September 26, 1999
Indaiatuba BRAZIL


The Motocross des Nations is like no other motocross event. It's a team
competition where each country competes for pride and honor, not
individuality or money. It's held one weekend each September in a different
country each year. This year the event was held for the first time in
Brazil, with 20 teams competing. Each team is composed of that nation's
three best riders. As an example, Team USA was made-up of Ricky Carmichael
(125), Kevin Windham (250), and Mike LaRocco (Open). There are three heats
total, a 125/Open, a 125/250, and a 250/Open.

As Ricky Johnson recently said "For me, the Motocross des Nations was
always the most important race of the year. You have to take into
consideration that some riders can get paid anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000
dollars just to appear at a race today. But the Motocross des Nations is
not about money .... it's about pride. Not just my pride, but for all the
people of your country that you represent that love and ride motocross.
What's up for grabs in this race along with pride is very simple .... a
gold covered medal. It's all about the pride and the medal."

So who gets the pride, gold medal and bragging rights for winning the 1999
event? Team ITALY!!! (USA fourth overall)


1. ITALY - 22 points - Alessio Chiodi, Claudio Federici, Andrea Bartolini
2. FRANCE - 36 points - David Vuillemin, Sebastien Tortelli, Frederic Bolley
3. BELGIUM - 47 points - Patrick Caps, Stefan Everts, Joel Smets
4. USA - 49 points - Ricky Carmichael, Kevin Windham, Mike LaRocco
5. GREAT BRITAIN - 51 points - James Dobb, Paul Malin, Rob Herring
6. NETHERLANDS - 52 points - Remy van Rees, Leon Giesbers, Willie van Wessel
7. SPAIN - 61 points - Antonio Paricio, Josep Alonso, Francisco Vico
8. AUSTRALIA - 64 points - Troy Dorm, Andrew McFarlane, Michael Byrne
9. GERMANY - 66 points - Jochen Jasinski, Pit Beirer, Bernd Eckenbach
10. JAPAN - 70 points - Shinichi Kaga, Yoshitaka Atsuta, Takeshi Koikeda


MISC: Stefan Everts of Team Belgium won both the 125/250 heat and the
250/Open heat. Ricky Carmichael of Team USA had damaged exhaust pipe in the
125/Open heat, and crashed out of the 125/250 heat. This is the first time
that ITALY has won the Motocross des Nations. A more complete story and
photographs will be on the web-site later.


*** SPECIAL THANKS: Action Group (http://www.action-group.com), the
Brazilian Federation, event promoter and staff, FIM (http://www.fim.ch)
Fernando Carvalho, and Fernando Bianco.


*** TRIVIA: The first-ever team from the USA to compete in the Motocross
des Nations was Brad Lackey, Jim Pomeroy, Jimmy Weinert, and Gary Jones in
1972.


*** NEXT EVENT: October 2 - World Supercross Series - Round 1 - Stade de
France - Paris FRANCE. Tickets are available via telephone at 00 33 1 44 68
44 44 or online at http://www.stadefrance.fr


*** UPCOMING EVENTS:
US OPEN - October 8, 9, 10 - Las Vegas Nevada - MGM Grand
Round 2 - World Supercross Series - November 6 - Belo Horizonte, Brazil -
Mineirho Stadium
Round 3 - World Supercross Series - November 20 - Pasadena, California, USA
- The Rosebowl
Round 4 - World Supercross Series - November 27 - Leipzig, Germany - Messehalle

Riders signed up to contest the World Supercross Series so far include
Jeremy McGrath, Robbie Reynard, Larry Ward, David Vuillemin, Ryan Hughes,
Ezra Lusk, Mickael Maschio, Jeff Emig, Stefan Everts, Frederic Bolley,
Steve Lamson, Mickael Pichon, Tim Ferry, Sebastien Tortelli, Mike LaRocco,
Alessio Chiodi, J.S. Roy and others.


*** 2000 AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES schedule:

January 8 - Anaheim CA
January 15 - Anaheim CA
January 22 - San Diego CA
January 29 - Phoenix AZ
February 5 - Houston TX
February 12 - Indianapolis IN
February 19 - Pontiac MI
February 26 - Atlanta GA
March 11 - Daytona Beach FL
March 18 - St. Louis MO
March 25 - Minneapolis MN
April 1 - Pontiac MI
April 8 - Irvin/Dallas TX
April 15 - New Orleans LA
April 29 - Joliet IL
May 6 - Las Vegas NV