A very cool place to get all your Aussie motocross history is over at amxhistory.com.au and as you can see below they cover a lot of Grand Prix stuff, with this story a classic in Australian motocross history.

Long before Chad Reed, Andrew McFarlane, Micheal Byrne, Dean Ferris or Jett and Hunter Lawrence became Worldwide names, back in the 1980s, when Aussies just didn't travel the World, the Flying Freckle, Jeff Leisk led the way for all Aussies to follow. Below is when Leisk made history for Aussie MX. The first ever GP win by an Australian.

Leisk Wins In Finland

On 29 May 1989, Jeff Leisk became the first Australian to win a Motocross Grand Prix, etching his name in Australian sports records as our most successful motocross rider at the time.

Leisk, from Perth in Western Australia, finally clinched that elusive Grand Prix win in Ruskeasanta, Finland, coming close several times before, but let down with bad luck. The Team Honda rider won Round 5 of the World 500cc Championship aboard his Honda, ahead of world champions George Jobes (Belgium, Honda) 33 pts and Kees Van der Ven (Netherlands, KTM) 30 pts – with the Grand Prix contested over two 45 minute motos.

In Moto 1, Leisk finished third behind Jobes and Van der Ven – in that order, then convincingly won the second moto from start to finish – having won the holeshot on the sandy circuit in warm and dusty conditions that suited him, similar to circuits back at home. The Dutch too love the sand and performed really well in Finland with Leo Combe (Honda) winning the holeshot and leading the early stages of the fist moto, which Van der Ven went onto win ahead of Jobes and Leisk.

Leisk got off to a good start in the first race and was in second close behind Combe on the opening lap, but Van der Ven snuck underneath him on the first lap to take second, passing Combe soon after and was never headed. Combe held second for the first half of the race ahead of Leisk, with Jobe passing the pair at the end. Leisk also got past Combee for third, who dropped out of the top 10 at the end.

In Moto 2 Leisk won the holeshot and was able to open up a commanding lead early ahead of Jacky Martens (Belgium, KTM) and American Billy Liles (Kawasaki), who was riding under a Luxemburg license. By the half-way mark of the 45-minute race, Leisk was still in command ahead of home-town rider Leif Persson and Eric Geboers – the only rider to win World Motocross Championships in all classes – who was storming through the field.

With two laps remaining, Geboers got within reach of Leisk, who stepped up the gas after cruising way out in front for so long. But Geboers was unable to get past the Australian and had to settle for second in this moto, as well as the overall points on the day. Fellow Belgium and multiple World Champion George Jobes (Honda) finished third ahead of English rider Kurt Nichol (Kawasaki).

Another English rider and Leisk’s Honda Team mate David Thorpe was uncomfortable in the sand. The World Championship points leader heading into the Finnish Grand Prix could only manage two seventh placings to finish fifth overall, allowing Geboers to take the lead by two points, on 140.

Leisk’s win escalated him to fourth in the World Championship on 111 points, just two points behind Nicol on 113. As the season progressed, Leisk was able to challenge Geboers for the overall lead, but Thorpe would go on to have an incredible finish to the season – winning the last four rounds convincingly to win the 1989 World 500cc Motocross Championship. In his first full season, Leisk finished second to Thorpe and ahead of Geboers – making it a 1-2-3 finish for Honda.

Overall Round
1. Jeff Leisk (Australia, Honda) 35
2. George Jobes (Belgium, Honda) 33
3. Kees Van der Ven (NL, KTM) 30
4. Kurt Nichol (UK, Kawasaki) 22
5. David Thorpe (UK, Honda) 18

Moto 1
1. Kees Van der Ven (NL, KTM)
2. George Jobes (Belgium, Honda)
3. Jeff Leisk (Australia, Honda)
4. Jacky Martens (Belgium, KTM)
5. Kurt Nichol (UK, Kawasaki)

Moto 2
1. Jeff Leisk (Australia, Honda)
2. Eric Geboers (Belgium, Honda)
3. George Jobes (Belgium, Honda)
4. Billy Liles (LUX/US, Kawasaki)
5. Kurt Nichol (UK, Kawasaki)

Overall Championship Points
1. Eric Geboers (Belgium, Honda) 140
2. Dave Thorpe (UK, Honda) 138
3. Kurt Nichol (UK, Kawasaki) 113
4. Jeff Leisk (Australia, Honda) 111
5. Jacky Martens (Belgium, KTM) 96