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THE TEAM BEHIND THE TEAM
Honda's dominance of American motocross reflects the team's constancy in giving its riders every advantage, on the track and off. World-class competitors such as Lusk, Tortelli and Windham need an equally talented crew behind the scenes to handle the myriad details involved in doing battle with the toughest competition anywhere in the world. Thus rider support is an indispensable part of Honda's championship-winning efforts in American professional motocross.
The people behind each Team Honda rider display the same level of dedication to winning as the riders themselves, day in and day out, throughout one of the most grueling seasons in professional sport. That level of dedication and insatiable desire to be the best starts from the top and extends to every person involved in Team Honda motocross.
Gary Mathers, Motorcycle Sports Department Manager
In his 14 years commanding American Honda's motocross, Supercross, and National road-racing programs, Mathers stands at the helm of one of the most powerful dynasties in motorsport. With more than 60 National motorcycle and snowmobile championships to his credit, his track record is the most impressive in the business.
Cliff White, Team Manager
Armed with experience gleaned from turning wrenches for motocross stars such as David Bailey, George Holland and Jean-Michel Bayle, White's 30 years in motocross are crucial to his role of marshaling the team's efforts on and off the track. Once deemed "the best motocross mechanic in the world," by none less than five-time World Champion and motocross icon Roger DeCoster, the balance of Cliff White's credentials are written in the AMA's record books. After more than two decades with the Red Riders, White claims 11 National titles as a Honda race tuner.
Ron Wood, Testing Coordinator
After serving as a Team Honda tuner in the early '90s, Wood moved on to work with several top-flight auto racing teams, applying his talents to everything from stadium trucks to sports cars and engine building. After working with other National-caliber riders, Wood returns to Honda after earning an AMA 125 National title.
Mike Batista, Suspension Technician
Batista handles Team Honda's suspension testing duties, working with Showa Japan to coordinate parts development and service work. He started working with Showa, a suspension manufacturer and Honda OEM supplier, during the 1997 season. Mike brings more than seven years of suspension tuning experience to the Honda motocross squad.
Tom Jobe, Race Team Fabricator
After nearly 35 years experience in racing, and success in every arena from land-speed-record cars to drag racing, Indy cars, Can-Am cars and assorted remarkable projects, Tom Jobe carved out a niche for himself creating one-off parts with unparalleled skill. Prior to his nine years with Team Honda, Jobe's efforts earned a spot in the NHRA Drag Racing Hall of Fame for his visionary drag racing team, "The Surfers."
Danny Betley, Team Technician
After arriving at Honda in 1989, Betley teamed up with a gifted young rookie named Jeff Stanton. The rest, as they say, is history. The duo would subsequently nail down six AMA National titles and a World Championship. Betley's talents have become an indispensable component of Team Honda's efforts in AMA 250 Supercross and 250 National motocross.
Mike Gosselaar, Race Technician for Ezra Lusk
"The number one thing you have to do with a mechanic is develop trust," says Ezra Lusk, "because you're trusting your life to him. I have all the trust in the world in Mike. And my bike never breaks." After facilitating back-to-back AMA 125 National crowns for Team Honda, Gosselaar applied his 20-plus years of racing experience to Lusk's effort in 1998. Since then, the pair have come home second in the 250 Supercross chase for the last two years, finishing fourth in 1999's 250 National Motocross championship.
Shane Drew, Race Technician for Sebastien Tortelli
Having cut his tuning teeth as Chief Test Mechanic for the Red Riders, Drew enters his second year spinning the T-handles in support of double World Champion Sebastien Tortelli's bid to capture an AMA Pro motocross title or two.
Alley Semar, Race Technician for Kevin Windham
"I have an outstanding relationship with Alley," says Kevin Windham, "We grew up together. He can almost read my mind." After teaming up with Windham in 1995, Semar focused nearly a decade of race wrenching experience on the gifted young star's career. The pair subsequently gained back-to-back AMA Western Regional 125 Supercross titles, plus two runner-up finishes in AMA 125 National motocross, and finished second in the 1999 AMA 250 National motocross championship.
Andrea Mollica, Race Team Administrator
Handling everything from department purchasing, to budget accounting, to making sure the riders get to their planes on time, chief Red Rider liaison Andrea Mollica has been an important component in Team Honda's success for almost 20 years.
Tom Gildea, Team Transportation
Gildea served as a mechanic for Honda's successful ATC racing team before taking the wheel of the Red Rider's big rig. Now in his fourth season with the motocross team, he handles routine maintenance and driving chores for the team's massive 18-wheeler, logging more than 40,000 miles of seat time zig-zagging across the country 10 months out of the year to make sure the bikes and spare parts are always at the right place at the right time.
Brad Chapman, Motocross Parts Coordinator
Chapman focuses his organizational acumen and love of the sport on making sure the Red Rider's parts bins are topped off with the latest trickery from Honda Japan, as well as coordinating sponsor products over the course of the racing season. Prior to landing his present position, he prepared motorcycles to star in Honda advertising.
THE SPORT
Ernest Hemingway once said, "There are only three sports: bull fighting, mountain climbing and motor racing. All the rest are games." Judged on those grounds, it's safe to say Papa would have ranked professional motocross among the toughest sports in the world. The mental and physical demands are as relentless and divergent as the 28-round, nine-month race season itself: everything from clearing a tricky set of triple jumps that sling bike and rider more than 75 feet through the air at California's Anaheim Stadium in January, to hammering through knee-deep sand whoops for over an hour at Motocross 338 in Southwick, Massachusetts, ... in triple-digit June heat. Wherever the race happens to be, one factor remains constant: Bravado alone wins you an ambulance ride in this game. Reaching the top of this sport takes world-class dedication to the racer's art, and a hefty dose of strength, stamina, quick wits and iron-clad concentration.
MOTOCROSS ORIGINS
Though motocross came to this country as a European import nearly 30 years ago, American riders mastered the sport in the early 1980s, subsequently establishing a dynasty of world domination that extends to the present day. In the '70s, the few Americans who were good enough traveled to Europe to measure themselves against the best in the world. Then, in 1981, America's Honda-powered 250cc Trophee des Nations and 500cc Motocross des Nations squad of Donnie Hansen, Danny LaPorte, Johnny O'Mara and Chuck Sun brought the two most coveted titles in international motocross back home. From then on, the best boots have been on American feet.
AMERICAN MOTOCROSS HISTORY
Team Honda's own Sebastien Tortelli was crowned 125 World Motocross Champion as a 16-year-old in 1996, then won the 250 World Championship in 1998. Where does a double World Champion come to find tougher competition? He comes to America. When Europe's best motocrossers came to Budds Creek, Maryland, for the 1999 United States 250cc Grand Prix, Team Honda's Kevin Windham qualified faster than anyone else in the world. Once the racing started, Windham proceeded to put the Stars and Stripes in its customary international finishing position--first.
The history of professional motocross in America began when the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) first sanctioned National Championship classifications for 250cc and 500cc motorcycles in 1972. Last contested in 1993, the 500cc class was subsequently disbanded in America. In 1974, Marty Smith won the AMA's inaugural 125cc National Championship on a Honda CR125.
With the extinction of the 500 class, professional motocross is presently contested on 125cc and 250cc motorcycles. At its highest level, American motocross is divided into four AMA championships that are settled in two distinctly different types of venues. The most well attended is the indoor 250 Supercross series, which is held along with the 125 Supercross support class. More traditional outdoor motocross is likewise divided into the 125 and 250 National series.
SUPERCROSS, AN AMERICAN INVENTION
The roots of modern Supercross stretch back to the first Superbowl of Motocross, held in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1972. Marty Smith won the second event the following year on a Honda CR250R. Over the ensuing years, Supercross has grown faster than any other spectator sport in America, posting more sellout crowds in major stadiums across the country this past season than ever before. With more than 50,000 fans packing the stands at each event in 1999, total series attendance was nearly one million people. Beyond that, ABC TV's national broadcast of last year's Houston Supercross beamed the sport into an estimated 3.6 million homes across the nation. That's more than 10 percent of everyone watching television in the U.S. And millions more tuned into coverage of the series on ESPN2.
The AMA National motocross series consists of 12 outdoor events sprinkled across the country, each taking advantage of up to 2 miles of the most challenging local terrain. Supercross races run inside the nation's most prestigious sports stadiums on diabolically challenging tracks sculpted from thousands of tons of trucked-in dirt. Whereas outdoor Nationals are decided by the best aggregate finish over two motos consisting of 30 minutes plus two laps, Supercross racing is based on a heat system that qualifies riders for a single main event.
Comprised of everything from long stretches of hip-deep bumps (affectionately known as whoops), to jumps capable of launching bike and rider three stories high, tight turns and just about everything else a creative track designer can conjure up, the season's 16 Supercross tracks put world-class racing within full view of every seat in the house. Snaking their way over a grab bag of natural terrain, motocross tracks subject riders to everything from fast, wide-open straightaways to deep sand, mud, rocks, ruts, and dust, not to mention torrential rains, bitter cold and 100-degree heat with stifling humidity.
Supercross and motocross offer a unique set of challenges to which racers must adapt. Riding style, strategy, conditioning and bike setup all differ drastically between the two disciplines.
MOTOCROSS AND SUPERCROSS, THE RIDER'S PERSPECTIVE
According to Team Honda's Kevin Windham, "Motocross is more about stamina. You want to be just as fast on the last lap as you were on the first, if not faster. Lines are important outdoors because the tracks change lap to lap. They'll beat you to death if you're riding in the wrong place. In Supercross, the tracks are tighter and the races are only 20 laps long, so everything happens faster. It's all about timing, concentration and experience. We know by walking the track what lines will be faster or slower. Once you're racing, judging the distance between jumps comes down to instinct," Windham says.
Indoors or out, every rider plays to his strengths and his competition's weaknesses. "I go to every race hoping for a big set of whoops," says Team Honda's Ezra Lusk. "My bike works best there and I do too, so the whoops are going to be one of my attack points this year."
"Strength and endurance are the keys to training for motocross," Lusk says. "Supercross training aims at building total focus and quick reflexes."
THE WINNING SET-UP
Though they may look outwardly identical, the team's CR250R race bikes are set up differently for an outdoor motocross National than for an indoor Supercross event. Start with the suspension. "For Supercross," Ezra says, "I want the front real stiff so it holds up through the whoops. The rear is set slow and stiffer to absorb really big landings. Outdoors the rear is set up a lot looser and softer to be easier on the rider for the whole race, and the front fork is softer as well."
Power characteristics are equally incongruous. "There's a little more in a motocross engine," says Team Manager Cliff White, "but overall output is still around 50 horsepower. Supercross demands a very aggressive, instantaneous power delivery and a shorter power spread, because of the jumps. Rougher terrain means outdoor power has to be smoother."
The only thing more demanding than the racing itself is holding on to your focus, sanity, motivation and physical conditioning for a 28-race season that stretches from January to September and puts more than 40,000 miles on team's 18-wheel home away from home. "The 2000 Supercross season starts January 8th in Anaheim and ends May 6th in Las Vegas with only two free weekends in between," says Cliff White. "A week after the last Supercross in Las Vegas, we're in San Bernardino for the first motocross National."
Though motocross superstars still aren't as highly compensated as their counterparts in old guard stick-and-ball sports, annual take-home pay for the best riders in this sport tops the million-dollar mark. With bonuses, contingencies and endorsements from outside sponsors currently flooding into the sport, today's top athletes can make millions for a single championship season.
Pre-Order MOTO 3 The Movie DVD and receive a FREE High-Gloss MOTO 3 Poster!
MOTO 3 The Movie is the next evolution in the most progressive dirt bike film series of all time. The Assignment Moving Picture Co. spared no expense during the film's production, and worked with only the biggest and baddest riders on the planet. Like the first two MOTO The Movie features, The Assignment traveled the globe to search for the source of what pushes our sport.
Locations: Villopoto's Florida Compound, Barcia Compound, Windham Compound, Sipes Kentucky Compound, Arizona Desert, Sawtooth Idaho Mtns, Baja, EnduroX, AMA Pro Motocross, Euro GPs, and more...
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Watch this video on Vimeo. Video created by THE ASSIGNMENT.
PROFILE: KEVIN WINDHAM
In the war that was his 1999 racing season, Kevin Windham's brilliance eventually won out over the injuries and bad breaks that dogged him most of the year.
Things looked good at the beginning of the season, Windham's first year with Team Honda. He finished fourth behind a tide of Honda red that swept the season's first Supercross in Anaheim. Running as high as third in the Supercross points chase after that, Windham won his first stadium main event for Honda in Tampa. Then he did it again two weeks later in Dallas. Championship hopes brightened after back-to-back second-place finishes in Daytona and Houston, but a trip over the handlebars in practice ended Kevin's season at round 11 in Minneapolis with a broken collarbone.
Healthy again for the season's first motocross National at Glen Helen in San Bernardino, California, Windham nailed the holeshot and then crashed hard, jabbing himself in the thigh with his own handlebar. "After the crash, my leg was so badly bruised I thought I'd broken it," he says. "I ended up taking three points home from that race, and I only lost the National championship by 29 points. You get 25 for a moto win. Looking back on it, that was my season right there."
Down but far from out, Windham fought back with an overall win at the next round at Prairie City. From there, stubborn determination, two wins and two podium finishes had Windham second in the points and closing on the title. With three races left, every moto was a championship for Kevin. He was third at Steel City, swept both motos for the overall at Broome-Tioga and came home second in the season finale at Steel City. Despite six moto wins, nine top-five finishes, and eight holeshots for the season (more than any single rider), the fall at Glen Helen had in fact cost Kevin the title. His 406-point total and four overall wins-the most of any rider in the series-put him in second place overall. For a lot of racers, that would be good enough. Not for Kevin Windham.
"Being second last year means just one more spot I need to get: first," Kevin says. "It's not like I'm regretting anything that's happened. I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing. I'm 21 now, so every year it seems like I'm physically and mentally a little closer to winning championships. That's what I'm here for." As if to reinforce that point, Windham proved American motocross riders are still the best in the world, qualifying fastest and taking the overall victory at the 1999 U.S.G.P. held last September in Budd's Creek, Maryland.
When your job is beating the best motocross racers in the world, there is no off season. Get off the bike after the last motocross race in September and start training for the first Supercross in January. Judging by his pre-season training week, Windham is ready for anything.
"I'll lift in the gym on Tuesday and Thursday. Then I'll double up with riding and running whenever I can. The only way to train for riding a motorcycle is by riding a motorcycle, so I ride at least three days a week, then run or ride a mountain bike the other three days," he says. How hard do you have to work to hang with Kevin Windham? Let him tell you.
"I have 85 acres back home in Mississippi with different tracks we've built to train on. For Supercross? I'll ride a few warm-up laps, then ride every possible situation that could develop at an event, right down to a worst-case scenario. I'll ride an eight-lap heat race, then pretend I didn't finish high enough to make the main event and ride a six-lap semi, pretend I didn't make that either and do a four-lap last-chance qualifier. Then I ride a 20-lap Supercross main event. It usually adds up to something like 50 to 55 laps. For motocross I'll warm up, just like practice before a race, then ride two 40-45 minute motos," Windham says.
In terms of actual racing, the two different disciplines in which Windham competes are even more different than the training necessary to prepare for them. Supercross races are generally run in stadiums over diabolically tough man-made tracks. Motocross races run outdoors over Ma Nature's nastiest work. But that's just the beginning. "Put 20 or 30 bikes on a track that fits inside a football field and everything happens pretty quick," Windham says. "Everything about Supercross is explosive. You need an explosive start, you need that first blast to get out of the starting gate into the first turn, then all your timing has to be spot on. Jumping a foot too far or too short can be ... costly."
"Motocross is more a case of manhandling the bike. Speeds are higher, but bigger tracks mean there's more room," says Windham. "You can afford to be a little more relaxed and let the race come to you. Getting the holeshot is less important in motocross, but starting in the top five or eight is vital. There are a lot of slow-starters out there, but with the motos lasting 35 minutes instead of 20 or so in a Supercross race, those guys can put in their fast laps at the end and still run up front."
Indoors or out, Team Honda makes sure Windham has all the tools to run at the front wherever he goes. "The 2000 CR250R is basically new from the ground up," he says. "I have an outstanding relationship with my mechanic, Alley Semar. We grew up together. He can always read me. Sometimes I come off the track and I don't even have to tell him what I'm thinking. He knows what tire I want in a certain situation and things like that, just from watching me ride.
"Everyone on the Honda team is fun to be around, and since you spend more time with the team than your family, they get to be like your family. We have a totally positive team environment because that's what it takes to win races."
After the road he's traveled in 1999, strong has a one-word translation for 2000. In Kevin Windham's book, a strong year is a championship year.
STATISTICS: KEVIN WINDHAM
1999
• 7th AMA 250 Supercross
• 2nd AMA 250 National 1998
• 4th AMA 250 Supercross
• 8th AMA 250 National 1997
• AMA Western Regional 125 Supercross Champion
• 2nd AMA 125 National
• 18th AMA 250 Supercross 1996
• AMA Western Regional 125 Supercross Champion
• 2nd AMA 125 National
• 19th AMA 250 Supercross 1995
• 5th AMA Eastern Regional 125 Supercross
• 16th AMA 250 National
Born: February 28, 1978 Baton Rouge, LA
Residence: Centerville, MS
National #: 14
Began riding: 1981, age 3
First race: 1981, age 3
Training: Weight lifting, running, BMX and mountain biking
Hobbies: Flying
Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 185 lb.
Marital status: Single
Current race bike: Honda CR250R
Mechanic: Alley Semar
Honda Race Results: The Winningest Team in History
American Honda won its first National motocross title in 1973 when Gary Jones rode the factory's first production motocrosser, the 250 Elsinore, to victory. Two more titles came the following year, with Marty Smith also earning the 125 National crown on Honda's then-revolutionary 125 Elsinore. Since 1982, American Honda motocross teams have won a record 40 AMA National championships out of a possible 68. Beyond that, Honda riders have won an inconceivable 13 of the last 18 AMA 250 Supercross championships, including nine Supercross titles in a row.
250cc Supercross
1975 2nd-M. Smith
1976 2nd-P. Karsmakers
1977 2nd-J. Pomeroy
1978 2nd-M. Tripes
1979 4th-S. Wise
1980 3rd-C. Sun
1981 4th-J. Gibson
1982 1st-D. Hansen, 3rd-J. O'Mara
1983 1st-D. Bailey
1984 1st-J. O'Mara, 3rd-D. Bailey
1985 3rd-R. Lechien
1986 1st-R. Johnson, 2nd-D. Bailey, 3rd-J. O'Mara
1987 2nd-R. Johnson
1988 1st-R. Johnson
1989 1st-J. Stanton, 3rd-G. Cooper
1990 1st-J. Stanton, 2nd-J.M. Bayle
1991 1st-J.M. Bayle, 3rd-J. Stanton
1992 1st-J. Stanton, 3rd-J.M. Bayle
1993 1st-J. McGrath, 3rd-J. Stanton, 5th-S. Lamson
1994 1st-J. McGrath, 5th-S. Lamson, 6th-J. Stanton, 7th-D. Henry
1995 1st-J. McGrath, 5th-D. Henry, 9th-S. Lamson
1996 1st-J. McGrath, 13th-S. Lamson
1997 15th-S. Lamson
1998 2nd-E. Lusk
1999 2nd-E. Lusk, 3rd-M. Larocco, 4th-M. Pichon, 7th-K. Windham
125cc National
1974 1st-M. Smith
1975 1st-M. Smith
1976 2nd-M. Smith
1977 4th-W. Reid
1978 4th-S. Wise
1979 4th-W. Reid
1980 5th-R. Coon
1981 2nd-J. O'Mara
1982 2nd-J. O'Mara, 3rd-J. Gibson
1983 1st-J. O'Mara
1984 2nd-J. O'Mara
1985 1st-R. Lechien
1986 1st-M. Dymond
1987 1st-M. Dymond, 3rd-G. Cooper
1988 1st-G. Holland, 3rd-G. Cooper
1989 1st-M. Kiedrowski, 3rd-G. Cooper
1990 2nd-M. Kiedrowski
19931st-D. Henry, 3rd-J. McGrath
1994 1st-D. Henry, 2nd-S. Lamson
1995 1st-S. Lamson
1996 1st-S. Lamson
1997 3rd-S. Sheak, 9th-S. Lamson
250cc National
1973 1st-G. Jones
1974 1st-G. Jones
1976 4th-P. Karsmakers
1977 2nd-M. Smith
1978 22nd-J. Ellis
1979 3rd-M.Tripes
1980 3rd-S. Wise
1981 3rd-D. Hansen
1982 1st-D. Hansen
1983 1st-D. Bailey, 3rd-B. Hannah
1984 2nd-R. Lechien
1985 2nd-J. O'Mara
1986 1st-R. Johnson, 2nd-D. Bailey, 3rd-J. O'Mara
1987 1st-R. Johnson
1988 2nd-R. Johnson
1989 1st-J. Stanton
1990 1st-J. Stanton
1991 1st-J.M. Bayle, 2nd-J. Stanton
1992 1st-J. Stanton, 3rd-J.M. Bayle
1993 3rd-S. Lamson, 7th-J. Stanton
1994 3rd-J. McGrath, 6th-J. Stanton
1995 1st-J. McGrath
1996 2nd-J. McGrath
1997 6th-E. Lusk
1998 6th-E. Lusk
1999 2nd-K. Windham, 3rd-M. Larocco, 4th-E. Lusk
500cc National
1975 3rd-P. Karsmakers
1977 1st-M. Smith
1978 3rd-M. Smith
1979 3rd-G. Semics
1980 1st-C. Sun
1981 3rd-C. Sun
1982 1st-D. Shultz 2nd-C. Sun
1983 3rd-D. Chandler
1984 1st-D. Bailey
1985 3rd-D. Bailey
1986 1st-D. Bailey 2nd-R. Johnson
1987 1st-R. Johnson
1988 1st-R. Johnson
1989 2nd-J. Stanton 3rd-R. Johnson
1990 2nd-J. Stanton
1991 1st-J.M. Bayle 3rd-J. Stanton
1992 2nd-J. Stanton 4th-J.M. Bayle
1993 2nd-J. Stanton 4th-S. Lamson
1994 Series discontinued
Others:
1983 & 1984 Wrangler Grand National Championship--David Bailey
1991, 1992 125cc West Coast Supercross Championship--Jeremy McGrath
1993 125cc Eastern Region Supercross Championship--Doug Henry
1992 Supercross World Championship--Jeff Stanton
1994 Supercross World Championship--Jeremy McGrath
1995 Supercross World Championship--Jeremy McGrath
1999 FIM United States Grand Prix of Motocross--Kevin Windham, 1st
A record 40 AMA National Championships out of a possible 68.
TEAM SPONSORS
Fox Racing
Back for its sixth season as a Team Honda sponsor and supplier of racing apparel for the factory Honda team, Fox has been a major player in American motocross for more than 20 years. The Fox catalog also contains a broad selection of team-replica riding gear, sportswear and pit wear sold under license with American Honda.
Showa
As the original-equipment suspension supplier for many of Honda's production motorcycles, Showa began its long relationship with Honda Racing as part of the road racing program. That winning relationship enters its second year with the motocross team for 2000.
Pro Honda Oils and Chemicals
The exclusive supplier of everything from contact cleaner to engine oil enters its 20th year with the Honda motocross team in 2000. Pro Honda Oils and Chemicals are the only products approved by Honda R&D. The full selection of cleaners, lubricants, adhesives and more are available nationwide through local Honda motorcycle dealers.
Honda Rider's Club of America (HRCA) Established in 1992 to provide a full calendar of activities, events and services for its members, the HRCA enters its seventh year as sponsor of Honda's motocross effort. The HRCA also hosts an assortment of special appearances, autograph sessions, pit tours, VIP hospitality and even dinners with the Honda race teams every year. HRCA Members are also entitled to special seating and ticket discounts at selected racing events.
Renthal
Renthal's singular research and development qualifications are head-and-shoulders above any other aftermarket manufacturer of handlebars and sprockets in the business. With well over 100 World and National Championships already on its internationally acclaimed rŽsumŽ, the English company enters its 15th year as a Team Honda backer.
Dunlop
Dunlop's official relationship as a sponsor of Honda's motocross squad enters its 16th year in 2000. But the winning history of Dunlop-shod Hondas actually goes back two decades, making Dunlop a major contributor to Honda's unprecedented 40 motocross championships.
D.I.D
Nothing beats chains, rims and spokes harder than professional motocross, and no other form of motorcycle sport provides a more punishing testing crucible for research and development. That explains the symbiotic relationship between Team Honda and D.I.D, which is also a supplier of parts for Honda's production motorcycles.
NGK
Gleaned over decades of experience in every arena of motorsport, NGK's unparalleled expertise in spark plug design is a strategic factor in Honda's superiority on the motocross tracks of America. NGK is also an original equipment manufacturer for Honda production motorcycles.
Elf
Entering its sixth year as a sponsor of Team Honda motocross, French petrochemical giant Elf has earned a celebrated history fueling the most elite international racing programs in motorsport.
Throttle Jockey
Throttle Jockey's tough, distinctive graphics have set Team Honda's motocross machinery apart from the rest for the last two years. Entering its third season with the team, the family-owned, Kokomo, Indiana-based firm operates its own lab to produce the dazzling graphics found on the team's CR250R race bikes.
Twin Air
Twin Air filters have been keeping dirt out of highly tuned motocross engines in America for nearly three decades. After 20 years of providing clean air for the engines of Team Honda stars such as nine-time off-road champ Scott Summers, Twin Air became an official motocross team sponsor in 1999, supplying oiled-foam air-filter elements for the team's CR250Rs.
Works Connection
Though new to the team this year, Works Connection has been providing rank and file racers with authentic works-grade skid plates, case guards, clutch perches and more since 1989. The Honda Red Riders will use Works Connection race stands and aluminum throttle tubes for the 2000 season.
HONDA/FOX RED RIDERS 2000 TEAM
From the beginning, the history of modern American motocross has been written in Honda red. Measured over the final two decades of the 20th century, no team has so thoroughly dominated the sport.
The story started in 1974 when Honda's Marty Smith won the American Motorcyclist Association's first 125 National Championship on a CR125. In 1981, Honda-powered Trophee des Nations and Motocross des Nations teams established Honda and America as the international motocross superpower by beating an international field of world-class riders.
Beginning in 1982, Team Honda won at least one AMA Pro motocross title every year for 15 straight years. That includes winning the triple crown (three titles in a single year) seven separate times. For an encore Team Honda nailed down the ultimate achievement in 1986 by making a clean sweep of all four AMA Pro titles: 250 Supercross, plus the 125, 250 and 500 outdoor National series crowns. In 1991, Team Honda rider Jean-Michel Bayle pulled the ultimate motocross hat trick, winning the 250 Supercross, 250 National and 500 National Motocross Championships. All told, Honda has won almost three-quarters of the AMA Pro motocross titles over the last 18 years--40 of the last 66 AMA motocross championships.
In 1999, Red Riders ruled the first round of Supercross' 25th season, finishing 1-2-3-4. They took home seven of the season's 16 Supercross main events and a total of 25 podium finishes, saturating the final Supercross championship point standings by nailing down three of the top-five slots. This year Team Honda has all the tools to do better than that.
Armed with new-from-the-knobbies-up Honda CR250R race bikes--the only bike in the field with an advanced aluminum frame--the three-man team of Georgian Ezra Lusk, Mississippi's Kevin Windham and double FIM Grand Prix motocross World Champion Sebastien Tortelli of France are ready to leave a trail of Honda red across motocross and Supercross victory podiums from Anaheim, California, to Unadilla, New York.