| |
|
Inter-am View Master Guide
|
1969 would see the worlds best motocross riders
returning to America to compete in the second year of the
International - American Motocross Series. The names
of Torsten Hallman, Joel Robert
Roger De Coster, Ake Johnson, Dave Bickers,
Vic Allan Jiri Stodulka, Arnie Kring
would continue the schooling that began the previous
year. |
left
click image to ownload the View Master program
guide PDF
1969 Cycle Magazine Racing Annual Summed it up Best
Man, they were fast, those European riders charging the flags at Pepperel and Hopetown and Kansas and Castaic—coming around first every lap and every race—riding far ahead in a pack that we could never penetrate. Riding bikes not so very different from our own. They were speed incredible speed. They rode seventy or eighty miles an hour, never ceasing no matter how tight the turn; no matter how gnarled the turn; no matter how corrugated the course; no matter how many or how steep the undulations, Speed. A blur through the trees, over the jumps into sand, rocks, mud, cinder, loam. They could go anywhere full speed. Torsten Hallman was cool and Joel Robert was tough and Roger De Coster, fearless and wild. None of them were grim nor determined like we, except in the frustration that their machines just couldn't be made to go any faster.
They rode perched tautly on the pegs, the cycles leaping like bee-stung colts. They did not steer but carved
a course by yanking the throttle, by shifting weight, stabbling for the lead. We only knew that they were professionals and we were not. That in Sweden and Belgium and Britain there are no prairies and there is no desert racing.
|
|
That we had played by their rules and that we had lost but that was no excuse. They were too good. They had come and almost before the
grit had settled and the ringing of their engines stilled they were gone again. And we were left to make our courses tougher; to give our
riders experience; to work to learn this new game and to wait until next year when Europe's best return and we have it out again.
International racing a reality at last and you know that America won't stay down for long.
|
right
Pepperell, New England the tranquil town located approximately 25 miles north of Boston was selected as the site
for a round of t the 1969 Inter-Am (or International-American) Motocross.
far right
Typical American Inter-Am rider shown here hauling two Spanish-made OSSAs in back of a Chevy El Camino. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Curious spectators gathered to witness
the European invasion
The Pits look much like an amateur event in
today's standards
|
|
|
Riders meeting
Joel Robert far right with Rodger DeCoster close beside.
Motocross riders at the Inter-Am
paraded to the finish line, there to be introduced to the spectators. The flags shown here include Old Glory, Sweden's blue and gold,
the Union Jack, the banners of Czechoslovakia and Belgium. Fourteen riders were entered from Europe, Including Rodger DeCoster the new
Suzuki star and Joel Robert the seasoned veteran. Finishing the field were 30 riders from the U.S.A.
|
 |
 |
The Starting Line
held riders that represented five different Countries the motorcycle manufacturers represented an even greater
Varity.
There's little doubt Husqvarna early America marketing success spurred on companies like
Maico, Jawa, Bultaco, Montesa,
Ossa BSA, Greeves, Sachs,
Yamaha and Suzuki
|
|
STAY TUNED REEL 3 COMING SOON |
 |
 |
 |
No Gate No rubber band just and old
school flag start
Yesterday or today the start of a professional motocross is a crowd favorite |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
