Kit Palmer | April 23, 2023
Cycle News Archives
COLUMN
LaPorte’s Time To Shine
Last week, we revisited the day Brad Lackey wrapped up the 500cc Motocross World Championship in Luxembourg in 1982, this week we figured it was a good time to visit Danny LaPorte’s big day in Sweden.
Flanked by Georges Jobe (left) and Kees van der Ven (right), Danny LaPorte stands on top of the world in Sweden when he won the 250cc Motocross World Championship in 1982. Photos: Henny Ray Abrams
The entire motocross community in the U.S. started keeping tabs on Lackey’s progress when he went to Europe in the early 1970s. The Californian had built up a massive following over the next 10 years. But while all eyes were focused on Lackey and what looked to be his year in 1982, there was another Californian, this one from down south, who was coming on strong in the 250cc Motocross World Championship, somewhat under the radar. Danny LaPorte was leading defending champ Jorge Jobe of Belgium, who was heavily favored to win it again, by just 13 points while Lackey was busy wrapping up the 500cc crown on August 8. Three weeks later, on August 29, in Sweden, it was LaPorte’s turn to shine.
Like the 500cc World Championship, the 250cc World Championship came down to the final moto that year in Sweden. In the first moto, visiting American Donnie Hansen aboard a factory Honda blew everyone away, but the rider LaPorte cared about most was Jobe, who took second. Dutchman Kees van der Ven, who mathematically was still in championship contention, took third, and LaPorte took fourth after a midpack start.
Former 250cc and 500cc MX World Champion and then Yamaha Racing Manager Heikki Mikkola is the first to spray LaPorte with champagne.
Going into moto two, LaPorte led Jobe by just 11 points. All the pressure was on the factory Suzuki rider, Jobe. He had to win and hope for the best. But his hopes were quickly dashed just a few turns into the race when he had a run-in with Heinz Kinigadner and went down. With LaPorte running in the top five and Hansen again running away up front, the title was all but ensured for LaPorte, especially when he moved into second place.
Now worried about losing second in the championship to van der Ven, Jobe got right back up and made a spectacular charge through the field, passing 32 riders. He actually had LaPorte in his wheelhouse when the checkered flag came out. But that didn’t matter.
Amazingly, after 10 agonizing years, America celebrated its second Motocross World Championship just three weeks after its first. LaPorte’s championship-winning season was quite the contrast to Lackey’s since LaPorte’s came in just his first year of trying. But, no doubt, Lackey blazed a trail on the European circuit that certainly helped LaPorte, and many things had changed since Lackey’s first full season across the pond many years earlier. Still, LaPorte was the first person ever to win a Motocross World Championship in their first attempt.
Going into moto two, LaPorte led Jobe by just 11 points. All the pressure was on the factory Suzuki rider, Jobe. He had to win and hope for the best.
“I can’t believe it. It’ll take a couple of days to sink in,” LaPorte said after the race. “I was so nervous going into that second moto thinking of what could happen, but when I saw that Georges was down, I relaxed and just rode conservatively. This is something that I’ve always wanted, to be World Champion.”
(L-R) LaPorte, Mikkola and Jobe moments after LaPorte wrapped up the title.
LaPorte also won the title in his first year aboard a Yamaha. Before 1982, LaPorte rode a factory Honda in the U.S. Before that, he won his only AMA National MX title (in the 500cc class, though some say he should have a 125cc title, as well), where his professional racing career started with Suzuki. LaPorte’s success with Honda was lukewarm at best, though he did get a couple of National wins, but it got hot really quick with Honda when he helped the all-red U.S. team win the Motocross des Nations (and Trophee des Nations for 250cc bikes) for the first time in 1981. It was at the ‘Nations when he was approached by Yamaha’s Racing Team Manager and former 250cc and 500cc MX World Champion Heikki Mikkola about a possible ride for 1982. LaPorte had always wanted to race for a World Championship. After asking and being declined by Honda to run the GPs that year (all the seats were already taken), LaPorte made the switch to Yamaha, no doubt one of the best decisions he ever made regarding his racing career.
Mikkola said moments after LaPorte won the crown in ’82, “I started racing the GPs in 1969 and won my first title in 1974. This is the first time that someone has won a title on their first try. That’s one reason that we picked Danny, because we knew that he could do it. We knew that he was determined and consistent.”
The legend Mikkola was the first to spray champagne on LaPorte while LaPorte was still on the track moments from taking the checkers.
When all was said and done, LaPorte had finished 13 points ahead of Jobe, 238-225.
Cycle News spoke with LaPorte the day after he won the title, which is nothing unusual for CN—talking with the winners after a race or championship. But what was a little unusual this time, he called us!
“Hi, this is Danny LaPorte,” he said on the phone from Belgium. “I was just wondering if there was anything you guys needed to know about the race yesterday.”
That tells you what kind of a chill guy he is.
“The first signal I got from the pits was that Jobe had crashed and was in last place,” LaPorte said of the second moto while on the line. “I couldn’t believe it! The first time all year [that Jobe had crashed]. He was determined to win because he was easily the fastest rider all day, he had the fastest lap times by two or three seconds. I just thought, ‘My gosh, he crashed, what luck!’ It was perfect. I rode around, easy, with no problems, and finished second. Hansen was 15 seconds in front of me, so I just rode around like an old lady.
The T-shirt says it all.
“I’m just perfectly happy,” LaPorte said while on the line. “Everything worked out perfectly. I got sign boards every lap on what position Georges was in. He was coming from 25th, to 20th, 19th, 17th, 12th, 8th, but it didn’t matter if he beat me or not. The worst I could finish was seventh, and I was in second. Right there, I knew if I didn’t make any mistakes and the bike didn’t break, I was okay.”
LaPorte returned to Europe with Yamaha in 1983 but lost the title to Jobe despite winning three GPs. He moved up to the 500cc class in 1984 but had little success on the GP circuit, mainly due to having far inferior machinery. LaPorte then changed his focus to off-road racing, particularly rally racing and Dakar. But he had to prove himself first before anyone would give him a look. Three wins in Baja did just that. LaPorte would win a stage and take second overall in the Dakar Rally in 1992, riding for Cagiva.CN
