoor Nationals and being only 22 years old at the start of 1989!

His reaction was a far more determined one than our recently-featured Eddie Warren, who suffered the same fate with Kawasaki a year earlier, at the same age, but moved to Australia to earn a crust from racing there.  With no other offers, Donny and new wife Carrie instead bought a private Honda, a van, and focused on the outdoor Nationals with the word “REVENGE” emblazoned on his Fox race pants.

Against rising stars like LaRocco, Bradshaw, Larry Ward, Jeff Matiasevich, and factory Honda new kid Mike Kiedrowski, Team Schmit were immediately on the pace.  With a bit of help from Pro Circuit, their Honda was fast enough and Donny holeshot and hid to win race one of round two at Hangtown.  He grabbed 9 top three motos across the season and was 2^nd overall at both Hangtown and Southwick. Despite driving everywhere himself across the vast continent, Donny was 4^th in the championship behind the factory Honda duo Kiedrowski and Cooper, and 17-year-old Yamaha sensation Bradshaw. The highest-placed Suzuki was Erik Kehoe in 9^th!

Despite being dropped from the yellow team, Schmit didn’t turn his nose up when approached by Sylvain Geboers for his Team Bieffe factory squad in the 1990 World Championship, alongside his young protégé Stefan Everts.  And the rest is history!  Donny took two world titles, returned to win another National moto at Millville as a World Champion in 1990, and won more Grands Prix than any other American rider of all time.

His sudden death from Aplastic Anemia in early 1996 came just after he turned 29 years old. It was a massive shock to the Motocross world, and especially to his Minnesotan fans who mostly heard the news at the Minneapolis Supercross the night after it happened.  A silent tribute was paid and a great champion mourned.

We will cover Donny’s European exploits in more depth when we publish the 1990s list next year. It is proof of his pedigree that he got into the Top 50 of the 1980s (By The Numbers) list off the back of his AMA career alone.

The Numbers

Donny’s three wins came against stiff opposition in the 125 class at the end of the 1980s. Even a legend like Suzuki rider Johnny O’Mara, who was contracted to the 250 series before seeing out the rest of the season in the 125 class, couldn’t get the better of the raging eighth-litre pack.  It was a hot-bed for young American talent and no doubt a production line for their ongoing run of megastars.

Donny raced for four seasons in that cauldron, a total of 48 events, although there were a few missed with injury in 1986.  Criminally he was always over-looked for a Nations place, even in his world title-winning years, and his two GP appearances in the 1980s didn’t help his numbers. Either way 3 wins from 50 races is an easy calculation, so a 6 per cent win rate is high enough for 41^st in our 1980s list, and a welcome addition considering what was ahead of him.

Schmit’s 1980s Numbers:

GPs counted: 2 – 0 Wins

AMA Nationals: 48 – 3 Wins

Total: 50 Events, 3 Wins, Winning Percentage 6.0

Season By Season:

Year       Class                      Record                  Champ Position                Grand Prix Results

1986:     125cc AMA     11 rounds, 0 wins                      51st                       N/A

1987:     125cc AMA     12 rounds, 2 wins                        5th                       USGP 125cc – 10^th Overall

1988:     125cc AMA     12 rounds, 1 win                         2nd                       USGP 250cc – 9^th Overall

1989:     125cc AMA     13 rounds, 0 wins                        4th                       N/A

Our next rider… well I’m gonna wait for the backlash on this one! He certainly was a fan favourite, although he never had anything like the extreme dedication to training as Schmit did. He did win a world title, but the numbers that put him at #40 cannot be denied. Although I can guarantee that many British fans won’t like it!





The USA, in Motocross as in all other sports, loves its megastars – the Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Ricky Carmichael type of character – and in the 1980s it had a good number of those on dirt bikes. They helped lift American Motocross to a level that means it makes a study of the sport, like this list, pretty meaningless if you don’t consider the AMA Champions as at least the equals of those who raced the Grands Prix.

As with the elitism of bodies like the NFL, NBA, etc, those sportsmen who are damned good, talented individuals who just don’t quite get to the top very much, kind of get condemned to the trash heap a little bit. Such is the case with our #42 – Eddie Warren.

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Words: Ben Rumbold | Featured Image: Richard DeLibertis

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Now, let’s be plain here. He’s higher in this list than British heroes Rob Herring and Jeremy Whatley, and in comparison to many riders, Eddie’s career was like a blink of an eye.  Based on opinion, especially outside of the USA, he probably would never have got in. When he did – “By the Numbers”, let’s not forget – I was a little nervous about this particular article.  Until I found out more about his story. Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s what happens to a Ricky Carmichael-level schoolboy – or “Amateur” to use the relevant American parlance – when things don’t quite go right for a season or so.

CAREER SUMMARY:

 Years Professionally Raced: 3 – 1985-1987 (All 125cc AMA)

Machines Raced: Kawasaki

AMA National Wins: 2      Podiums: 5     AMA National Moto Wins: 3     Top 3 Moto Finishes: 11

Grand Prix Moto Top 3 Finishes: 1

Nations Selections: 0

Championship Medals: None in Motocross. Best of 6^th, 1985 125cc AMA National Championship. 1985 125cc East Supercross Champion

So who was Eddie Warren? Well according to those who watched keenly for the next big thing to come through the big American youth meetings such as Loretta Lynn’s and Ponca City, he was quite simply one of the fastest teenagers to thrash a “Wun-twenny-fahve” around a race track.  Watching footage of him is a treat, like a slightly shorter David Bailey, smooth and up on the pegs whenever possible, and with a natural, effortless style.  One of those riders to whom going fast isn’t hard work, so it’s actually difficult to make them work hard to go faster still, or faster for longer.  Is natural talent a two-edged blade? Most certainly!

At 19 years old Eddie, son of a renowned Harley-Davidson mechanic who always made sure the bikes were perfectly prepared, tried his hand at the newly-conceived Regional 125cc Supercross “Pro-Am” series.  Naturally, the boy from Michigan rode the Eastern races, although it didn’t look strictly controlled as to who rode what.  A 16-year-old tearaway by the name of Mike Healey finished 3^rd in the West series, and 5^th in the East! Eddie had never turned a wheel on a true Supercross track before the Atlanta opener, although the randomly-constructed circuits of the time were light-years away from the computer-designed layouts of today.  Nevertheless, his natural abilities shone through and he won the first three rounds, including the first-ever Championship 125cc Main at the iconic Daytona Speedway, then the mixed East-West event at Houston.

With the outdoor and indoor seasons overlapping back in those days, before that third Supercross win Eddie tasted National AMA Motocross competition for the first time. Despite a shaky debut in the 125 class, he powered to a fine 5^th overall at Hangtown’s second round, with his first top-3 moto in the opening race. He only had future champs Ron Lechien and George Holland in front of him!

The results were encouraging enough for the father & son team to tackle the whole 10-round Outdoor National Championship, and after sewing up the Eastern 125 Supercross title (future World Champ Bob Moore won the West), he scored an opening-moto 3^rd again in the heat of Las Vegas. The results fluctuated for the #801 Kawasaki man, between 14^th and 4^th overall, but he kept scoring points and finished well with his first overall podium, a 3^rd overall at Washougal. Ending the season 6^th overall in the championship, a factory Team Green ride was secured for 1986!

For the first time, Eddie rode without his father on the spanners and it took time to get used to a factory setup.  He was also thrown straight into the deep end in the 250cc Supercross season, lining up alongside the likes of Ricky Johnson, David Bailey, and teammates Jeff Ward and Ron Lechien! He recorded a best of 9^th indoors but 22^nd in the series, probably disappointing to his Kawasaki bosses.

His main aim was the 125cc Outdoor Championship, and although there was a promising start with a 5^th in the second moto of the opening round at Hangtown, it would take until early August for his promise to show through.  Having grown up in Michigan with the accompanying weather and conditions, circumstances played into Eddie’s hands. The opening moto at the Broome-Tioga facility near New York was good with a 3^rd place, due to a near holeshot and battles with Yamaha’s Keith Bowen and factory Suzuki man George Holland.  As dark clouds and lightning storms closed in on the circuit, the second moto got underway and Holland looked to have it stitched up.  On the fourth lap it absolutely hammered down, and Holland slowed immediately to protect a slightly injured knee. Warren was on him and gone, pulling well clear even after dropping his goggles. It was a great turnaround for the 20-year-old.

The similarly-soft terrain of Millville saw Eddie on the podium again with 3^rd overall from 5-2 motos. Then came the best day of his whole career at a new venue, the Roger DeCoster-designed Hollister Hills track in northern California.  On hard-packed slick West Coast dirt, Warren never expected to win there, but with a dominant first moto victory and a tape-to-tape, but closer, second moto, Eddie claimed his only ever AMA National maximum score and was on cloud nine! A 5-3 at the final round at Washougal meant that Eddie outscored everyone in the four events in August. 7^th in points doesn’t do justice to how fast he was at that point.  Five of the people he beat in that time are going to be featured in this list, with World or National Championships to nearly all of their names!

He continued his good run on the last day of August 1986, travelling south to Belo Horizonte in Brazil for the final round of the 125cc World Championship! Duking it out with the Vehkonen cousins, Pekka & Ismo, and the Benelli of Alberto Barozzi (I’m sure he never saw a Benelli again, before or since!), Eddie finished a credible 6^th overall with 7-6 motos in a GP dominated by Micky Dymond.

He was expected to grow in 250cc Supercross in 1987, and certainly challenge for the 125cc national title.  Just to give it a context, the 125s raced at every AMA National event from 1985 onwards, a full 10- to 12-round championship, whilst the big boys split those rounds between 250cc & 500cc. Most riders did both to contend for two national titles of 5 or 6 rounds each. If you were a Suzuki rider, you might have done half of the 125cc series after the 250s were done, as you had no 500cc option by 1985! Most Suzuki factory guys, like Holland, Erik Kehoe and rising star Donny Schmit, just did all of outdoors on a 125. As proven though by first Lechien and then Dymond, the Honda was really the machine to be on!

So this is where Eddie Warren’s story shifts a bit.  As you can see from the numbers, he would never win another AMA Event. For an unknown reason that would only come to light years later, the results just didn’t come. Lower end of the top ten in both series, all through the year, there just wasn’t the same spark there.  Team Green had plenty of kids knocking on the door, one by the name of Jeff Matiasevich, and it started to be obvious that Warren would not be re-hired alongside Wardy & Lechien.

The reason for this slump was only made public in a recent podcast, where Eddie explained that he was involved in a car crash with someone else driving, and as the vehicle was rolled it messed up his shoulder “big-time”.  He didn’t have it x-rayed, and bizarrely he never told anybody in his team or the media about it, but he was struggling for mobility in his shoulder for much of the early part of the year.  This, added to chronic arm-pump which plagued him his whole pro career, just left Eddie with an empty ammunition holster.

The arm pump he puts down to lack of confidence, nerves, and going from being a win-everything Amateur to suddenly swimming with the sharks in the pro ranks. It’s an age-old problem that doesn’t seem to have an easy answer.  Ultimately, you just have to become a shark yourself!

Eddie once again came good towards the end of the year. In June’s penultimate Supercross, at East Rutherford, New Jersey, he scored a stunning 3^rd place behind RJ & Lechien, and ended the season tied with Guy Cooper for 6^th in the series! Back to the Nationals and it was more of the same, 12^th & 11^th, but then it was back to Broome-Tioga – so named because the track is in Broome County and the pits are in Tioga County! Here it was that Warren claimed his final overall AMA podium result, with 5-3 motos putting him 3^rd behind Holland and double-champion Dymond.

A week before the last round of the Nationals, Eddie lined up for the 125cc USGP, the first one since 1981, at Steel City in Pennsylvania, and acquitted himself well. A crash ruled him out of the points in 17^th for race one, but he held a strong 2^nd for most of race two behind GP winner Kehoe, only to be passed by a late charge from rising superstar Jean-Michel Bayle. Even then, a top 3 in his last ever GP moto? Surely a move to Europe could have been an option?

4^th overall at the final AMA round at Millville got him to 9^th in the championship, but it was not enough to save Warren’s Kawasaki ride.  Before he even turned 22, with zero offers on the table he considered calling it quits. After the Nationals however, he had done a few Australian races at the recommendation of his 125cc AMA rival Jeff Leisk. He got a call inviting him down under to race there, and he never lived in the USA ever again!

Warren’s story from here is an extraordinary one. He carved out a decent living on the Australian National scene, winning domestic championships and falling in love with the country.  He met his wife out there, moved to Sydney, had two kids, and made the place his home. Hearing him speak today, there’s a definite Aussie twang mixed-in with the Michigan! At the start of the 1990s, he raced the Osaka Supercross in Japan, against a bunch of top Americans, and finished an amazing 5^th. This led to Kawasaki requesting his presence in Japan to compete in their domestic series.  The first year he commuted by plane between Australia and Japan, before Kawasaki helped him get an apartment and a van to stay there during the season.

In comparison to his paltry $15,000 salary from Kawasaki in 1986, he could make 25 grand on a good weekend in Japan, and although Eddie didn’t make enough money to retire on for the rest of his life, it certainly set him up with a house and some savings when he finally called it a day.

He raced hard against his old buddy Ronnie Tichenor in the All-Japan series, and raced some seriously trick factory kit, his 1992 hand-made steel framed KX250 his personal favourite.  From then on many Japanese manufacturers began experimenting with ally frames, and the thing he got to ride was “a piece of junk” in comparison.  This was many years before the first of those frames made it into production!

Tragedy did befall Eddie when, after being chased out of his Japanese ride by, guess who, Matiasevich again (!), he rode out his career in Australia and settled down.  His wife passed away from an aneurism and he had to raise his two daughters alone for a while. He did re-marry and acquired four step-daughters, worked on railways and then the recycling industry.  He also helped Aussie Jay Wilson in recent years.  He did it the long way round, but Eddie Warren carved out a professional career in Motocross that set him up well for life afterwards.  Many riders both in or out of this list were not so fortunate.

The Numbers

There is no doubt that Eddie’s place in this list is mainly due to the fact that he only rode for three seasons and won the minimum requirement of two events that this list was built on. His 35 counting events – 33 Nationals and two GPs – is the 4^th lowest number on this list. Even so, given more of a chance he surely could have done more had he stayed in the AMA for ’88 & ’89, or even gone to Europe as some of his contemporaries did.  His place in history as the first ever Eastern Region 125cc Supercross Champion is also not to be sniffed at.

I grimaced slightly when his statistics put him into this list, and in terms of best championship finish he is the weakest one of all 50, but his story is an amazing one, reflecting what happened to a rider given very little chance to find his place amongst the elite but still finding a way to survive. I’m glad he’s in here.

The rider we flip to next time had a different story to tell after he was left outside of the factory AMA line-ups, and he left his own mark on Motocross history…

1980s Numbers:

GPs counted: 2 – 0 Wins

AMA Nationals: 33 – 2 Wins

Total: 35 Events, 2 Wins, Winning Percentage 5.7

Season By Season:

Year       Class                      Record                  Champ Position                Grand Prix Results

1985:     125cc AMA     10 rounds, 0 wins                                6th                                         —

1986:     125cc AMA     11 rounds, 2 wins                                7th                         125cc – 6^th Overall (Brazil)

1987:     125cc AMA     12 rounds, 0 wins                                9th                         125cc – 9^th Overall (USA)





MX Vice runs regular “… Years Ago” posts on social media as little reminders of Motocross’ great history and the riders that helped to shape it.  In the case of Hawkstone Park 1993, which saw something of a new era dawning for the big-bike class in the World Championship, our legendary snapper Jack Burnicle just had too many awesome photos to condense into a small post.  So here is Jack’s gallery from that historic day with a few notes on how it all played out.

Words: Ben Rumbold | Images: Jack Burnicle

1993 saw two major changes to the Motocross World Championships for the 500cc class, which had been the primary focus for most manufacturers a decade before, but became less important with dwindling sales for the half-litre monsters. So much so that this season was the last for the class in the USA, being reduced to just a four-round Championship and won by Kawasaki’s Mike LaRocco.

The first major change was the 250cc class was now defined as the “Blue Riband” Premier class, with financial incentives increased to match that status. The second was that four-stroke machines were allowed an increase in capacity to a maximum of 650cc. The first change had seen an exodus of the entire top three from 1992. Champion Georges Jobe had retired, with four-time runner-up Kurt Nicoll unwilling to push for another title in the 500s after being so narrowly denied at the final round. He was joined by Bronze-medallist Billy Liles in tackling the 250cc class for 1993, leaving the 500s somewhat lacking in star quality as well as in factory support.

So it was time for new stars to shine. Younger twenty-somethings Joel Smets, the highest-ranked rider left with the #4 plate, Johan Boonen wearing #6, and Marcus Hansson from Sweden were massive big-bike fans and up for the challenge. Veterans Jacky Martens, Dirk Geukens, and Jorgen Nilsson were ready to step up, as were British challengers Jared Smith, Brian Wheeler, Jeremy Whatley, and of course three-time World Champ Dave Thorpe, convinced that he still had what it took to challenge for the crown.

The second change was to truly be the lifeline for the class to last for the further decade that it did after the AMA version was cut. Four-strokes had made small incursions with Walter Bartolini on a Husaberg in 1991 and Jacky Martens’ factory Husqvarna in 1992. Martens was back on the bigger version of the snorting Husky, and Smets joined him on the four-banger after being smitten with the Vertemati brothers’ revised Husaberg in a mid-season test the previous year.  Between them they formed the prologue to the true four-stroke revolution that was to come.

Most of the other riders were on privately-funded Hondas, Kawasakis, and KTMs. The Austrian factory had gone into liquidation at the end of 1991 despite finishing 2nd in all World Championship classes that year. Nicoll had again finished 2nd on what was left of the factory effort in 1992, but there was nothing apart from a sweet 250 for Trampas Parker in terms of KTM support for 1993.

There was also another wild-card in action at Hawkstone, in the shape of one of those 1991 runner-ups, Mike Healey!  On a private Honda with the eye-catching #111, it wasn’t the greatest of showings for The Gunner and he left with no points.

Other privateer Honda riders did better, however, with 28-year-old Swede Jorgen Nilsson on fire from the get-go on his #7 Wulf-sponsored CR500. Three times winner of 250 GP motos in the 1980s, and 3rd-placed finisher at the final round of 1992 behind Nicoll and Jobe, Nilsson was on his second year of CR500 racing and cleaned up in the first moto ahead of Ronny Weustenraed, the most mis-spelt name in Motocross. “Wursty-Sausage” finished ahead of another Belgian on a Kawasaki, 24-year-old Johan Boonen. Smith put in the best British moto of the day with 4th ahead of the black Scott Facemask-wearing Carlo Hulsen, a classic Dutch sand specialist who excelled in little else! Smets and Martens took 6th and 8th, either side of Thorpey, who was taking part in what would be his final British Grand Prix.  A blanket could have covered the three of them across the line, as captured in Jack’s excellent shot below. Sadly, it wouldn’t get better than that at Hawkstone for DT.

Slechten-sponsored Weustenraed made a better fist of the second-race start and showed the sort of pace that brought him a surprise moto win at the start of 1991, when no-one had a clue who he was! With Hulsen 2nd and Nilsson 3rd, the overall result looked to be between those three.

New Zealander Darryl King took a fine 4th ahead of Smith and Honda man Jo Martens (no relation to Jacky). Just behind them was Dirk Geukens.  Another moustachioed Belgian, Dirk had won the second of his two career GPs at the 1991 Hawkstone round. Twice a world number three, it wasn’t looking too good for him on his KTM debut. But more was to come…

The Brits, apart from Smith, weren’t having a good one. Whatley could only manage 11th, and DT fell whilst chasing Jem and ended up 15th. Brian Wheeler and Warren Edwards, both fairly local boys, wouldn’t trouble the points scorers. James Marsh got into the points with 14th in both races two and three.

Smets had also had a quiet day, but he roared the Husaberg to the holeshot in the third moto ahead of Edwards and another local boy Daniel Smith! Austrian Karl Sulzer was also up there early, but Geukens was swiftly through to take a stunning race win ahead of Jacky Martens, who had a massive bandage across his face from a broken nose sustained in practise! Nilsson brought it home in 3rd again to ensure a massive first career overall Grand Prix victory!

Amazingly, Weustenraed had destroyed his Kawasaki with a big crash through the tunnel, but was still second overall with just the first two moto scores, as Hulsen could muster no better than 11th, just enough to deny Geukens an overall podium finish! Smith suffered a poor start and could only get 10th, 3 points off the overall podium but still top Brit in 5th overall.

The title, like in 1992, would go down to the final race and decided by a handful of points. Nilsson was the rider that just fell short, as Jacky Martens would take the first World Championship for a four-stroke rider since Jeff Smith in 1965. It was a royal battle all season, which will catalogue for you amongst all the action here at MX Vice!

Full Results:

Pos.	Rider	Nat.	Bike	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Points
1	Jorgen Nilsson	SWE	Honda	1st	3rd	3rd	50
2	Ronny Wuestenraed	BEL	Kawasaki	2nd	1st	X	37
3	Carlo Hulsen	NED	Honda	5th	2nd	11th	33
4	Dirk Geukens	BEL	KTM	13th	7th	1st	32
5	Jared Smith	GBR	Kawasaki	4th	5th	10th	30
6	Jacky Martens	BEL	Husqvarna	8th	X	2nd	25
7	Darryl King	NZ	Kawasaki	9th	4th	12th	24
8	Soren Mortensen	DK	Kawasaki	11th	8th	6th	23
9	Joel Smets	BEL	Husaberg	6th	X	5th	21
10	Jo Martens	BEL	Honda	12th	6th	9th	21
11	Johan Boonen	BEL	Kawasaki	3rd	10th	X	21
12	Rudy van Leeuwen	NED	Honda	10th	X	4th	19
13	Marcus Hansson	SWE	Honda	X	9th	8th	15
14	Jeremy Whatley	GBR	KTM	X	11th	7th	14
15	David Thorpe	GBR	Honda	7th	15th	13th	13
16	Hans Koenen	NED	Honda	X	12th	X	4
17	James Marsh	GBR	Honda	14th	14th	X	4
18	Pekka Vehkonen	FIN	Honda	15th	X	14th	3
19	Gerard Delepine	BEL	Honda	X	13th	X	3
20	Klaus Nielsen	DK	Kawasaki	X	X	15th	1