ThethreetopBritishridersheadingfor
Farleighcouldbedescribedasflamboyant,
dedicatedandquietlyconfident...and
fansofMXfromthaterawillnotneed
ustosaytheridersinthatorderare
Noyce,ThorpeandHudson.Inactual
factallthreeridershaveall threetraits
intheirnaturebutwe’vehighlighted
theonewhichcomestothefore.With
a500ccworldcrownalreadyunderhis
beltNoycewasaconsistentplaceman
intheprevioustwoseasons,butinjuries
andbadluckpreventedarepeat.Known
forhisflamboyanceandnaturalability
theHampshireriderfittedinwell with
theinternationalsceneandenjoyedthe
benefitsofhissuccess.DaveThorpe,on
theotherhand,wasmorestudiousinhis
approachandhadexcelledatfootball
aswell asmotocrosswhenyounger.
Determinedtolearnfromhisassociation
withtheGPriders,Thorpewouldprove
hehadlearnedbytakingthree500cc
crownslaterintheEighties.NeilHudson
was–andstillis–thequietmanofMX
wholetshisridingdothetalking.His
showinginthe500ccclassconfounded
thepunditswhoreckonedthelocallad
Hudsoncouldn’thackthebiggerbikes.Homegrowntalent
Alwaysthereor
thereabouts–former
worldchamp
GrahamNoyce.Amantowatch,
futureworld
500 ccMXchamp
DaveThorpeset
outhisstallat
Farleighin 1982.Reigning 250
worldchampion
NeilHudson
provedcritics
wrongbyshowing
hecouldhandle
thebiggerbikes.29
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