The Classic MotorCycle – September 2019

The first five years

Since its inception in 1947, the Motocross des Nations has been held annuallywith the

72ndevent run atRedBud in the US in 2018. During its lifetime, theevent title has been

anglicised and theformat manipulated. Here,we look at the inaugural quintet ofevents.

Words:RICHARDROSENTHAL Photographs:MORTONS ARCHIVE

fter theSecondWorld War,

KoninklijkeNederlandse

MotorrijdersVereniging

(KNMV, so theRoyal Dutch

MotorCyclists Union, akaTheDutch

Federation)floate dthe idea ofamotocross

even tfor te ams from competingnations,

with atrophyfor thewinningteam.Although

until into the 1960s theUK favoured the term

‘scrambles’, thesamewasn’ttrueelsewhere,

hence thename Motocross desNations

(MXDN) from thestart. Some observers

refer to the competition as the‘Olympics of

motocross’orvaria ntsonthis theme and

differen tspellingsfor ‘motocross’havebeen

employed, including ‘moto-cross’,but here

we will stickwith motocross.

From its inception theMXDNwas

intendedasacompetition forup to500cc

machinesand alth ough therewas some

manipulation of eventorganisation, this

basic conceptwasfollo wed until 1984, when

it wasamalgamated with th eTrophée des

Nations (upto 250c c) and Coupedes Nations

(125cc) –previously thesethree eventshad

beenstaged separately. After amalgamation,

therewas just asingle event, with each team

comprising arider ofeach clas s.

Youthstreamwas awarde dall the

promotionalrights forthe World Motocross

GP in 20 04 andthenameMotocrossdes

Nationswasanglicised to Motocross of

Nations(MXON).Youthstr eam’sofficial

websiteexplains:“Youths treamisthe

company that manages exclusive television,

marketingand promotionalworldwiderights

of th eFIM MotocrossWorld Championship,

the FIMMotocross ofNations,the FIM

Women’sMotocross World Championship,

the FIMVeterans’Motocross World Cup, the

FIM Junior MotocrossWorld Championship,

the FIMSnowcross WorldChampionship,the

RJ Scovell powers alon gon

his BSAin1949. Notethe

aftermarketrear susp ension.

66 THE CLASSICMOTORCYCLE|SEPTEMBER 2019