Motocross of Nations: 1986-2016

Back in 1981, an American ‘B-team’ rocked up at the Motocross des Nations (MXdN) in Belgium and surprised everybody by unceremoniously upstaging Europe’s motocross superpowers. It was the beginning of a remarkable 13-year win-streak for Team USA, the most dominant of which was Maggiora, Italy, in 1986. According to MX folklore, the ’86 event remains one of the best des Nations of all time; where Team USA’s Johnny O’Mara, David Bailey and Ricky Johnson posted perfect 1-2 results in all three motos; where O’Mara showed the world what a 125cc was capable of; and where Team Australia’s custom-made gear set the precedent for MXdN riders wearing their national strip.

The Australian team that year was made up of MXdN debutantes, Craig Dack (CR250) and Dave Armstrong (CR500), along with Glen Bell (YZ125). For the Ripping Yarn in Transmoto’s March 2013 issue, we asked Dack – a bloke who’s gone on to become Australia’s most successful race team manager – to reflect on that epic 1986 event where he banged bars with the world’s best. Check it out…

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