Australia wins 2002 World Cup of Motocross
Photo: [Left]: Australian Chad Reed (Yamaha 450) leads Australia to victory in the 2002 World Cup of Motocross at Glen Helen in the USA; [right] Australia’s representatives – New South Wales riders Reed, Craig Anderson and Michael Byrne from Queensland.
Aussies Reed/Byrne/Anderson win 2002 World Cup of Motrocross at Glen Helen
On 29 September 2002, Australia won the World Cup of Motocross at Glen Helen in the United States, beating the home team with Canada in third.
Australia’s Chad Reed led his country to win the 2002 World Cup of Motocross finishing 1-2-1 in his three motos, losing only to Costa Rica’s Ernesto Fonseca in moto two.
Reed was the most dominant rider on the day aboard a Yamaha 450 four-stroke, with Michael Byrne (9-4-4) and Chad’s cousin Craig Anderson (8-7-12) rounding out the Aussie team. USA took second place with their team riders being Tim Ferry, Kyle Lewis, and Sean Hamblin. Third went to Canada, with the team of J. S. Roy, Blair Morgan and Marco Dube.
Video showing participating teams by The Mind Champion
The 2002 Motocross of Nations was originally planned to be held in California USA, but was canceled at the last moment and moved to Spain.
Despite the short notice, the United States decided to put together an international event and raised $100,000 in prize money, with many of the internationals already landing in the USA for the event, deciding to stay. More than 10,000 spectators turned up to Glen Helen which proved to be one of the biggest motocross events in 2002.
The race format was similar to the MXdN’s. However, riders would compete in all three motos with only their top two scores counting towards their country, which was more forgiving.
The win really opened up doors for both Anderson and Byrne in America. Ando secured a contract with the Yamaha of Troy Team to compete in the 2003 AMA 125cc Motocross Championship, with Byrne securing a contract to race for the Amsoil/Chaparral/Honda Team.
Overall country Results
Glen Helen circuit, USA
29 September 2002
Nation and Team Results
1. Australia: 20 Points (Chad Reed, Craig Anderson, Michael Byrne)
2. USA: 24 Points (Kyle Lewis, Sean Hamblin, Tim Ferry)
3. Canada: 60 Points (J. S. Roy, Blair Morgan, Marco Dube)
4. South Africa: 64 Points (Grant Langston, Greg Albertyn, Kevin Mcgovern)
5. Japan: 67 Points (Akira Narita, Yoshitaka Atsuta, Kazuyoshi Idagiri)
6. England: (James Dobb, Neil Prince, Rob Herring)
7. Costa Rica: (Ernesto Fonseca, Adrian Robert, Cristian Leon)
Other countries competing
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
The Czech Republic
Denmark
France
New Zealand
