FLASHBACK FRIDAY: THE RACE TO REPLACE THE RACE THAT NEVER WAS

You know there was a big crowd, when this many spectators climb 22-stories to get to the top of Mt. Saint Helen.

The 2002 World Cup of Motocross was born out of the cancellation of the 2002 Motocross des Nations at Comp Park in San Jacinto, California. Many of the des Nation’s teams had flown to America only to find out that the Indian tribe who owned the land that Comp Park was located on had refused to allow the race to take place. Luckily, Glen Helen volunteered its racetrack as a replacement, but Giuseppe Luongo wanted $650,000 in payment for Glen Helen to bail him out of the embarrassing situation. Glen Helen refused, but felt bad for the teams from Bolivia, France, Argentina, Czech Republic, Chile, New Zealand, Denmark, Costa Rica, England, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Australia and , of course the USA. So, the name was changed to the “2002 World Cup of Motocross,” and Glen Helen invited the abandoned MXDN teams to race.

Dorna announced that the Motocross des Nations would be held at Competition Park in San Jacinto, California. And the teams bought their plane tickets and made their hotel reservations(even though there weren’t an abudance of hotels anywhere near San Jacinto, California. But, they didn’t need a reservation—because the 2002 Motocross des Nations was going to be held on an Indian reservation. Not only were there not any hotels, save for the one at the Indian Casino , but, there wasn’t a race track in San Jacinto, California. Say what? No track. Nada. Zip. Squat. Zero. One big goose egg on the subject of race tracks in San Jacinto. Oh, there had been a race track in San Jacinto, but the Scientologists bought the land and closed the track four months before the 2002 Motocross des Nations.

Dorna, undeterred in their desire to get some return on their investment, flew to the Estados Unidos to meet the guy putting on the race in San Jacinto. And where did they meet? In an empty field on the edge of an Indian reservation. Why were they meeting on an Indian reservation? Because, Indian land is considered sovereign. What does that mean? For all intents and purposes, Indian land isn’t subject to the same rules, laws and regulations as the dirt 50 feet west of the reservation (which is why gambling casinos pop up Indians treservations). For promoter and and Dorna, this flat field inside the boundaries of the Soboba Indian reservation (and about 200 yards from a casino) was manna from heaven.

So, why didn’t the Motocross des Nations happen in San Jacinto, California. Because all is right in heaven and the sins of omission (and commission) eventually had to be meted out as punishment. Dorna and the FIM should be tarred-and-feathered for their part in turning the Motocross des Nations into a cut-rate, bargain basement, shopping-channel commodity. But, when you sell your sport to a promotion company, you can’t expect the soul of the sport to go along as part of the 20 million dollar deal. The unholy duo of Dorna and the FIM sold Grand Prix motocross down the river–and the San Jacinto affair proves that no matter how inept the AMA is, they are Mother Theresa next to the FIM.

And what about the AMA? Where were they during the Motocross des Nations fiasco? Most likely they were hosting a Meter Maid rally back in Ohio. The AMA played whipping boy to Dorna. Not only did Dorna give the Motocross des Nations to the Estados Unidos without consulting them. They gave it to a race track and promoter who weren’t affiliated with the AMA in any way (and it’s probably redundant to mention that they bypassed every major American race track to award the Motocross des Nations to a field).

It was not to be! The Indians, Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Interior delivered the coup de grace exactly seven days before the 2002 Motocross des Nations was to start. It turns out that sovereignty isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. The Indian nation may not be subject to no-fly zones or naval blockades, but it can get some pretty nasty letters from the federal government. The Soboba Indians got several. One letter stated that the race track was illegal, and if they let racing take place on tribal land they would be engaging in “illegal activities.” The next pointed out that any lawsuits stemming from racing on said-same “illegal” race track would result in the money being taken directly out of casino revenues to pay the settlements. So, the Indians, under pressure from the Great White Father, padlocked the gates (although they gave the American race promoter more warning than Sitting Bull gave Custer).

Since 14 nations had already arrived in America for the Motocross des Nations (15 if you count the sniveling Italian team), Glen Helen decided to hold a big purse race so that their trips wouldn’t be a waste (especially since Disneyland’s Matterhorn was down for repairs that week). Virtually everyone in the sport of motocross donated their time, energy or money to produce the most laid-back, jam-fest, motocross race in the history of the sport. Is it any coincidence that neither the AMA or FIM had anything to do with it?

Not every foreign rider on the 14 teams made it through the testing and practicing in the week leading up to the 2002 World Cup. Luckily, American riders were drafted to get the foreign teams back up to full strength. Mike Metzger filled in for the New Zealand Team and Willy Musgrave volunteered to race for the Czech team. Team England benefited from a large British population in SoCal, but none of the ex-pat Brits wanted to race with James Dobb and Neil Prince.

If you were there, no worries, you had a great day. And everyone rooted for the Bolivian team who barely made it to the race—they had gone to San Jacinto that morning only to discover that the gates were padlocked. A passerby sent them to Glen Helen.

Chad Reed went 1-2- in the three motos as the overall individual winner of the World Cup.

RESULTS: WORLD CUP OF MOTOCROSS
Glen Helen, California
MOTO ONE:
1. Chad Reed…Aus
2. Tim Ferry…USA
3. James Dobb…Eng
4. Sean Hamblin…USA
5. Ernesto Fonseca…Cos
6. Grant Langston…So. Afr
7. Greg Albertyn…So. Afr
8. Craig Anderson…Aus
9. Michael Byrne…Aus
10. Blair Morgan…Can
MOTO TWO:
1. Ernesto Fonseca…Cos
2. Chad Reed…Aus
3. Kyle Lewis…USA
4. Michael Byrne…Aus
5. Greg Albertyn…So. Afr
6. Sean Hamblin…USA
7. Craig Anderson…Aus
8. James Dobb…Eng
9. Blair Morgan…Can
10. Akira Narita…Japan
MOTO THREE:
1. Chad Reed…Aus
2. Grant Langston…So. Afr
3. Tim Ferry…USA
4. Michael Byrne…Aus
5. Blair Morgan…Can
6. Sean Hamblin…USA
7. Akira Narita…Japan
8. Shayne King…NZ
9. Yoshitaka Atsuta…Japan
10. Marco Dube…Can

Team  Australia took the 2002 World Cup victory. 

2002 WORLD CUP TEAM STANDINGS
1. Australia…20
2. USA…24
3. Canada …60
4. South Africa…64
5. Japan…67
6. England…102
7. Costa Rica…104
8. Denmark…121
9. New Zealand…127
10. Chile…121
11. Czech Rep,…139
12. Argentina…151
13. France…180
14. Bolivia…250

WORLD CUP TEAMS
1. Australia: Chad Reed, Craig Anderson, Michael Byrne
2. USA: Tim Ferry, Sean Hamblin, Kyle Lewis
3. Canada: Blair Morgan, Marco Dube, Jean Sebastien Roy
4. So. Africa: Grant Langston, Greg Albertyn, Kevin McGovern
5. Japan: Yoshitaka Atsuta, Kazuyoshi Odagiri, Akira Narita
6. England: James Dobb, Neil Prince, ???
7. Costa Rico: Ernesto Fonseca, Christian Leon, Adrian Robert
8. Denmark: Bo Vang Jensen, Kim Nielsen, Kasper Jensen
9. New Zealand: Shayne King, Cody Cooper, Mike Metzger
10. Chile: Jeremy Israel, Alfredo Norambuena, Walter Helfmarm
11. Czech Rep: Josef Dobes, Willie Musgrave
12. Argentina: Luis Cutera, Augusto Freytes, Marcos Caco
13. France: Rodrig Thain, Eric Sorby, Sebastien Tortetlli
14. Bolivia: Juan Carlos Salvatierra, Benjamin Esquerre, Juan Carlos Salvatierra