Danny LaPorte, riding for Honda, led Team USA to victory at the challenging Lommel sand track in Belgium for the 1981 Trophee des Nations. Team USA, consisting of LaPorte, O’Mara, Hansen, and Sun, surpassed expectations as LaPorte, who had experience riding in deep sand tracks in Coachella Valley, was the top-placing American. The team won the 250cc Trophee des Nations with ease. In the following week, they achieved similar results at the MX des Nations in Germany, kickstarting a victorious streak that lasted for years!
Here are the results for the Lommel Trophee des Nations:
Overall Individual top-5
1. André Vromans (Belgium/Yamaha) 1-1
2. Danny LaPorte (USA/Honda) 3-2
3. Johnny O’Mara (USA/Honda) 2-3
4. Kees Van Der Ven ((Netherlands/) 6-4
5. Hank Van Mierlo (Netherlands/) 5-5
Trophy (top-6)
1. USA (LaPorte, O’Mara, Sun, Hansen) 20 points
2. Belgium (Vromans, Everts, Velkeneers, Geboers) 37
3. Netherlands (Ven Der Ven, Rond, Van Mierlo, Wilken) 52
4. Luxembourg (Martens, Van Velthoven, Van Gijsegem, Sterckx) 73
5. Sweden (Carlqvist, Nyberg, Hansen, Carlsson) 92
6. West Germany (Dieffenbach, Maish, Dreshler, Toffen) 96
