David Thorpe

David Thorpe (born 29 September 1962) is a British former professional motocross racer and racing team manager. He competed in the Motocross World Championships from 1981 to 1993, most prominently as a member of the Honda factory racing team where he became a three-time FIM 500cc Motocross World Champion. In 2023, Thorpe was named an FIM Legend for his motorcycling achievements.

Motocross career Early racing Thorpe was born in Sittingbourne, Kent, England on September 29, 1962. His father had competed in off-road motorcycle races called scrambles which eventually became known as motocross racing. He followed in his father's footsteps and began to compete in motocross racing from an early age. He won numerous British Championships at every level as he rose through the amateur classes with his father serving as his mechanic. Thorpe was challenged by his Honda teammates Malherbe and Eric Geboers as well as Yamaha's defending 500cc World Champion Håkan Carlqvist and the 1983 250cc World Champion Georges Jobé riding for the Kawasaki factory racing team.

The 1986 500cc Motocross World Championship saw the resumption of the rivalry between Thorpe and the three Belgian riders Malherbe, Jobé and Geboers in a season-long battle that wasn't decided until the final round.

Later career After the Honda team refused to re-hire his father as his mechanic, Thorpe signed a contract to race for the Kawasaki factory team. He 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.

Career overview Thorpe won 50 individual heat races and 22 Grand Prix victories during his world championship racing career. 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. The centre allows people to try out off-road motorcycles in a safe, supervised environment.

Motocross Grand Prix Results

Points system from 1969 to 1983:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points 15 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 Points system from 1984: Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th Points 20 17 15 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1981 500cc Kawasaki AUT- AUT- CH- CH- FIN- FIN- SWE- SWE- ITA- ITA- FRA9 FRA- USA- USA- UK8 UK- NED- NED- CZE- CZE- BEL- BEL- LUX4 LUX6 15th 18 1982 500cc Kawasaki FRA6 FRA2 NED- NED- SWE6 SWE7 FIN6 FIN7 AUT1 AUT3 ITA- ITA5 GER7 GER5 USA- USA- CAN- CAN- UK1 UK3 BEL5 BEL3 LUX- LUX- 6th 117 1983 500cc Honda CH- CH6 AUT- AUT- GER5 GER5 SWE6 SWE4 FIN- FIN8 ITA2 ITA8 USA- USA10 FRA3 FRA4 UK5 UK- BEL7 BEL5 SM4 SM10 NED10 NED- 5th 93 1984 500cc Honda AUT2 AUT3 CH3 CH2 ESP4 ESP2 FRA4 FRA2 SWE3 SWE1 GER2 GER3 NED4 NED5 USA10 USA8 CAN- CAN- UK1 UK1 BEL1 BEL1 ITA1 ITA1 3rd 349 1985 500cc Honda AUT2 AUT2 FRA- FRA1 SWE2 SWE2 FIN4 FIN5 ITA1 ITA1 ESP4 ESP3 NED2 NED1 USA4 USA2 UK1 UK2 BEL2 BEL1 LUX1 LUX2 CH1 CH6 1st 388 1986 500cc Honda CH- CH- AUT1 AUT- NED2 NED1 SWE2 SWE3 FIN2 FIN2 GER4 GER1 CAN1 CAN7 USA6 USA6 FRA9 FRA2 UK3 UK4 BEL5 BEL4 LUX1 LUX3 1st 316 1987 500cc Honda ESP1 ESP1 FRA3 FRA1 AUT4 AUT1 FIN- FIN- SWE9 SWE- GER4 GER2 ITA- ITA- UK3 UK11 NED- NED- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- CH2 CH- 5th 182 1988 500cc Honda AUT1 AUT1 CH1 CH4 SWE5 SWE2 FIN4 FIN5 GER3 GER3 ITA3 ITA6 USA1 USA5 UK1 UK1 NED- NED- SM- SM- BEL- BEL- LUX- LUX- 3rd 251 1989 500cc Honda NED7 NED11 FRA3 FRA1 AUT1 AUT1 ITA5 ITA1 FIN7 FIN7 SWE9 SWE4 USA8 USA- SM3 SM1 UK1 UK1 BEL2 BEL1 LUX1 LUX1 CH1 CH1 1st 358 1990 500cc Kawasaki NED7 NED- CH2 CH8 AUT1 AUT1 FRA4 FRA- FIN6 FIN7 ITA3 ITA3 UK5 UK11 GER12 GER- SM3 SM10 BEL1 BEL- LUX3 LUX2 USA- USA- 5th 233 1991 500cc Kawasaki CH- CH- AUT- AUT- FIN- FIN- SWE7 SWE15 FRA3 FRA- NED- NED- ITA4 ITA- UK6 UK12 GER2 GER1 BEL6 BEL- LUX1 LUX1 USA- USA11 7th 144Sources: Year Class Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 1992 500cc Honda USA9 USA10 USA- CZE- CZE- CZE- AUT14 AUT- AUT- FIN13 FIN10 FIN- SM7 SM- SM- GER- GER- GER- UK9 UK- UK- FRA5 FRA10 FRA- NED- NED- NED- BEL4 BEL11 BEL- LUX7 LUX9 LUX14 CH- CH8 CH14 17th 103 1993 500cc Honda UK7 UK15 UK13 AUT9 AUT8 AUT- SWE12 SWE12 SWE15 FIN9- FIN- FIN- ITA- ITA- ITA- GER- GER- GER- POR- POR- POR- NED- NED- NED- BEL12 BEL5 BEL10 LUX13 LUX15 LUX- SLO8 SLO11 SLO- CH8 CH6 CH- 17th 93Sources: