Decoster

In 1999, Jeremy McGrath already had more Supercross wins than anyone else, and he wasn't even close to being done--in Supercross. His outdoor career was drawing to a close. This prompted Roger DeCoster to speculate on the ramifications of…
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Mike LaRocco earned the 1993 500 National Championship, but never got to defend it. The AMA no longer recognized the class from 1994 forward. How could the 500s go from being the most prestigious class in motocross to being dropped? In 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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Back in early 2001,  the YZ250F had not yet won in National Competition, but Roger DeCoster, among others, knew it would, and he knew it would change motocross forever. In the March, 2001 issue of Dirt Bike he made it clear that he was no…
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In the October, 1996 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster talked about the future in a story called “Motocross Bike: 2000 A.D. It’s kinda fun to look back at what he saw coming. What will motocross bikes look like in the year 2000?…
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In the April, 1994 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster was wondering how motorcycle manufacturers were allowing their logos to vanish from the bikes their top riders were racing. At the time, apparel makers were becoming a bigger and bigger…
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In the October, 1996 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster talked about the future in a story called "Motocross Bike: 2000 A.D. It's kinda fun to look back at what he saw coming. What will motocross bikes look like in the year 2000?…
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In the early '90s, professional motocross, Supercross and most other forms of motorized racing were supported enthusiastically by Big Tobacco. The irony of this was not lost on Roger DeCoster, even through he wore Camel logos through most…
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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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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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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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In 1996 the term "Perfect Season" hadn't been coined, at least not in motocross. But there were winning streaks. Jeremy McGrath was at the height of his powers and it seemed that there was no one to challenge him in Supercross. That…
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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 2005, Ricky Carmichael and Roger DeCoster brought Suzuki back from obscurity and developed a bike while dealing with the pressure of perfection
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In 1996, the two-stroke vs. four-stroke debate had a very different tone. Doug Henry's YZF400 was still on the drawing board and two-strokes were unchallenged at the  elite levels of motocross. In the July, 1996 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger…
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