David Thorpe (born c. 1962) is a British former amateur and professional motocross racer and racing team manager. He won the AMCA 250 title in 1978 at the age of 16 along with the superclass title the same year competing against the best of the 500cc amateur riders. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1983 to 1993. Thorpe is notable for being a three-time FIM 500cc motocross world champion.[1][2]
Thorpe's early career saw him excel in both motocross and football, and at one stage he was even offered a contract with professional side Queen's Park Rangers, before opting to concentrate on motocross.[3] After a successful early career for the UK Kawasaki team, Thorpe switched to the Honda factory racing team in 1983. He emerged as a regular Grand Prix winner in 1984, and took his first world title in 1985.[3] In this year's Motocross des Nations at Gaildorf in Germany he also took the overall individual win beating American riders Jeff Ward and David Bailey. He retained his world title in 1986, following a season long battle with Honda team-mate André Malherbe.[3]
A series of injuries prevented Thorpe from making a title challenge in 1987 and 1988, where he finished fifth and third respectively in the 500cc FIM World Championship. However, Thorpe won his third title in 1989, following a thrilling season-long battle with Eric Geboers.[3] 1990 saw him move teams to the factory Kawasaki team, however the Kawasaki machine was inferior to the factory Honda, and Thorpe struggled to compete.[3] In 1990 and 1991 he finished fifth and seventh respectively in the 500cc World Championship. Thorpe left Kawasaki in 1991, and moved back to Honda, riding for the Italian 'Cinti Honda' team. He was unable to capture his old form, and retired from professional motocross competition in 1993 at the age of 31. Thorpe remains the last British rider to have won the premier division of the motocross world championships.
After his competitive career, Thorpe served as manager of the British Motocross des Nations team, which included the upset victory by the 1994 British team of Rob Herring, Paul Malin and Kurt Nicoll.[4] The victory marked the first time a British team had won the event since 1967 and, broke a 13-year American winning streak at the Motocross des Nations.[4] Afterwards, Thorpe concentrated on team management, running the UK based CAT Honda team during the late 1990s. The team was a success both in the UK and on the Grand Prix circuit, however Honda suddenly withdrew their support (along with several other teams) in 2001, and the team disbanded.
In recent years, Thorpe has returned to motocross, although he now competes for fun, competing in his local regional championship with great success. He has also been clerk of the course of the West of England MCC's Patchquick trophy meeting.
In 2007 Thorpe contested the two round, FIM Veterans Motocross World Cup in the senior class. Thorpe won the overall victory at both rounds (Namur, Belgium and Donington Park, Great Britain), giving him his fourth world title.[1][5]
1957 - B. Nilsson 1958 - R. Baeten 1959 - S. Lundin
1960 - B. Nilsson 1961 - S. Lundin 1962 – R. Tibblin 1963 – R. Tibblin 1964 – J. Smith 1965 – J. Smith 1966 – P. Friedrichs 1967 – P. Friedrichs 1968 – P. Friedrichs 1969 – B. Åberg
1970 – B. Åberg 1971 – R. De Coster 1972 – R. De Coster 1973 – R. De Coster 1974 – H. Mikkola 1975 – R. De Coster 1976 – R. De Coster 1977 – H. Mikkola 1978 – H. Mikkola 1979 – G. Noyce
1980 – A. Malherbe 1981 – A. Malherbe 1982 – B. Lackey 1983 – H. Carlqvist 1984 – A. Malherbe 1985 – D. Thorpe 1986 – D. Thorpe 1987 – G. Jobé 1988 – E. Geboers 1989 – D. Thorpe
1990 – E. Geboers 1991 – G. Jobé 1992 – G. Jobé 1993 – J. Martens 1994 – M. Hansson 1995 – J. Smets 1996 – S. King 1997 – J. Smets 1998 – J. Smets 1999 – A. Bartolini
2000 – J. Smets 2001 – S. Everts 2002 – S. Everts 2003 – S. Everts 2004 – S. Everts 2005 – S. Everts 2006 – S. Everts 2007 – S. Ramon 2008 – D. Philippaerts 2009 – T. Cairoli
2010 – T. Cairoli 2011 – T. Cairoli 2012 – T. Cairoli 2013 – T. Cairoli 2014 – T. Cairoli 2015 – R. Febvre 2016 – T. Gajser 2017 – T. Cairoli 2018 – J. Herlings 2019 – T. Gajser
2020 – T. Gajser 2021 – J. Herlings 2022 – T. Gajser
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