The Classic MotorCycle – September 2019

MotocrossEuropean Championship and the

Motocross ofEuropean Nations.”

In thebeginning
Forthefirstevent, theKNMVselecteda
two-milesandy circuit inwoodlandatDuinrell
nearTheHague and employedanunusual
and probably untriedscheme to decide the
results.Threecountries –Belgium,Britain and
Holland–entered teams forthe even tonJuly
26, 1947. Each countrywas permittedup to
15 riders,fromwhich twoteams offive riders
were chosen.Thereweretwo eigh t-lapraces
over the course, with allteammembers and
reserves takingpartinboth.Therace times of
eachentran tweretotalledand then theoverall
times of thethreebest ridersfromeachteam
were addedtogetherto produce afinalfigure.
Theteamwith the best(lowest ag gregate)
timewere thevictors andwinnersoft he
ChamberlainTrophy.
TheleadingBelgian professional motocross
racer August eMingels (1921-1973), on a
Triumph,outclassed his rivals in pre-raceday
prac tice andagain duringthefinalmorning
practicesessio nbeforethe twodeciding
races.After 16 miles ofcloseracing, with many
midfield battlesfor supremacyraging, it was
Britain’sBill Nicholson(BSA, with McCandless
swinging-armconversion)wholed by almost
six seconds fromJack Stocker(Ariel) and
Mingels almostaminute adrift in third.
TheBelgians hitback in thesecond heat
with awin forMingels aheadof countryman
Marcel Meunier(Triumph),Hugh Viney(AJS)
thirdand Nichol sonfourth. With theracing
over,the sums were completed to givethe
first Motocrossdes Nationsvicto ry to theGB
‘A team’(Nicholson, Fred Rist,BSA,and Bob
Ray, Ariel) fromBelgiumB(Meunier,JFrenay
and VGovaerts ,both Gill et) by nineseconds.

Secondtimeround

Successencouraged the immediatescheming

of asecond eventtobeheld in eitherBelgium

or the UK,leadingtoacrowd estimated to

be over 30,000-stron ggatheringonAugust

8, 1948,at La Fraineuse, Sp a, Belgiumfor the

second Motocross desNations.Therules

were re visedtoprovidetwo heats and afinal,

with countries permitted to provide teams

of up to 12 riderswho competedvariously in

thetwo heats.Thefastestthree went through

to thefinal, plus the fastestoft he remaining

ridersuptoamaximum of 30.Sixcountries

entered teams, with the 1947 contestants

Belgian,Britainand Holland joinedbyFrance,

Luxembourgand Sweden.

Many of theriders, although professional

motocrossers, were consummateall-rounders

includingGeoffDuke,amemberoft he British

team.Then better known for his trialsriding

on worksNortons,Dukewas no slouchas

ascrambler either,though hewaslet down

in Britain, whichwaswithoutadomestic

500ccchampionship until 1951.This may

have beenfor the besthowever ,asDuke

persuadedNortonhe wasprettyhandyroad

racingmotorcyclestoo,leadingtoacareer

that sawhim win33GPs (11 350cc,22500cc),

sixTTs (two350cc,three 500cc, one Senior

Clubman’s), the1949SeniorManx GP and six

worldchampionships(two at 350c c, four at

500c c),sooff-road racing’slosswas thehard

stuff’s gain.

Grea tthingswereexpectedofthe British

team in 1948, and especially their leading

rider,32-year-oldBill Nicholson,whose

worksBSA gearbox crie denough in thefirst

race,handingvictor ytoBelgium’s NicJansen

(BSA), who ledhomeahostcountry top three,

with AndréMilhoux andMarcel Spiroux

(both BSA) in theplaces.

In the second race,Nicholsonsplit the host

nation ridersMarcelMeunier(Tri umph)

and Marcel Cox(BSA)to exactsome revenge,

butBritain (Viney,AJS; Duke,Norton;Basil

The inauguralMotocrossdes Nationsin1947, as Bi ll Nicholson,BSA,

winsthefirstrace. Again, notethe addedrear springing.

The 1948edition.HughViney,onanAJS,was partoft he British

team thatfinishedsecond to host nationBelgium.

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THE CLASSICMOTORCYCLE|SEPTEMBER 2019 67

ok |Motocross des Nations