Roger De Coster has always been a special character in the sport of Motocross. One of the true legends of the sport, with five 500cc motocross world titles, and a long list of MXoN victories. He has also been the team manager of the American effort since their first success in 1981 and continues to be an important part of the American legacy at this event.

For me personally my first two MXdN events as a fan, were at Unadilla in 1987 and France in 1988. Unadilla was a complete wash-out and the highlight for me was getting drunk with Jeff Leisk in a bar down the road from the circuit. France in 88 was my first des Nations in Europe, and what an eye opening that was. I knew I had to move to Europe, and make a living following the sport.

De Coster no doubt there were more important things to worry about than drinking beer. Check out his comments from those 87 and 88 events.

Below are some of this thoughts about some of the MXoN events he has attended.

MXLarge: What does the MXoN mean to you?

De Coster: The high point of the year was that we (America) won the Trophee and Motocross des Nations. The des Nations events mean a lot to me. They are very important, and were always the biggest events of the year. Everyone talks about this guy is the fastest, or the 125 guys are fastest, or the 250 guys are best. But the des Nations puts everyone together in the same class at the same time. One week you rode the 250 event (Trophee des Nations) and the next week you rode the 500 event (Motocross des Nations).

MXlarge: The 1981 team wasn't the best riders was it?

De Coster: We could see the potential in the Honda bikes and team members for those events. Our guys were not winning at the time though. Suzuki had Mark Barnett winning the 125 class and in supercross. And Kent Howerton on Suzuki was strong in the 250 class. Our team was Johnny O’Mara, Chuck Sun, Danny LaPorte and Donnie Hansen. Towards the end of the year, our results started to improve. We thought ‘We need to go to the des Nations’.

MXLarge: What was the story behind that first Team USA victory in 1981?

De Coster: Towards the end of August, as the des Nations approached, there seemed to be a lack of interest. No one seemed to be able to get their act together. No one was excited. Finally, I thought to myself ‘Why don’t we send all Honda riders as the US team?’ At the time, I think that American Honda did not know too much about the des Nations events. They did not know what it would cost to send the entire team. I took a chance, but we did it. Now things were in motion. But by the time the events were to come about, the bosses at Honda started to complain, after realizing how much money we were spending on this thing. But now it was too late to do anything different. Plus we had the magazine Motocross Action with Dick Miller and Larry Maiers in helping us raise monies for the team. That fund raising and Honda paid for the entire thing.

MXLarge: A Belgian going back to Belgium, with Team USA.

De Coster: The first event was the Trophee des Nations in Lommel, Belgium. I had problems with myself to a certain extent because it felt strange coming and representing the US. I had always tried to win as a rider for Belgium. In the Trophee des Nations, as a member of the Belgian team, I was part of the winning team ten years in a row. We also won six times in the open class (500cc – Motocross des Nations). It felt weird. But what made it easier was that the Belgian motorcycle federation never asked me for help. I had offered my help for the des Nations teams earlier to them, but they were not interested. That made me feel easier about helping the US team. Also, before the race, I had asked the Lommel club to help with financial support for travel expenses. They said ‘What are you going to do here on a sand track with an American team? You are going to be slaughtered here. We are going to kill you. If you were going to come here and were the main draw, we might consider it, but you are! also-rans’. So that motivated me even more.

MXlarge: How was preperation for Lommel?

De Coster: Our team went over early. We went to sand tracks and practiced and practiced and practiced. We initially had a lot of bike problems because we had no experience in the US riding on sand like that. But we worked thru the whole thing, and by race-time we were ready.

MXLarge: Honda were happy with the win?

De Coster: Of course, everything was fine when we won. It was one of the greatest wins ever. And Honda was able to get so much advertising out of that race. I think the wins also gave a lot of confidence to the team and our riders. The following year would be good for us. That was the springboard for us to do well for the next number of years.

MXlarge: 1987 at Unadilla was something of a muddy experience wasn't it, and Team USA wasn't really your best team?

De Coster: Bob Hannah really wanted to be on the team. He had been on the team before in ’78 and ’79, but had never been on a winning team. At the time, it was not so clear who should be on the 125. Micky Dymond had won the 125 nationals, and Hannah had some injuries earlier in the year. It was a miserable day on the track itself, because it never stopped raining the entire weekend. Bob came thru on the 125. It was a very difficult situation because of the mud and ruts. Some of the time riders could not even make it up some of the hills in those conditions. You could not find someone better than Bob because he was very tough … he didn’t give up. The US team won, and we were invited by President Ronald Reagan to the White House. We got to meet him in the Oval Office. It was quite a treat.

MXlarge: Going to the whitehouse must have been something special for the team?

De Coster: One funny story about Bob Hannah. Bob was always talking big and tough, like John Wayne. I think John Wayne was his hero. Both John Wayne and Bob like to live life ‘big’. I think Bob still lives his life that way. We are all waiting in this room next to the Oval Office, getting ready to meet the President. Everyone was nervous and sweating. Bob says ‘I’m not worried. I’m not going to be nervous about meeting that old guy’. As the time got closer to our meeting, Bob says ‘Hey RD …. I AM sweating!’ I think he was more nervous than anybody when we got into the Oval Office.

MXLarge: A great victory for Team USA was in France in 1988, Ricky Johnson, Jeff Ward and Ron Lechien.

De Coster: The Motocross des Nations was in France in 1988, and I remember something about that. Ron Lechien, who was with Kawasaki at the time, was part of the US team. It was Wardy on the 125, Ricky on the 250, and Lechien in the open class.

MXLarge: You had some trouble with Lechien or not?

De Coster: We were staying in this little hotel in the eastern part of France. We were all a little bit worried about Ronnie. We all knew how much talent he had, but he had a wild past. Saturday night before the race, the entire team is to have dinner together. Everyone is there, everyone has started eating, but no Ronnie. So I go looking for Ronnie, and I find him in his hotel room. There are cases of beer everywhere. Beer on the floor. Beer on his night table. Beers here. Beers there. I’m not saying he drank them all, but there was beer everywhere. I said ‘Ronnie, we are all waiting for you! Get over to the restaurant! And what about all these beers?’ Ronnie said ‘Don’t worry, it’s just all my friends. “Don’t worry, I’ll be over there in a minute.’ So he comes over to the dinner, eats really quickly, and before anyone else, he’s gone again! Our hotel rooms were across the parking lot from the restaurant. Before I am even done with my dinner, I go looking for him. As I enter the parking lot, I see Ronnie starting to drive away with a couple of girls in his car. I stopped him before he took off, and said ‘Ronnie! What are you doing? I am going to kill you if you don’t ride great tomorrow!’ He says ‘Don’t worry R.D., I’ll be fine.’ The next morning I make sure to wake him up. He didn’t wake up too easy. We got him to the track. Once the gate dropped and the racing started, he rode so well, it was like he was riding by himself.”