DECOSTER

Back in the ’90s, Roger DeCoster produced a monthly column in Dirt Bike. This one was from June, 1993, when Roger dealt with the topic of Belgium’s success in GP competition. Today, Belgium is still an international powerhouse in FIM world…
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Roger DeCoster has mentored more motocross champions than any man in history. His own racing record is incredible. Beyond his five  500cc World Motocross Championships, he was a member of more winning Motocross des Nations teams than any…
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This  story was alternately written by Roger DeCoster and Bob Hannah for the July, 1995 issue of Dirt Bike. The subject was the 1978 Trans-AMA Series. In the beginning, the series didn’t really have a name. It was just a collection of…
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We often point to Doug Henry’s 1998 Yamaha YZM as the beginning of the modern four-stroke era. Actually, it started much earlier. In 1993, Jacky Martens won the 500cc World GP Championship on a works Husqvarna 630. Before that season was…
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In 1994, America was unseated after a 13-year winning streak at the Motocross des nations. No one knows more about that event than Roger DeCoster. Here’s what he wrote about it in the December 1994 issue of Dirt Bike. It was…
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What's the difference between a legitimate pass and dirty racing? That's been a difficult question for a very long time. In the June, 1994 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster addressed the issue. The standards he put forth have become a…
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At the end of 1996, Jeremy McGrath was already the greatest supercross rider in the history of the sport.  The news of his switch from Honda to Suzuki rocked the industry to its core. This was a major score for Roger DeCoster, who was still…
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In 1995, Supercross was in a wild-west phase, as different promoters and even different sanctioning bodies struggled for control. Just like today, each area had different soil types, but back then, there were different track builders, too.…
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Today, a professional motocross career often starts in a rider's pre-teen years with his family following the races that lead to the Amateur Championship at Loretta Lynn's.  It wasn't like that in the old days.  In this column in Dirt Bike…
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In 1998 , Team USA's 13-year winning streak in the motocross des Nations was in the rear-view mirror. Great Britain had ended it back in 1994 and the U.S. was struggling to reassert itself as the dominant power in world motocross. In the…
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In the beginning, Supercross was a distinctly America form of racing. Europeans came and went without making a lasting impact. That changed in the '90s. In the August, 1998 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster wrote about a new wave of…
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In 1998, Roger DeCoster was still trying to rebuild Team Suzuki. The previous year had been difficult as he tried to accommodate Jeremy McGrath without the resources that he truly needed.  In his January, 1998 column for Dirt Bike Magazine,…
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Even in 1994, Supercross politics were volatile. In the November, 1994 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster wrote about a short-lived split between the AMA and the promoters. The issues of the day were much the same as they are now.…
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Last week we looked back at a column Roger DeCoster wrote for Dirt Bike Magazine back in 1993, when his third son Mika was born. We decided to call Mika today, and see what he's been doing with himself for the last 27 years. IT…
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In 1993, Roger and Kaarina brought Mika DeCoster into the world. He was Roger's third son, prompting a column in Dirt Bike where he reflected on parenthood and youth athletics. In the years that followed, Mika did, indeed, become a…
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By 1998, the U.S team in the Motocross des Nations was proven to be beatable. We had lost the last three out of four. The 13-year winning streak had ended back in 1994. But we were hopeful with the addition of young Ricky Carmichael to the…
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In 1998, Sebastien Tortelli won the 250 World Motocross Championship by 8 points over Stefan Everts. Many motocross fans will remember that fact. A less well-known fact was that at the 11th round, Everts had been disqualified for having a…
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TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE CARE OF YOU Every kid in the world wants to know how to land that big sponsorship. They spend a lot of time thinking about what a sponsor can do for them. It helps if you turn it around. Think about what…
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HAVE A PLAN A & PLANS B THROUGH Z Of all types of racing, motocross is fairly pure. The gate drops, and the guy who goes the fastest wins. Other forms of racing, like enduro timekeeping, are more strategy than speed. Some types of…
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MAKE YOUR BIKE DO SOME OF THE WORK Today's motorcycles are good. They have come a long way from the days when the buyer had to finish manufacturing them. Even so, the bike you buy isn't perfect. It can't be, because the people who made it…
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