Former Grand Prix racer and British 125cc champion Roger Harvey was just a kid when he got into motocross many years ago, but he still remembers the days of the British domination. Harvey finished in fifth place in the 1976 World 125cc championship and also rode for Team Great Britain in the Motocross of Nations. Harvey is one of the few riders who got to race against names like Thorpe and Smith.

“Rides like Jeff Smith were ruthless on the track,” Harvey told. “Like any world champion he was all class and really tough. Not dirty, but in those days you raced tough, they were hard men back then. Of course there was also live television for some of the bigger motocross events and Smith was known throughout the country even by non-motocross people. If you asked a non-motocross person which motocrossers they know, many would only say riders like Smith, or Dave Bickers. They were much better known than a Dave Thorpe or Graham Noyce. Smith was really the rider in his day. Smith and Bickers and a bunch of those guys also made a lot of money from the sport, big races in those days with big purses.”

“He battled often with Bickers, Smith on the big 4-stroke and Bickers the 2-stroke. I was 12 years old when I went to my first motocross race and I will never forget those two going at it. I started racing when I was 14 and got to ride against some of those guys. Is Smith better than Thorpe, or vice versa, you just can’t say, both are great riders and both were great world champions.”

“Bickers on the other hand wasn’t as ruthless as Smith, more careful. I remember a story about Bickers though after he retired. He got into making movies and they were having trouble with the stuntman doing the stunts. Bickers grabbed the bike and just said this is how it is done and went out and did the stunt. They were really tough men back in those days, nothing scared them.”

Harvey also saw Thorpe come through the ranks, first as a riding teacher Harvey felt the speed of the young Thorpe and then later as rivals for the British championship. Thorpe even uses Harvey as one of the reasons he thought he could make it to the top level.

During a riding school Harvey had organized the young Thorpe clung onto the back wheel of the veteran Harvey and started to believe he was already fast enough to reach the Grand Prix level. At the time Harvey was a top five rider in the World 125cc championships. For Harvey the performances of Thorpe would be hard to top in terms of British riders.

“No doubt, he was a class act, “Harvey said. “Even during that riding school you knew this kid had something special. He rode in an era that was loaded with legends, names like Georges Jobe, Eric Geboers, Andre Malherbe, yet he still won three World titles, that in itself is amazing. He was also a total professional and rode in a team that gave him what he needed to win races, but again, he was often in there fighting against two or three Belgian riders and they sometimes stuck together to make life more difficult for him.”

“So many good British riders, I mean Vic Eastwood to me was one of the better ones, he got injured I think it was in 1969, broke his leg at a TV race in Hawkstone Park. He should have been world champion the following year, but he never recovered from that leg injury.”

“Neil Hudson, what a nice guy, you wouldn’t have thought he was a motocross racer, so quiet and easy going. Then you had Graham Noyce, no problem with pressure, just get on with it. He obviously enjoyed having fun and he didn’t really have respect for any of his rivals on the track. He saw everyone the same and while he worked hard, he also played hard. A special rider was Graham Noyce.”

“I think if you look at guys like Herring, Malin, Whatley, they should have all won world titles. All had the talent, but they never got that world title. If natural ability could get you a title, then those three should have won at least one each. Somebody like Andy Nicolls, he won a Grand Prix, probably could have won more, but just didn’t get it. Brits on the continent often struggled, always have really.”

A former rival or at least competitor to Dave Thorpe was British rider Rob Andrews. Andrews was a consistent top ten rider in the 500cc class in the 1980’s, and even represented Great Britain in the Motocross of Nations one year. Andrews remembers it well when King David arrived on the scene and also enjoyed looking at him in awe.

“To me he was the total package,” Andrews told. “To me he was the Ricky Carmichael of that era, so dedicated to his craft. I remember coming into the Grand Prix ranks a little later than David, more or less on his coat tails, but he was the guy who we all looked at and felt he was the one that we needed to be like, we needed to follow his lead. Noyce was more the party guy, also a hero, but Thorpe was doing it the way I felt we should have been doing it. He not only had amazing skills on the bike, but his determination and his training ethic was at another level. I remember training with him sometimes. He would start the day with a 10 mile run, then drive down to Matchems Park and do two 45 minute motos. It was a two hour drive to Matchems, but he would do that day after day. He was just prepared so well.”

“Kurt Nicoll to me had determination, and motivation, but maybe lacked in talent, while a Rob Herring had the talent, but maybe not the drive and determination. Neil Hudson a really nice guy wouldn’t stuff anyone off the track. Really a polite guy, and smooth, he might have been even smoother than Stefan Everts.  He had that old school euro style of elbows down, looked like he was racing at a walking pace. What Hudson had was he was steady, consistent, nothing special, but just being consistent.”

“Graham Noyce, now he also had a strange style, riding on the back of the bike, but in his heyday was unbeatable, and what a flamboyant character. The people loved him for his character. What about Paul Malin should have won the 1996 world 125cc title, but a guy called Sebastien Tortelli stood in his way. Malin was so quickly on the pace at Grand Prix level. I mean straight into the GP scene and fighting for podium places and GP wins. His 1994 Motocross des Nations effort should never be forgotten. I would have Malin in my top ten anytime. James Dobb, he won the world title when it was a single moto, his competition wasn’t that strong, but respect to him, he won a World title, you can’t take that away from him.”

James Dobb who looked up to Thorpe all those years ago would go on to win himself a World title. Dobb though grew up in the Thorpe years, and got to see firsthand this British legend battle the rest of the world.

“I had my hero’s when I was a kid,” Dobb said. “He (Thorpe) was one of them. I mean I am very patriotic, but many of my hero’s were names like Bailey, O’Mara. When it came Motocross des Nations time David Thorpe was just the guy all England wanted to win. I remember when I was in the schoolboys and riding a Honda and Thorpe was racing Grand Prix and also on Honda. We used to do some advertising together and it was a great feeling being a kid and he would be really friendly. That was special for a young kid back then.”

“I mean when I came into the sport names like Noyce and Hudson were world champion and I had a lot of respect for those two. Kurt Nicoll was a lot like me really, really a shy guy. I remember him telling me once that he would talk the circuit at 5.30 in the morning because he was so shy he didn’t want anyone to stop to talk with him, but many thought he was just rude, which is what a lot of people thought of me. I was often in my zone before a race, just put my head phones on and start to think about the race. I didn’t want to be bothered by anyone.”

British industry worker Ash Kane is a well known motocross historian and he remembers some great moment in British Motocross history. He has a great memory and feels many leading British riders should have added their names to the list of World champions. Some were unlucky; some just didn’t take their chances.

“John Banks snapped his chain in one race and it probably cost him a world title,” Kane told. “Then you have Whatley who was such a special rider. He beat Danny Magoo Chandler in 1985 riding a stock Kawasaki.”

“If you look at James Dobb, it took him 12 years to win his first Grand Prix and he had the advantage of riding for KTM at a time when KTM was the strongest bike out there. Also he won his title in the Dorna years of a single moto. Would he have won in the days of the two times 40 minutes? Hudson was a world champion and one of the last guys to win a GP on a Maico, also second to Hakan Carlqvist in 1979 and then winning the title in 1981, and he was really consistent.”

“Riders like Herring, Whatley and Malin, all unlucky not to win World titles. I still remember Herring beating Ricky Johnson at the MXdN in 1988 in France, and beating Jeff Ward in a Supercross race in 1986 when Ward was in his prime. Herring was also responsible for the change in rider’s styles in England. He had the flashy American look and soon after many of the British riders started riding like that.”