Motocross Famous Riders
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Jeremy McGrath
Jeremy McGrath was born on November 19, 1971 in San Francisco, California. McGrath is a Super cross racer and has won a record 72 250cc Main Event wins and captured 7 250cc Championships between 1993 and 2001. McGrath is recognized to countless fans as the greatest super cross racer of all time and is often referred to as "The King".
After two 125 West Region Super cross championships in 1991 and 1992 for Team Pro Circuit Peak/Honda, he became the first rider to win the 250cc Super cross Championship as a rookie in 1993.
He won 4 Super cross Championships in a row with Team Honda before moving to Team Suzuki for the 1997 season. McGrath had produced the most amazing super cross record to date winning 14 out of 15 250cc Main Events in 1996, and he in fact moved from the strongest team in motocross to one of the weakest as Suzuki had not won a Super cross Championship since 1981.
McGrath had a very unsuccessful year in 1997 as several crashes and mechanical problems with his RM250 left him just a few points short of winning the Super cross title for the fifth consecutive year. That crown went to McGrath's longtime nemesis, Jeff Emig of Team Kawasaki.
He switched to Chaparral Yamaha for 1998 and regained the Super cross championship in credible fashion. During that summer's outdoor national season, McGrath withdrew from the series as the point’s leader due to a broken wrist. It would be the last time he would contest a full outdoor season, because for 1999 McGrath signed an exclusive contract. He won the titles for Chaparral Yamaha again in 1999 and 2000. During these championship runs McGrath seemed to put his total Super cross win record at an almost impervious level.
McGrath started off the 2001 season in typically strong form, winning 2 of the first 3 main events. However, he lost the next event to Team Kawasaki's Ricky Carmichael. Carmichael would win every race from there on out, dethroning McGrath as Super cross champion and equaling his 1996 win record of 13 consecutive main event victories.
For 2003 he signed with Team KTM but a pre-season crash on the greatly maligned KTM 250SX made him rethink his future in racing and he decided to take your leave of the 2003 super cross season. He did a farewell tour with KTM to show his appreciation.
In 2005, McGrath came out of retirement to race a limited schedule on the Supercross circuit. He rejoined forces with his former Team Honda squad and has recently proven to be at a competitive level and speed that has not been seen from McGrath since the 2000 or 2001 seasons.
The sport was originally called scrambling in the UK. Motocross is a race with motor cycles and it is very much liked and popular. The name resulted of the combination from the words “Motorcycle” and “Cross Country”, and its abbreviation is known as MX.
The tracks used for Motocross are in most cases quite large and with a natural terrain incorporated, where the competitors are able to make jumps. Due to the size of the track, motocross races often include more than 40 racers. Unlike the Super cross the competition is quite more extreme and with many more obstacles.
The motorcycles used in these races are lightweight and powered by highly tuned two stroke or four stroke engines, with highly absorbent suspension designed to cope with the shock of heavy landings, and short gearing designed for swift acceleration rather than high top speed.
A typical Pro race will run for 30 minutes, once the leader crosses the finish line that lap, he is given a signal indicating there are two laps remaining, professional races are measured by time. Races are run in sessions called motos. There are two motos in a race and the riders place in those heats which are averaged together to get their overall finish. In each particular race there are a number of laps which the first rider needs to complete in order to become the winner.
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