The first two American riders to win FIM Motocross World Championships Danny Laporte and Brad Lackey have always been big fans of the grand prix scene. Since they were little boys both had kept one eye on the likes of their heroes Roger De Coster, Joel Robert and Bengt Aberg.
As older men, they both raced these legends and 30 years after they captured their motocross world championships they remain interested in the series that brought them so much enjoyment and success.
Both former world champions will head back to Europe in 2015 to witness their fellow American Ryan Villopoto try and duplicate their achievements.
1982 250cc world champion Laporte will visit the Grand Prix of Trentino on April 19th and 1982 500c world champion Lackey will visit the Grand Prix of Belgium, set for Lommel on August 2nd.
“I often get back to Europe,” Laporte said. “I’ve watched with interest the first two grand prix and I will attend the GP in Trentino to see first-hand what this year is all about. I book my tickets this week and can’t wait to see how Ryan (Villopoto) does there. I might also go to Lommel, I am not 100% sure yet about that.”
If Laporte does return to Lommel for the Belgian GP it will be a memorial visit as it was back in 1981 when he was part of the victorious Team USA who won the event for the first time.
Lackey like Laporte has made numerous visits to Europe since his GP days and knows that there might be something special for the American fans in 2015.
“I am coming to the Belgian Grand Prix to watch Villopoto,” Lackey said. “You know when I raced we never got to do much sightseeing to see the great sights and the great countries. We would just get into the motorhome and drive to the races. Europe has so many beautiful cities and countryside. We will take a river cruise and go through Belgium, and maybe do some reporting for some US magazines. A first-hand view of what is happening. We go to Italy every year for a race and I am the team manager for that and we did that the last three years and we have a lot of friends to see.”
For both Lackey and Laporte the heritage of the FIM Motocross World Championships remains a major part of their racing career and no doubt the European public will be just as excited to see these two American legends on their arrival and applaud their interest in the biggest most powerful motocross series in the world.
