The history of the FIM World Motocross Championships is a long one, and colourful characters are littered through the sports folk-law. One of those characters was America’s first ever World Motocross Champion “Bad” Brad Lackey.

A decade ago I was lucky enough to sit down with Lackey and while it is a quick look at some parts of his career, it is an amazing story of a young man taking a chance and really doing it tough. Lackey hung in there when times were difficult until he finally reached his dream.

When I got the chance to interview 1992 World 500cc Champion Brad Lackey I felt a great anticipation, like meeting royalty. Lackey was always something of a free spirit in my eyes, a rider who came to Europe in a time when coming to Europe was really a huge challenge for a non-European and in a time that Motocross in Europe and the rest of the World was owned by Grand Prix racers.

He didn’t have leading Australians, South Africans or New Zealanders racing in the FIM series in the 1970s; it was Russians, East Germans, Swedes, and Belgians who ruled the European Grand Prix series.

As America’s first ever World Motocross Champion Lackey can feel proud of his success. It came from hard work and years of travelling through countries where the English language didn’t exist, and the culture of Northern California was a million miles away. Lackey scored nine Grand Prix wins in his 10 years in Europe, doesn’t seem a lot, but that just makes his 1982 World 500cc Championship all that more impressive. Lackey was a worker and never gave up on his dream to be the best in the World.

Now some 40 years after his Championship winning year Lackey might be older, slower and a little broader, but the former World 500cc Champion is very much a lot wiser. Having arrived in Europe some 50 years ago, the now 66-year-old Lackey can rest easy knowing he will always be the only America racer to come to Europe and win a 500cc Championship.

In his first full season in Europe Lackey finished 13th in the World 500cc Championship, scoring just 26 points, Roger De Coster the man who won the 500cc title that year finished with 161 points, and was a mile faster and his racing craft was in another league to the young American. Lackey though slowly built on those 26 points and a year later 10th, although this time with 60 points. 1975 and this time the California moved into 6th place and scored 102 points. Still though De Coster, Heikki Mikkola, Gerrit Wolsink, Ake Jonsson and Jack Van Velthoven were still too strong.

A place higher in 1976 and Lackey finishes fifth behind De Coster, Wolsink, Weil, and a young British rider Graham Noyce. A Grand Prix victory made his year worthwhile and he continued to improve his technique. Another year and another place higher in the end of season results as he finished fourth, then in 1978 he moved a step closer as he finished second to Mikkola and finally beat his friend and training partner De Coster. Lackey also won two GP’s, taking victory in Austria and England.

Unfortunately, injury stopped him from racing the final two GP’s of the season, handing the title to Mikkola. 1979 and he dropped to fourth in the World as he rode for the Kawasaki factory. One GP win in France and six moto wins. 1980 and he came very close to winning his first World title, winning the GP of Austria and finishing second to Andre Malherbe, 235pts to 221pts.

A change to Suzuki in 1981 and it seemed like Lackey might have missed the boat in a World title. He dropped to sixth place as Malherbe won again. Lackey wouldn’t come close to winning a Grand Prix and many were starting to write the American off.

Victory would finally come Lackey’s way as he finished with the 1982 World 500cc Championship, just beating Andre Vromans 228pts to 217pts. The two went into the last round of the series with Lackey just four points ahead of Vromans, fortunately for the American he was able to go 2-3 as Vromans capitulated.

MXlarge: I remember you racing the veteran’s race at Namur in 2001. How was that experience after so long?

Lackey: They had the race at Namur, and they had a practice, Eric Geboers organized it, and we got to ride around the GP circuit. I came over with some friends who had always wanted to race that circuit, and we rode it, although I must say they changed the circuit a little and I was a bit disappointed with that.

MXlarge: You never got on with Namur in your racing career, did you?

Lackey: Namur was always a problem race for me, I knew there were always problems with the Belgian fans there, but it was totally different with big jumps and jumps in the woods, you can never go back to how Namur was in my day, it’s just changed, everything does.

MXIarge: What made you want to come to Europe in the first place all those years ago?

Lackey: The first time De Coster, Hallman and Robert came to America, like in 1967, we thought we were fast guys, but they showed us that we weren’t really that fast. I mean back then those guys had factory bikes and we just had scramble bikes, like BSA’s and stuff like that. Watching those guys ride and seeing how fast they were I figured I was only going to learn if I went to Europe. I came to Europe to get to a different level in riding skills. I got a little lucky and went to the CZ factory and did some testing and racing and after that they offered me a Grand Prix bike, and I could ride half the 250cc series in 1971, so I came over for that.

MXIarge: How did that first experience of being in Europe go?

Lackey: I got an 11th place in one race, and one Grand Prix point, at that time that was a big deal. I also rode a 500 GP in Czecho, and that was a good experience. I then went home and won the National Championship in 1972, I won every race. That was pretty easy, so I thought I am not going to get any better staying in America, so I went back and did the GP’s from 1973 until 1982 when I won the Championship.

MXIarge: It took you a long time to get that 500cc Championship didn’t it?

Lackey: Yes, it took me ten years, but I had a couple of close seconds, so bad luck and some things, normally I should have come away with two or three World Championships, but one is better than nothing.

MXIarge: For a young man from California it must have been a totally different experience to laying on the beach in California?

Lackey: You have to understand; when I came out, I lived in Czech Republic, in the CZ Factory housing and with 50-year-old guys when I was just 17 years old. They didn’t speak one word of English and there was no McDonalds, no gas stations, there was nothing, it was the height of communism, trust me that was different. Every day I would just ride my bike and try and forget about it, I worked at the factory in the morning and then would ride in the afternoons. I got to leave to go to those 250cc Grand Prix’s, so I went to Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, beautiful countries. I was just concentrating on learning my trade.

MXIarge: I’ve talked to many riders who have come to Europe from Australia, South Africa or New Zealand and really struggled in those early times in Europe. How did you survive the tough times?

Lackey: I had a small cassette player and I had one tape and it was California Dreaming by the Mamas and the Papas, and I can tell you I wore out some batteries listening to that song.

MXIarge: Any interesting stories of your first years here?

Lackey: I was your typical dumb Californian kid; you never heard about autobahn and didn’t even know what that was. So, I would be driving along in the middle of the night with my car and trailer and my and Gaston’s bikes in the back. I would pass a big truck and then look in the mirrors and see some guy flashing his lights like miles behind. I would think what is wrong with that guy, then I would pull over to the side and a Porsche would go by at 200 miles an hour.